KEITH UHLICH
The Northman. Photograph by Aidan Monaghan / Courtesy Focus Features
film roundup
Flux Gourmet (Dir. Peter Strickland). Starring: Asa Butterfield, Gwendoline Christie, Ariane Labed, Fatma Mohamed. In his latest cinematic odd duck, eccentric British surrealist Peter Strickland (In Fabric) sets his acerbic sights on artistic patronage. Three avant-garde performers (Asa Butterfield, Ariane Labed, and Fatma Mohamed) who specialize in the aural possibilities of food are awarded a residency at a culinary institute run by a most peculiar benefactress (Gwendoline Christie). They create, they fight, they perform for a select audience so appreciative that they’re frequently invited backstage for aftershow orgies. And that’s before the backstabbing (figurative) and cannibalism (lit-
eral) begins. There’s also a hack journalist in constant gastric distress and an on-site physician given to condescendingly quoting Greek literature. There’s no mistaking Strickland’s pointedly entertaining touch, with its unabashed embrace and provocative reworking of Eurotrash cinematic cliches. But for the first time it feels like he’s shooting fish in a barrel as opposed to perversely reaching for the stars. [N/R] HHH The Northman (Dir. Robert Eggers). Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke. To witches and lighthouses Robert Eggers can now add vengeance-seeking
Keith Uhlich is a NY-based writer published at Slant Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Time Out New York, among others. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle. His personal website is (All (Parentheses)), accessible at keithuhlich.substack.com. 18
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Vikings. For his third feature, the cowriter-director was granted a plus-size budget and a buffed-up Alexander Skarsgård as Norse warrior Amleth, who as a young boy witnesses the murder of his father King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) by his treacherous uncle Fjölnir (Claes Bang). Amleth escapes the blade himself, and his bloodlust never wanes, nor does his love for his mother Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman) who he believes is being held against her will by Fjölnir. Eggers and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke conjure a captivating fantasy hellscape soaked in rain, populated by both manly men and otherworldly beasts (the zombie skeleton swordfight is a particular highlight). Skarsgård amusingly tears through scenes like Conan the BarC O N T I N U E D O N PA G E
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