Labbe-Beowulf

Robert Zemeckis’ 2007 animated movie, Beowulf was set in Denmark in A.D 507. A Danish King, Hrothgar (Anothny Hopkins) allows the Geat hero, Beowulf (Ray Windstone) to fight a troll named Grendel who’s been terrorzing the area in hopes the Danish people will finally be left alone.

Beowulf lures Grendel to the village’s main mead hall by loud singing. He slays Grendel, but finds the creature’s mother is a bigger problem.

Beowulf goes into the sea to kill Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie), but instead makes a deal with her. If Beowulf gives her a son, the mother will leave him alone. Beowulf returns, boasting he has killed the monster.

I think the scene in which Hrothgar confronts Beowulf to make sure he killed Grendel’s mother needs further editing.

“She’s no hag, Beowulf, we both know that,” Hrothgar says.

There is low light in this scene. The rest of the frame is in shadow while the two characters are lit. There are close camera and character proxemics.

This set-up was not successful for an animated movie.

Beowulf tells Hrothgar a lie. Hrothgar knows it’s a lie, but does not say so.

There’s an unsaid understanding between the characters because they both know Grendel’s mother was scheming temptress who was still alive. They both had fallen weak to her curse.

This understanding would have only been communicated through the scene’s close camera and character proxemics as well as sufficient acting to tell the audience about the character’s unspoken emotions and thoughts.

The audience needs to see the understanding between the characters as well as Hrothgar’s skepticism, insistence, and relief that the curse isn’t his anymore. The viewers need to see Beowulf’s defensivness, fear, and worry about what he’s gotten himself into.

All this is lost because the movie is animated. The character’s eyes are blank. Beowulf’s eyebrows can scrunch and lips twist to form a face to challenge Hrothgar’s questions, but there is no emotion in his eyes.

The camera should have been further away, showing both the characters’ bodies in the frame. Louder body language could be used like Hrothgar putting his hand on Beowulf’s shoulder and leaning in to supposedly look into his eyes to see the truth or Beowulf crossing his arms while he lies.

This set-up would have put the emphasis on what the characters were saying and how they were saying it.

This way, the audience would not be led to look into the faces of emotionless animated eyes, looking for the secrets behind them to find nothing.