Varnagel

I had the good fortune to view the premiere of the pilot in Stockholm. Warm congratulations to Faravid Svalfors Af Ugglas and the whole production team on a job well done.

This short film (in Swedish) offers a wonderfully unique display of everyday life in the Viking Age coupled with dramatic events! The mundane and martial life is successfully combined, giving both depth and a sense of authenticity that is difficult to find in other Viking Age film productions. We now eagerly await a TV series! With English subtitles, this production will certainly be of interest to an international audience.

Compelling teaser of a larger, deeply human, narrative. Under the skin authentic scene and setting. I do enjoy the gentle pacing of a 20 minute pilot otherwise prone to a stacking of loud/fast highlights.

This emphasis on letting scenes evolve at a realistic pace has a quality of 70's aestetics which I'd love to have in a Viking saga. In that genre, I truly believe Varnagel offers a unique and exciting feel for what it was really like. Subtle details, visual and audible, gently adds to an almost visceral experience of being an observer at the very scene of the events. I'm pretty sure this will spawn a full series. If not, someone is not good at his/her job.

This is the kind of Viking series I would follow. A more realistic pace, individuals rather than Hollywood faces and, above all, the matriarch that narrate the back story of an innocent boy who turns into a vengeful leader.

The human story could very well be told in our time. The different ways to survive, war or peace, and especially mothers struggle to save their children from violence and death.

With a decent budget this production can be a one of a kind Viking series with more focus on the humans, very much like ourselves, in the Viking Age, rather than a lot of quick, rough battles.

And: made in Sweden, at the same scenic location as the historic Viking villages!