Valhalla Rising (2009)

A trailer for the Danish film Valhalla Rising (2009) recently appeared on iTunes--apparently is was released in thearters in the US on 4 June--and piqued our interest. Here are the details from the film's official site:

Selected for:
Venice Film Festival 2009,
Toronto International Film Festival 2009,
London Film Festival 2009 &
International Film Festival Rotterdam 2010

Action Adventure.

SHORT SYNOPSIS

Mute slave HARALD escapes his Scottish masters with the help of 10 year old ARE, torturing and killing them before joining a band of dispossessed Vikings. They go to sea, determined to return to Scandinavia to fight the spread of Christianity, but for HARALD the journey is also a personal one to discover his own origins. Caught in a terrible storm, the group drift for 40 days until, on the verge of death, they find themselves in a freshwater river. The land seems at once strange yet familiar.

When they come under attack by unseen assailants, the groups' quest for their homeland takes on a bitter urgency as one-by-one they succumb to the onslaught, dying at the hands of the invisibles. Worse, they are no clearer about where they are or if this place even exists outside their imagination. Have they finally reached the new world, or Valhalla?

Meanwhile, HARALDS's search for identity is compromised when ARE is captured. As the enemy reveal themselves, HARALD realises he has finally found his identity but at too high a price. As ARE’s life is threatened, HARALD is faced with an impossible choice; save the boy or save his soul?

CREDITS

CAST: Mads Mikkelsen

DIRECTOR: Nicolas Winding Refn

WRITERS: Nicolas Winding Refn and Roy Jacobsen

PRODUCERS: Johnny Andersen, Henrik Danstrup and Bo Ehrhardt

CO-PRODUCER: Karen Smyth

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Christine Alderson, Lene Børglum, Yves Chevalier, Linda James, Mads Peter Ole Olsen, Carole Sheridan, Joni Sighvatsson and Thor Sigurjonsson