Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE LAST VIKING [Toronto International Film Festival 2025 - Toronto, Canada]
The aspect of brotherly loyalty is put to the test in an interesting ironic comedy with a genre bent in Ander Thomas Jensen's film "The Last Viking" [Centrepiece] starring Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas (his frequent collaborators). The basis has Lie Kaas as Anker, a criminal of sorts trying to dig himself out of a hole after being pushed into a corner (but never really out of trouble). Mikkelsen plays Manfred, his brother, who suffers from a certain type of mental illness which includes associative personality disorder. While a lot of it is played for a degree of comedy, Mikkelsen (sporting a wild hairdo) captures the confusion and yet love of this man for his brother, despite the fact that he never quite does what he is told. There is a toddler aspect to his behavior and yet even in the irony of the comedy lurks tragedy which gives the film a weird if not specific tone. However as it builds and Anker begins to interact with different people including a would be doctor and the owners of a B&B in what was his and Manfred's child home is there a greater concept of what we are seeing.
The film starts off as a road movie which it essentially adheres to but then it bathes itself in something else. Flashbacks of the boys and their sister during their childhood under the tyranny of their father (especially with a mentally ill brother) enhances the story of "The Last Viking". The animation at the beginning and the end which Jensen said in the Q&A was a later addition to illustrate what the thematic is not overwrung and actually gives the context even more a sense of depth because of its metaphor. The eventual villain brings a stark violence within the film and gives the intention a harder cadence. While Lie Kass almost has the harder job despite a tough exterior, Mikkelsen, himself known for darker characters, finds a lightness and a clumsiness with Manfred (who actually wants to be called John). That subplot and the innocence of his bluntness actually plays quite well (even though there is a modicum of annoyance within it). But then that intent is we are supposed to see through Lie Kas' eyes. One specific action of loyalty of Manfred's part involving the villain per se is both stark and heartbreaking at the same time. Details including a hat, a wagon and an ax are interestingly pieces of the puzzle that are coherently built. "The Last Viking" if it took place in anywhere but modern time could also be seen as a fable which gives it both a resonance and a feel of permanence. B
By Tim Wassberg
