3/13/2004

One of those good news/bad news things.

The good news: there's a project afoot to film Beowulf. And they want to cast Sean Connery as Hrothgar.

The bad news that will render the good news irrelevant: they have no fucking idea what they're doing.
Beowulf prefers to see himself as an ordinary man, but for his particular skill in slaying monsters.
Are you fucking kidding me?
The monster in this case is not a creature of mythic powers, but one of flesh and blood - immense flesh and raging blood, driven by a vengeance from being wronged. Beowulf wants to do the right thing, but what the right thing is, becomes increasingly unclear.
I just love it when filmmakers decide it's a good idea to force a modernist mindset on an ancient property. Apparently the Northmen are supposed to ask themselves why Grendel hates them. Maybe at the end they'll all hug and beat their swords into plowshares. Pass.

Post script: I should also point out that removing the mythological underpinnings makes the struggle just another pointless pissing contest. How can you have a guy who has a "particular skill in slaying monsters" and then make the monster not a monster? I mean, seriously, what the hell?

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