I really enjoyed watching this movie starring Mads Mickelson. Mads character ‘One Eye’ was the main star of the film. The movie starts off with him being depicted as a slave who is thrown into one on one battles where its kill or be killed, and he never lost. One of the things that were really special about this movie was its lack of dialogue and the eerie music in the dark setting it was really quite compelling. It was well directed and split into nice, neat little chapters. There wasn’t a lot of dialogue in the film because there didn’t need to be and also because ‘One Eye’ simply did not speak.
Part I – The Wrath
This is the beginning of the film and is mostly about ‘One Eye’ and you were compelled to watch you wanted to know what was going to happen to him. Especially once he breaks free and kills his captors leaving just the boy alive. Upon first viewing, I found these scenes to be extremely entertaining, and you will too, that is if you like bloody scenes in involving heads being hung on the end of spears and guts being torn out of living captors with Indian arrowhead spears. For ‘One Eye’ this was just what he had to do to gain his freedom.
Part II – Silent Warrior
‘One Eye’ and the boy end up coming across a group of Christian Crusaders who are trying to work their way to the Holy Land to claim what’s rightfully theirs as bestowed to them in the name of God. At first, the Christians were skeptical of ‘One Eye’ but they used good judgment and did not try to attack him. So they invited him and the boy to join them on their crusade.
Part III – Men of God
They ended up going on a voyage, just drifting in the sea without water for days upon days, until finally, they realized they had hit land. The realization comes on a foggy night time scene, when ‘One Eye’ is drinking water from a jug pulled from the sea, and hands it to a crewmate, discovering it was freshwater.
Part IV – The Holy Land
But where were they now? The Holy Lands? They are in an exceptionally strange place, unlike any land they had ever come across before. They take to land, in what looks like the new world, and begin exploring the countryside. They eventually come to a large clearing of land. The Crusaders are wary of ‘One Eye’, thinking he will kill them, one by one. They retreat back to their ship to further explore the strange land and within moments one of the crewmates is killed by way of an arrow through the chest. All crew exit the ship which is near dry land, but nobody is visibly out there waiting for them. This sets up the next chapter.
Part V – Hell
In this chapter of the movie, the Crusaders are in a strange land. All of the men drank some sort of beverage which may have triggered psychedelic experiences, which are shown in the film through different varying forms of imagery.
The following words are uttered when the boy suggested they must leave this crazy place:
“We stay and show them what men are capable of when they act in the name of God. We raised the cross, now we bring the sword”. Their intention is to convert the locals to Christianity. They end up blaming ‘One Eye’ for bringing them there. Three of the remaining crusaders attack him, to their detriment. With three crusaders left, (one missing), one of them says they should follow ‘One Eye’. This does not sit well with the other man, who stabs him in the back, ‘go on then, turn your back on God, only men of faith deserve the riches of my new Jerusalem’.
This leads to the final chapter where ‘One Eye’ decides to climb up to the top of the hill.
Part VI – The Sacrifice
One of the men following ‘One Eye’, decides to turn around to go back and be with his father, leaving ‘One Eye’ and the boy alone climbing to the top of the hill.
Little did they know, they were being tracked by the Islanders, the natives. Once at the top of the mountain, he turns around there are about 30 to 40 natives staring him down. ‘One Eye’ grabs the boys arm as if to say stay here, I got this, as he walks toward the group.
At this point, One Eye reflects back on his life for a moment dropped his weapon because he knows the end is near. The film ends with the natives staring down the boy, making us wonder were they going to kill him as well. Instead, they all turn around and start to walk away, and shortly after the credits roll all the while, the music playing in the background the scenery made for a terrific ending to this film.
*****
I seriously would like to know if I am alone in my opinion of this movie. My brother in law said it was complete junk, but he likes action-packed movies.
