The Darkest Day is a moody, atmospheric filmed play at times with some bizarre bits thrown in to differentiate it from a TV movie. The focus here is dirt, despair and oddly poetic dialogue. This is a Viking film that is as dry as they come. A deconstruction of sorts of the more romanticised depictions from other films of the cycle, yet the film itself displays many tropes, visual and audible. Lots of damp woods, hills that look like they were freezing to shoot in, and dialogue that bounces between modern and olde English liberally. However, it is these anachronisms i find that give the viking film cycle it's charm, especially when entires take themselves as seriously as this one does.
It does have clout though. The production value is immense for the budget and there is a solid earthy look to this film. The cinematography is stoic, yet off balance at enough times to not let the picture sink into an idyllic, melancholy feel, and it's well graded also. Costume design is dynamic with each party involved in this little quest given a lot of personality through their wear. But also, the cast is a mixed bag of theatrical and robotic and there's too much talky talky to aggravate this.
Overall, is as straight laced a viking film as they come. As drab and cold as the island it is set on. If you like you're historical drama to have an emphasis on the savagery and the suffering side, then The Darkest Day is for you.
It does have clout though. The production value is immense for the budget and there is a solid earthy look to this film. The cinematography is stoic, yet off balance at enough times to not let the picture sink into an idyllic, melancholy feel, and it's well graded also. Costume design is dynamic with each party involved in this little quest given a lot of personality through their wear. But also, the cast is a mixed bag of theatrical and robotic and there's too much talky talky to aggravate this.
Overall, is as straight laced a viking film as they come. As drab and cold as the island it is set on. If you like you're historical drama to have an emphasis on the savagery and the suffering side, then The Darkest Day is for you.