Lords of Chaos, the movie review

 

Imagine a safe and quiet to boredom northern European country where a violent and hard music genre  - Norwegian black metal - is born. 

You can see how it all began and ended in a Hollywood movie "Lords of Chaos" (2019). 

The movie tells a story of how a Norwegian teenager form Oslo with a stage name Euronymous created an infamous genre of heavy metal and the band "Mayhem". The film director Swedish Jonas Åkerlund has experience in creating music videos and playing in a heavy metal band himself so you can trust him on that. 

The film is also a testimony of how life's grand plan is more powerful than a point of view harboured towards it. What I mean is that no matter how you look at life, be it through Barbie doll perspective songs or darkest nihilistic metal, you end up wanting the same things - ordinary life and a family. That was what happened to the main hero of the film Euronymous. In the end he cut his hair, found a girlfriend and blurted that he wanted to create electronic music. As a consequence his friend Varg accused him of betrayal and killed him.

Although made in the USA the film accurately depicts Norwegian realia. Typical Norwegian things included drinking cocoa drink O'boy in a glass of cold milk, bandaging wounds with a working tape, driving Volkswagen Transporter van and eating goats brown cheese on a crispy bread, also going to a summer house. 

I liked the movie because it was nice to look at: long haired guys, concert venues, hard music sounds, revolutionary point of view to life. Yet something was missing but I cannot put my finger on anything. Maybe the depth or maybe some more clarity over the actions of the protagonists. 

I was impressed with how main actor Rory Culkin who played Euronymous told during an interview that he had a dream about Euronymous. In a dream Euronymous said that he did not even realise he was dead. In the last monologue in the film he says that people should not be miserable about his death. After all he had a music label, his own record store "Helvete" (eng. Hell), the band and a music genre that he created. "What have you done?" - he asks rhetorically. 

Other actors were Emory Cohen playing Varg Vikernes, Jack Kilmer as Pelle aka Dead, and Sky Fereira as Euronymous girlfriend. 

The film was criticized by Norwegian black metal community as inaccurate but was well accepted by critics and general public. 

It is also worth noting that neither Mayhem nor Burzum, both Norwegian black metal bands, allowed the film creators to use their music in the soundtrack. Luckily other black metal bands contributed and the sound was very authentic. BTW I am sure Euronymous wouldn't  have objected. 

Terningkast  (eng. dice drop) for the movie is 5/6 (five out of six). 

And to end this review here are some interesting quotes from the movie:   

•   I don't have any friends. Nor should you.  

•  If you know it, you will find it.

• The fucking church. They're oppressing us with their kindness and their goodness. Brainwashing the entire population with their fake empathy and fucked up solidarity. Hate them and their churches. We should burn them down.