The Last Viking (film)

The Last Viking
Directed by	Jesper W. Nielsen
Written by	Mikael Olsen
Produced by	Peter Aalbæk Jensen Ib Tardini
Starring	Holger Thaarup Kim Bodnia Per Oscarsson
Cinematography	Erik Zappon
Edited by	Valdís Óskarsdóttir
Music by	Joachim Holbek
Production companies	Zentropa Trust Film
Distributed by	Zentropa
Release dates	17 January 1997 (1997-01-17) (Denmark) 21 April 2000 (2000-04-21) (Sweden)
Running time	88 minutes
Countries	Denmark Sweden
Language	Danish

The Last Viking (Danish: Den sidste viking) is a Danish-Swedish children's film released in 1997 and directed by Jesper W. Nielsen. The film stars Holger Thaarup, Kim Bodnia and Per Oscarsson.

Plot

A Viking boy, Harald dreams of becoming a warrior like his father Agne. King Grimnir imposes new taxes to collect from the people. However, chieftain Agne refuses to surrender his city's ships to the king and cooperates with the rebels.[1] The king's soldiers soon come to raid the village. The village is set on fire, some of the inhabitants are killed and the rest taken prisoner, and they are ordered to build a new ship for the king's fleet. Harald and the dwarf Gunga go to great lengths to get the city's drunken ship craftsman to complete the ship.[2]

Cast

Cast adapted from the Danish Film Database:[3]

• Holger Thaarup as Harald
• René Benjamin Hansen as Bjarke
• Moa Lagercrantz as Eisa
• Bjørn Floberg as Thorgrim
• Kim Bodnia as Sigbard
• Erik Wedersøe as Agne
• Per Oscarsson as Skrælling
• Ricky Danielsson as Gunga
• Bjarne Henriksen as Svarre
• Troels Trier as Skjalden
• Elo Sjøgren as Hofsnog
• Torbjørn Hummel as Hirdmand
• Peeter Kard as Høvding

Release

The Last Viking was distributed in Danish cinemas by Zentropa from 17 January 1997.[4] It was released in Swedish cinemas by Triangelfilm on 21 April 2000.[5]

Reception

The Swedish Nöjesguiden said The Last Viking does most things wrong, describing the story as unfocused and infantile and the dialogue as poorly crafted. The critic compared the acting to amateur theatre from the 1960s, with the exception of Per Oscarsson's "mumbling and swearing".[6]

References

1. The Last Viking, Filmaffinity, Access date: 23 May 2022
2. Den siste vikingen (1997) - "Handling", Svensk Filmdatabas (in Swedish), Access date: 23 May 2022
3. "The last viking: Credits". Danish Film Database. Danish Film Institute. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
4. "The last viking". Danish Film Database. Danish Film Institute. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
5. "Den sidste viking (1997)". Swedish Film Database. Swedish Film Institute. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
6. "Den siste vikingen". Nöjesguiden (in Swedish). 23 May 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2022.

External links

• The Last Viking at IMDb
• Den Sidste Viking (1997) - "Plot Den Sidste Viking", Moviemeter (in Dutch), Access date: 23 May 2022
• Den sidste viking, Scope (in Danish), Access date: 23 May 2022
• Den sidste viking - Blockbuster (in Danish)