The Last King

I know absolutely nothing about Norway's history, so I'm unable to judge this for its accuracy. But it was a very enjoyable film to watch. A good mix of action, drama, a beautiful scenery. It's worth the time to invest.

As I am a huge fan of my country's history, this film was right up my alley. All the historical elements of the film are excellently portrayed. A few historical facts were changed a little, but not so much that it ruins the film. The changes work. The more fictional parts of the film are also very good.

The acting is also very nice. Main actors Kristofer Hivju and Jakob Oftebro have a lot of good chemistry and work well off each other. The other actors do a good job too.

The cinematography is wonderful. Beautiful shots of the Norwegian wilderness make this a spectacular viewing experience.

All in all, this film is excellent!

The Last King (Birkebeinerne) is the fourth Northern from acclaimed Norweiagn Oscar nominee director Nils Gaup, which was Ocar nominated for his first inside just this genre, Pathfinder (Veiviseren). And this film has many parts which resembles just that film.

This is also based on an ancient old story. Back in 1206, when there was a civil war raging Norway, with basis in religion and country over the wast country in Nothern Europe. we're told the fight for the crown of the Norwegian empire. Also Pathfinder was based on a long gone true story, at least as a story told through generations.

I would think Nils Gaup should be able to make a rally good movie out of this, like he did with both Pathfinder and the brilliant The Kautokeino Rebellion. I'm afraid this film is a bit closer to the flop Tashunga. all of which were Northers, with stories i snowy landscapes.

The film wants to entertain. maybe a bit too much. The audience did laugh,several times, but the excitement and the funny parts are not that well kept together as I would like. Still this film has many interesting and worthy parts, making this an overall OK entertainment, while the true story is well kept in story telling.

This film is very beautiful, with awesome nature and winter filming. It's also fantastic to see the skiers do their part. The film functions to a great part, though there are some fighting scenes which I don't think works that well, I also found some of the dialog a bit stale, but that won't bother most watchers around the world. a couple of actors also seems like they have trouble, like Kristofer Hivju, who really uses his big eyes too much, and the young princess is also less believable, I'm afraid.

Still, this story functions enough for a 6/10.

I always enjoy historical-type movies. This one is no exception. I did stream with English 5.1 instead of subtitles, but it really didn't take away from the movie. The film depicted this era of Norway as quite brutal. I'm sure it was. Kings & heirs, civil war, brutality. It was all here. I don't judge acting so I really didn't notice if it was not perfect. I liked the plot & the movie flowed smoothly enough to follow without questioning what was happening. The scenery, well, when it wasn't overcast or snowing, was great. Lots of ski action too. Some of the scenes caught me off guard but I won't say which ones. There may have been a few hiccups, but overall I found it to be a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

As a Norwegian, I appreciate that we are starting to make movies that on a technical level are as good as this. The costumes, locations, music, special effects and acting were all on a professional level, just as something you would expect from any other European movie.

The setting was also good. Norway should take advantage of its history, and make the kind of movies that it would not make sense for other countries to make. Speaking as a Norwegian, there are too few good cross-country skiing action sequences out there.

The story that this is based on is interesting, but the movie's flaw is that it never quite managed to capture the drama inherit in the story it tells. I found myself not caring much about the scenes with the scheming and plotting, the villain and his people. All of that. In fact, that most interesting part of the movie was probably the "Two men and a baby"-aspect of it, which at times were very enjoyable.