{"id":2922,"date":"2005-03-28T14:46:00","date_gmt":"2005-03-28T14:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity\/"},"modified":"2005-03-28T14:46:00","modified_gmt":"2005-03-28T14:46:00","slug":"beowulf-and-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html","title":{"rendered":"Beowulf and Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Just got a release schedule from a Canadian publicist. It included the following blurb about <\/span>Beowulf & Grendel<\/a><\/i>, an upcoming Sturla Gunnarsson film starring Gerard Butler (<\/span>Dear Frankie<\/a><\/i>), Sarah Polley and Stellan Skarsg\u00e4rd:<\/span><\/p>\n

Adapted from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, Beowulf, that inspired J. R. Tolkein\u2019s Lord Of The Rings, BEOWULF & GRENDEL is a medieval adventure that tells the blood-soaked tale of a Norse warrior\u2019s battle against the great and murderous troll, Grendel. Heads will roll in this provocative take on the first work of English literature. The story is set in barbarous Northern Europe where the reign of the many-gods is giving way to one \u2014 the southern invader, Christ. Beowulf is a man caught between sides in this great shift, his simple code transforming and falling apart before his eyes. Building toward an inevitable and terrible battle, BEOWULF & GRENDEL strips away the mask of the hero-myth, leaving a raw and tangled tale that rings true through the centuries. Joining Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera) in the role of his formidable adversary, Grendel, will be Iceland\u2019s greatest actor, Ingvar Sigurdsson.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hmmmm. The only other recent Beowulf movie I can think of \u2014 and even then, it was given the demythologizing, historical revisionist treatment \u2014 is John McTiernan\u2019s <\/span>The 13th Warrior<\/a><\/i> (1999), and that one was based on <\/span>Michael Crichton\u2019s novel<\/a> about a Muslim travelling with pagan Vikings. Could be interesting to see how Christianity gets mixed in here \u2014 especially if it plays some part in stripping away the pagan hero myth.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for director Gunnarsson, he is an Iceland-born graduate of UBC (my own alma mater), and the only films of his I have seen are <\/span>Such a Long Journey<\/i> (1998), Scorn<\/i> (2000) and <\/span>Rare Birds<\/i> (2001), all of which were at least okay. Apparently he also directed the TV version of <\/span>The Diary of Evelyn Lau<\/i> (1993), which made Sandra Oh (of <\/span>Double Happiness<\/i> and <\/span>Sideways<\/i> fame) a star.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Beowulf & Grendel<\/i> is scheduled for a release in \u201cFall 2005\u201d, so it will probably make the rounds when the Canadian festival circuit kicks off in September. I\u2019ll keep my eyes open.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just got a release schedule from a Canadian publicist. It included the following blurb about Beowulf & Grendel, an upcoming Sturla Gunnarsson film starring Gerard Butler (Dear Frankie), Sarah Polley and Stellan Skarsg\u00e4rd: Adapted from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, Beowulf, that inspired J. R. Tolkein\u2019s Lord Of The Rings, BEOWULF & GRENDEL is a medieval […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBeowulf and Christianity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Just got a release schedule from a Canadian publicist. It included the following blurb about Beowulf & Grendel, an upcoming Sturla Gunnarsson film\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beowulf and Christianity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Just got a release schedule from a Canadian publicist. It included the following blurb about Beowulf & Grendel, an upcoming Sturla Gunnarsson film\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-03-28T14:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html\",\"name\":\"Beowulf and Christianity\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2005-03-28T14:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2005-03-28T14:46:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"Just got a release schedule from a Canadian publicist. It included the following blurb about Beowulf & Grendel, an upcoming Sturla Gunnarsson film\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Beowulf and Christianity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/\",\"name\":\"FilmChat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\",\"name\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\"},\"description\":\"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Beowulf and Christianity","description":"Just got a release schedule from a Canadian publicist. It included the following blurb about Beowulf & Grendel, an upcoming Sturla Gunnarsson film","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Beowulf and Christianity","og_description":"Just got a release schedule from a Canadian publicist. It included the following blurb about Beowulf & Grendel, an upcoming Sturla Gunnarsson film","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2005-03-28T14:46:00+00:00","author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html","name":"Beowulf and Christianity","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2005-03-28T14:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2005-03-28T14:46:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"Just got a release schedule from a Canadian publicist. It included the following blurb about Beowulf & Grendel, an upcoming Sturla Gunnarsson film","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/03\/beowulf-and-christianity.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Beowulf and Christianity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/","name":"FilmChat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde","name":"Peter T. Chattaway","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter T. Chattaway"},"description":"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}