When the Raven Flies (1984)

Original title

Hrafninn flýgur

Directed by

Hrafn Gunnlaugsson

Genre

drama film, action film, medieval film

Country

Iceland, Sweden

Runtime

1h 49m

Rated

16

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 43 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A lone man arrives in Viking Age Iceland seeking revenge against a chieftain who wronged his family. He ingratiates himself into the chieftain's household and then carries out a series of violent acts.

bleakgrimsparseslow-burnbroodingunsentimentalvisceralcold

What happens

When the Raven Flies (original Icelandic: Hrafninn flýgur ()) is a 1984 Icelandic-Swedish adventure film written and directed by Hrafn Gunnlaugsson. The story is set in Viking Age Iceland. The film was selected as the Icelandic entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 57th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. Although mainly a tale of personal revenge, When the Raven Flies bears some resemblance to the classic Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars of Sergio Leone, sharing common plot events, characters and action sequences., which itself drew inspiration from Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. Gunnlaugsson also drew inspiration from the Sagas of Icelanders and aimed to deconstruct the Viking stereotypes, replacing them with more authentic portrayals of the Viking era. When the Raven Flies is the first film of the Raven Trilogy (also known as the Viking Trilogy) that consists of three Viking films: When the Raven Flies (1984, usually known as simply The Raven or Revenge of the Barbarians), In the Shadow of the Raven (1987, original Icelandic title: Í skugga hrafnsins) and Embla (1991, original Icelandic title: Hvíti víkingurinn), which is a director's cut of The White Viking. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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