Vendetta of Death
| Vendetta of Death | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Karl Bråkmo |
| Screenplay by | Karl Bråkmo David Holger Nils Gaahl |
| Story by | Pål K. Mo |
| Produced by | Olaf Jørgensen |
| Starring | Even Sørensen Fumo Borgersmo Tormod Yrvang Johanna Trudesdottir Fredrik Karlsen |
| Cinematography | Karl Fegelvik |
| Edited by | Karl Bråkmo Gorm Boder |
| Music by | Robin Andersen Roar Sture |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | BCVI |
Release dates | 16th of June, 2013 |
Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | Breheim |
| Languages | Breheimian, subtitles available in a variety of languages including English, German, Quenya and Russian. |
| Budget | $23.6 million |
Vendetta of Death (Breheimian: Dødshevn) is a 2013 Breheimian action-movie, and among the last big-budget films produced by the Breheimian Cinema and Video Industries before liberalization of domestic censorship laws. This led to an 'Uncensored' version being released in 2014, which featured scenes that the FSB had deemed unsuitable for Breheimian cinema. The Uncensored version was released as a direct-to-dvd rather than being released in the cinemas proper.
Plot Synopsis
The film begins with protagonist Halvor Karlsmann (Even Sørensen) fighting in a desert-like location, an inner monologue telling about how he had opted to become a mercenary after having been dishonorably discharged from the Breheimian Special Forces for an unspecified crime he did not commit. The movie does not linger long on Karlsmann's monologue, as him and his squad immediately are assaulted by what seems to be Alistan insurgents. Karlsmann fends off the massive assault through a mix of gun-play, punches and dual-wielding two AKMs with bayonets. One of his comrades, Johnathan Fleischer (Fumo Borgersmo) manages to shoot down an insurgent who had sneaked up on Karl. The two bond over the corpse-littered battle-field with a firm handshake.
Nine years is stated to have passed as Karlsmann is woken up by his daughter Hanna Halvorsdottir (Johanna Trudesdottir) of eighteen years, after Karlsmann had thrown himself around loudly in bed from nightmares. Hanna pats her father, then returns to sleep. An explosion then is heard from the downstairs, and Karlsmann rushes down to find the living room in quite ill-repair, as black-clad men with gas-masks enter. Karlsmann shoots them with a pump-action shotgun which suddenly appeared in his arm, causing three men in front to collapse. Standing still, Karlsmann proceeds to dispatch the mooks with ease, their bullets lining up behind him. Satisfied, he peeks outside for any others, when he hears a scream from above stairs. Rushing up with his trusty pistol, Karlsmann barely catches a glimpse of his daughter carried off by a large man out of the window, towards a waiting helicopter. The scene ends with Karlsmann screaming up at the sky.
The very next day, Karlsmann is approached by Johnathan Fleischer, now an agent of the People's Security Bureau. Fleischer is distraught at the news as they chat away drinking vodka in the busted up living room. Fleischer informs Karlsmann that his country needs him as Colonel Sniring (Karlsmann's former commander in the special forces) have turned rogue and kidnapped a number of prominent hackers nation-wide, including Karlsmann's hacktivist daughter. With the hackers, Sniring has been able to take control of the entire world's nuclear stockpiles.
The scene cuts to the short Colonel Liring (Tormod Yrvang) as he oversees hundreds of teenagers and young adults slaving away at computer screens reminiscent of late 80s computers, all connected to one massive supercomputer whose hardware and wires line the cavern walls as far as the eye can see. The hackers are overseen by soldiers in black uniforms and gas-masks, and Sniring absent-mindedly shoots one of the hackers as he screams 'Worker's Incentive!' at the top of his lungs. He then turns to a gigantic screen in the middle of the cave, connected to the supercomputer, and orders it to connect him to the World Assembly. The screen shows a room of hundreds of men and women in suits who turn to look at him, as Sniring informs them that unless he receives one trillion dollars within a forthnight, then he will unleash the full nuclear arsenal of the world... on the world. As an example, he blows up France.
The scene now returns to Karlsmann and Fleischer, still drinking, as Karlsmann has been informed of the threat Sniring poses. Fleischer asks Karlsmann where Sniring would possibly go to hack the world's nuclear arsenals, and as Karlsmann is the only surviving member of Sniring's command who has not joined him, he is best fit to know where he would hide. Karlsmann ponders the question briefly, then grins as he points to a map which is now hanging on the living room of a mountainous area in central Breheim.
The scene once more switches as Karlsmann is being outfitted with equipment by the Breheimian Army with everything he desires. Karlsmann is outfitted with a small arsenal, including a Landkrysser Viking. Fleischer shows up, armed to the teeth with the best of FSB equipment, and insists that he join him. After initially refusing, Fleischer says Siring once too was a mercenary, in his homeland of Cuivre, and raped and butchered his entire village while working for the Cuivrean government. Karlsmann nods, and tells him he better get ready. The two of them drive out on the 1,500 ton Landkrysser.
The next scene opens with the Landkrysser driving up to the entrance of Sniring's mountainous underground lair, blowing open massive titanium gates with a single shot. Hordes of black-uniformed mooks run out, led by the large figure Karlsmann had seen take away his daughter. They surround the Landkrysser and order them to surrender. Fleischer and Karlsmann leave, back to back, mowing down mooks with AKMs. As his men are mowed down, the large man retreats into the mountain. Karlsmann and Fleischer exchange witty one-liners throughout the sequence, then follow into the mountain.
Immediately inside is the giant computer room, with hundreds of hackers typing away, but Karlsmann's daughter is nowhere to be seen. The whirring and humming of the supercomputer is deafening, as Karlsmann shouts for the hackers to get out. However, Fleischer is knocked out by the large man in a single punch, and promptly disarms Karlsmann and grapples Karlsmann. The man identifies himself as Jonni Litner (Fredrik Karlsen) who tells Karlsmann he has personally seen to it that his daughter hasn't been lonely. Karlsmann lets out a primal howl, breaks loose, grabs an RPG launcher and hits Litner on the head hard enough for his head to go flying across the air. Litner's head goes straight for the giant screen. It crackles the screen, and the computer is destroyed, the humming ending instantly. Karlsmann shouts for the hackers to get out, but not before asking where his daughter is. One of the hackers tells him Sniring has taken her, as well as some others, deeper into the cavern.
Fleischer wakes up, and the two continue further inside. There, they find Sniring with a cellphone, shouting at Hanna to type in the universal launch code for all nuclear missiles in the world. Hanna is about to do it, being threatened with death, when Karlsmann arrives, shooting the cell phone with one shot. Sniring, alone, sneers at Karlsmann as he grabs his daughter as a human shield, and more soldiers arrive. Sniring tries to make his escape deeper into the caverns, and Fleischer tells Karlsmann to pursue him. Karlsmann salutes his friend, who is now fighting dozens alone.
Karlsmann manages to catch up to Sniring, who promises Karlsmann to be made a king in the new world order he intends to create. Karlsmann refuses with a short monologue on the vileness and evil of monarchy, before shooting Sniring. He carries his daughter out, where Fleischer is sitting atop a pile of corpses smoking. However, the giant computer is turned on again, and a voice-over states that the world's nukes will be launched in one minute. Fleischer panics, as Hanna runs towards one of the computer terminals and starts furiously typing. With one second left, the countdown stops, and the voice-over declares the place will self-destruct in ten seconds. Hanna, Karlsmann and Fleischer run outside and into the Landkrysser, which shields them from the blast.
Uncensored version
The uncensored version had several notable differences with the censored edition. Some of the mercenaries depicted at the start of the movie were non-humans using magic, which was cut due to depicting magic in a non-dangerous light. The uncensored edition has Karlsmann receiving his weapons, and a different tank model, from his former mercenary comrades rather than the Breheimian Army who was depicted as unwilling to take Sniring's threat seriously. The uncensored edition also include a rape scene that was cut by Breheimian censors, as Fleischer's background was initially filmed and supposed to be in the film. Finally, Sniring's character is quite different from the censored version, as in the censored version he keeps saying neoliberal and monarchist slogans, instead Sniring's motivation was simple greed rather than creating a new monarchist world order. Karlsmann's short monologue describing the failures of monarchy was similarly added by government demand.
Special Effects
While Vendetta of Death was initially supposed to be an experiment into CGI, this was quickly abandoned due to budget issues. Instead the film features a mixture of live-rounds and blanks, with all explosions depicted in the movie being the courtesy of the Armed Forces of Breheim. Vendetta of Death also received the permission of the People's Security Bureau to use magic, leading to all gas-masked soldiers in the movie being 'acted' by zombies re-animated by FSB mages. Live rounds are thus used by Sørensen and Borgersmo in fight scenes with said soldiers, while the zombies were outfitted with blanks. The 'Behind the Scenes' footage initially depicted one such re-animation, but was cut from both the censored and uncensored version per requests from the FSB.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack, veering between orchestral parts for most and disco for the fighting scenes, has become a hit in Breheim. Breheim's most famous musician, Roar 'Disco' Sture was hired to create songs for the fighting scenes in the film.
Reception
The film met with moderate critical success in Breheim, aggregating 4.3/6 among reviewers. The weak and hole-ridden plot was a common complaint by critics, but the action scenes were praised for spectacle and gore alone, as well as many genuine chuckles from Sørensen and Borgersmo's banter throughout. Sørensen and Borgersmo were noted by many to be the ones 'carrying' the movie, and Borgersmo's performance was particularly praised as it was his first starring role. The film grossed $18.4 million nation-wide, making it one of the domestically highest grossing movies in Breheim's history, but still far below what they were expecting. The move-going audience ranked it higher than critics, with most ignoring the complaints regarding the weak plot with "Well, what do you expect?".
International Reception
Vendetta of Death was criticised heavily by critics belonging to the Epping Post and Royal Malgravean Times when the film was given a full cinematic release in 2014. It was attacked as glorifying violence and bringing back tropes that were last seen in local films like Resist! which fell out of favour with the end of the civil war, however, TVN backed the film and praised the acting of Sørensen and Borgersmo and the overall messaging of the film which was greatly approved by the Most Illustrious Glorious Confederation of Proud Malgravean Proletarians (MIGCPMP).
In Malgrave, a mixture of the censored and uncensored film was put together with the Malgravean variant showcasing non-humans using ancestral abilities and Karlsmann receiving his weapons from his mercenary comrades, however, it maintains Sniring's neoliberal and monarchist slogans and inserts a few references about his desire to crush social solidarity and establish a greed-based society that will focus on short-term profit and forget about scientific thought or engineering glory.
In Omsk and Epping, the film didn't perform well and was pulled from participating cinemas a few days after release, however, in Rensk, Pakosc and Portmon the film did surprisingly well with audiences stating that they were impressed by the special effects and charmed by the chemistry of Sørensen and Borgersmo.
Vendetta of Death has been credited with a large increase in the number of Malgraveans wishing to go on holiday to Breheim with the country becoming one of the most popular overseas destinations scheduled by MalTra. It has been said that thousands of tourists visit every month just to get a photograph with the Landkrysser Viking and a few rumours have started on the possibility of a crowdfunding campaign to get the Breheimian government to build another Viking.