Was that a thank you or a curse?
The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King (2017; in Norwegian, Askeladden – I Dovregubbens hall) retells a Norwegian fable with a knowing wink and nod. Myth decrees that if ever the Princess of the kingdom reaches her 18th birthday without wedding a suitor, the Troll King under the mountain will awaken and make her his bride, enslaving her and no doubt subjecting her to a variety of undescribed atrocities.
In what becomes a theme for the movie, Princess Kristin, who incidentally and rather purposely has mad knife-throwing skills, also has thoroughly modern sensibilities, not only in not taking the myth seriously, but in also refusing to wed the rather cocky Prince who presents himself as ready to take on the responsibilities of the Kingdom. Exactly why he’s a prince and wasn’t drowned somewhere along the way is not clarified.
In order to escape a potential forced wedding, or any other wedding for that matter, the Princess escapes into the night, and when the King is so informed, he announces that he who returns with the Princess can have her in marriage, along with half the kingdom.
Princess Kristin has some problems controlling her horse during her escape, resulting in the young man destined to be known as the Ash Lad, Espen, being knocked off a bridge and into the river. She ends up wet behind the ears as well, and so they spend the evening drying off before a fire – before an unseen force knocks them apart.
Espen returns home to his two brothers and father, bereft of food, and they go off hunting while he is told off to watch the fire at home, and, before we know it, the house is afire, resulting in the Ash Lad appellation. Their loss of home being the end of the line, they hear from the searching Prince that the discovery of the Princess might save them, and so off go the brothers to find her.
Between forest nymphs and old witch, pond sharks and an exceedingly bad tempered troll king, the brothers find the Princess and return her for the reward they want: home & respect.
The theme of modern sensibilities intruding shows up in the treatment by the characters of the world around them. For example, the evil Prince observes that “… there are many accidents during the Royal hunt,” suggesting the Princess can be killed easily enough if she interferes with the Prince’s reign.
But hero Espen, a young man who is brave enough, but loses focus and wanders off too easily, is, well, it’s surprising he made it to adulthood. His brothers, competent at accomplishing tasks, are impatient with his behaviors, and it’s a strangely modern sensibility in a story concerning the ravages that occur when myths are defied.
And that’s one pissed-off troll king. A small mountain with a prodigious nose, trees growing out of him, and a temper to dismay even the great & heroic Prince, the troll is the shadow around the corner, the vengeance upon those whose reach exceeds their grasp, a temper to dismay even the evil Prince and his minions, the creature in violation of all norms of behavior and even of existence; that sunlight destroys him speaks to an allegory concerning how shining a light on boastfulness and arrogance will bring evil fates down upon those holding such attitudes.
In a word, he’s cool. I wish he’d had some dialog.
The dubbing I thought was excellent, although my Arts Editor disagrees, and the movie never drags. The theme that differences are not necessarily bad is at war with older themes concerning the importance of orthodoxy, and perhaps those latter lose in this movie. But it’s a fun movie, if you’re in the mood for it, so give it a go if you like fairy tales from other countries.
