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Quickie Review - Valhalla Rising

Nicolas Winding Refn is becoming a director everyone should know. Most will recognize him for the Gosling film, Drive, but he's a force. I recently viewed Bronson, which blew me away, but more for Thomas Hardy's tour-de-force than anything else. So I dove into Valhalla Rising with no expectations, but much anticipation.

Christians will hate it.  Monotheists will question it. Atheists will appreciate it. Religious scholars and those of us who appreciate, but question that indefinable and fuzzy concept of "faith," will ingest it and let it dance on our tongues, for this movie is all about the search. Not for THE god, but of salvation. For that one thing all believers relish and that is, direction. In life. In spirituality and in understanding.

Using Norse mythology as it's guide, Valhalla Rising takes us on multiple journeys all at once. Without knowledge of Odin and his tormentors, his son Baldr and the mythical Hel, one might find this narrative silly, but it is wisdom in chaos. Like all religion, it us control over anarchy, but this movie shows it from one side, but always the side looking for answers. A movie so unrefined on the outside, like some bad peyote trip, but so clear in it's ulterior message. It must be seen to be understood (and misunderstood) and much like the movie itself, and religion for that matter, words don't make any more sense of the topic without experience.

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