Anders Thomas Jensen, an Oscar-winning screenwriter and director from Denmark's Zentropa Studios, delivers a slapstick-violent black comedy that is well-acted but relentlessly unfunny. The Last Viking follows a man with dissociative disorder who believes he is John Lennon, yet the film's humour falls flat amid gruesome silliness.
Plot and Premise
Mads Mikkelsen plays Manfred, a nerdy loser with learning disabilities and a history of abuse. His tough-guy brother Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) robs a bank and gives Manfred the key to a railway station locker containing the loot, instructing him to bury the cash in the woods behind their childhood home—where their father used to brutalise them. After Anker is arrested and serves 15 years, he finds Manfred has retreated into a delusional state, believing himself to be John Lennon. Manfred is too upset by disbelief to remember where he buried the money.
Anker, with the help of a rogue psychiatric nurse, rounds up three other dysfunctional individuals who believe they are Ringo, Paul, and George. He aims to reunite the band in the remote Danish forest, hoping Manfred will relax enough to recall the burial spot.
Execution and Tone
The premise is admittedly funny but executed with wearying violence. Mikkelsen's physical comedy initially amuses, but the film consists almost entirely of goofy, humourless violence. Jensen, despite his filmmaking skills, lacks comedic touch. Sofie Gråbøl appears as a martial arts enthusiast who now owns the family home.
The film's unfunniness approaches the condition of being a joke itself, though never quite arriving. The influence of Lars von Trier, Zentropa's dark prankster, seems to hover over the production.
Release and Availability
The Last Viking opens in UK and Irish cinemas on 26 June and will be shown in Australia as part of the Hurtigruten Nordic film festival.
