Yatterings

I’ve just got back from seeing Beowulf and I’m really glad I saw it. Avary and Gaiman’s screenplay takes the Old English poem and remakes it for the screen in an engaging fashion whilst keeping the text alive. There is a beautiful symmetry to the narrative which transliterates the poetic style and techniques to the new medium.

I can see why Jolie thought the film was a little too much for 12A given the violence and sexuality which erm abounds… I think that raises questions about how we treat children and adolescents. Do you keep them swaddled in cotton wool and hope like hell or just go with the flow and admit that there are factors which you would not like them to see? The choice, dear parent, is yours? Just bear in mind how much literature you’re keeping those darlings from!

There was a strange relationship which is almost Oedipal between Hrothgar and Beowulf where they end up sharing fates and beds. In part it comes back to the Gaiman idea about mythology - that its the persons actions which deliver the “facts”. The greatest achievement is for people to sing our stories and tell of our deeds after our death. Narratives intertwine and it could be fun taking them all apart and following the threads - though perhaps kittenishly messy.

The CGI does feel a little clunky and a little computer game-like but the film overall is entertaining and well worth seeing. On the Film Programme a couple of weeks ago, Gaiman mentioned that there were no real rules to fantasy film making and once again the boundaries are pushed a little from what you might expect.
Hopefully it will get people (re)reading the epic but I won’t hold my breath. Give it a whirl…

Update: Michael Morpurgo, a previous children’s laureate, is not a big fan but I do wonder whether he is purely comparing it to the original poem. I do agree with him on the Grendel’s mother sub-plot which distracted but I stil stand by my original view of telling the retold story. Stephen Moss over on the Guardian book blog has an interesting post on going back to read the original poem and recommends two versions of it.