Shirley Curran
You probably didn’t see the movie version of Beowulf. Judging by the local reviews, including a child who said "My dad went to see it and it put him to sleep", not a lot of people did. We went to the late-night VO showing at the Titanium on Rue de Servette and had the entire cinema to ourselves. A pity, I feel.
Here is one of the oldest legends told in a modern European language. It was composed four centuries before the Norman Conquest and it still entertained us hugely. Not, perhaps because of its faithfulness to the original story. Somehow I had trouble with the monster, Grendel’s mother, seducing the hero Beowulf and producing a new Lord-of-the-Rings or Harry-Potter-style monster.
The Anglo-Saxon didn’t sound quite right, either, and was only used on rare occasions and not where it would be most expected, in the Hall of Herot.
No. What was so astonishing was the nature of this film. I don’t understand how all those effects can be digitally engineered and how the actors and monsters are ‘not really there at all’ but that is, apparently, the case and some of the effects are stunning. Here is the oldest story in the newest format. Great fun and well worth a detour if you can find it on anywhere at a civilised time!
GenevaLunch, 31 December 2007.
Filed under: Non-fiction
Tags: Media
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