We are lucky to have the great Old English epic poem Beowulf. A copy of it was written down by a scribe about 1000 AD, and this sole existing copy was scorched but not destroyed during a fire in Sir Robert Cotton’s library in 1731. In 1786 an Icelandic scholar, G.J. Thorkelin, organised for transcripts to be made, before parts of the original became illegible.
The poem helps connect us to our distant forebears. For this reason, it is undeniably an important cultural artefact for Anglo-Saxons in particular and Europeans in general. Which is why the following story is disappointing.
A four-time Emmy winning filmmaker, Scott Wegener, is creating a screen version of the story of Beowulf. But he is rewriting the events described in the poem to turn it into a multicultural fantasy. Some of the film is being shot in South Africa, a decision Wegener defends as follows:
Beo scholars believe that while we know that Beowulf’s father married into the Geat royal tribe, he wasn’t a Geat. There is no documentation to support where he may have come from.
Which is why the film,
presents him as an African explorer in search of the Edge of the World, who settles into viking society and fathers Beowulf as a man caught between two cultures, striving to prove himself time and again.
So the film depicts Beowulf as the son of an African father and a Scandinavian mother, whose heroism derives from his multiple identities and loyalties.
You can see the cast of the film here. A protest website is up and running here.
Better news is that two other Beowulf films are being produced - hopefully at least one of these will be worth watching.
Posted by Guessedworker on Fri, 09 Dec 2005 18:26 | #
I suppose they could have cast Beowulf with Pee-wee Hermann. Still, the film will surely bomb - which is one consolation.