Film/DVD Review
**** (4-stars)
By Anthony Kuzminski
Buy the DVD HERE or HERE
In the original Stars Wars Trilogy (1977-1983), the lowest grossing of the three films at the box office was The Empire Strikes Back which is most likely attributed to the overall dark tendencies and the film’s ending which left the audience hanging. Despite this, the film over the last 30-years is without question deemed the finest of all Stars Wars films. There’s something daunting about the indefinite, the chances taken and indomitable presence of Darth Vader and the Empire. Every film needs a hero and a villain. We root for the hero, but he’s only as heroic as the twisted obstacles put forth by the villain, much like the duality of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. What you never expect is for the hero and villain to be one and the same. Eventually in Return of the Jedi Darth Vader would wear the hat (or helmet) of both hero and villain in a cinematic resolution of the heroes journey. I thought about the hero/villain duality when watching the brilliant new documentary Until the Light Takes Us; a grave documentary about Norwegian black metal. The film has one man who is both hero and villain, but unlike Vader who eventually redeemed himself, you’re left with an unsettling portrait of a man whose blood isn’t hot blooded, but cold through and through. The film’s hero and villain, Varg Vikernes is one of the crucial figures who helped bring black metal to the globe’s consciousness. Without him, it’s safe to say that the lore and legend of Norwegian black metal wouldn’t be the same and this is why he is in a twisted sense, the hero. The flipside is that he’s among the most dispassionate and inhuman figures I have ever laid eyes on; he evokes absolute evil. His interviews are given from prison, where he was serving a 21-year sentence for killing another musician. In Norway, the maximum sentence you can get for any crime is 21-years. He discusses the rise of the Norwegian black metal movement, religious crimes, burning churches and disconcerting particulars of how another man died at his hands in effectively the same tone. No matter how harrowing his stories may be, you can’t take your eyes off him or the film, Until the Light Takes Us.
When I originally heard about this film, I wasn’t entirely sure it would appeal to me. Despite an ability to love virtually any music documentary, I wasn’t convinced. But within 5-minutes of watching the film, I was all-in. The overall aesthetic of the film is sparse and forlorn. This isn’t a high-end production, but it makes it all that more unnerving. A glossed over and high end approach would without question make the film less haunting and derail its indisputable nature. Directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell take you into this byzantine world. They were met with trepidation from the black metal scene, but wound up moving to Norway and immersed themselves in the lives of these individuals eventually earning the trust of all the key players. Far too often most documentarians have missing links, pieces or people which make their story, however engaging, incomplete. That is not the case with Until the Light Takes Us; it is the definitive story of the Norwegian black metal movement. You don’t watch this film as an observer but a participant. You aren’t merely viewing an interview but feel as if you are in a room with the frigid Norwegian wind at your back as stories begun to unfurl themselves. There’s something downright bone-chilling about the interviews. Some of them discuss severe circumstances that involved the burning of churches and deaths, and they recount them as if they’re giving you statistics about sales and not about life and death events. And yet, it’s impossible to take your eyes off of. Varg Vikernes was the ringleader of the black metal band Burzam. He looks into the camera and recounts the rise of his band, how he killed someone and the power of metal music in his life and you can’t help to be sickened yet utterly captivated at the same time. His icy demeanor on the one hand shows a man clearly in control, but on the other hand, someone lost their life at his hands and there was nary a glimpse of emotion to be revealed. The most passionate we find Vikernes is when he feels other misinterpreted the true meaning of black metal and tried to make into something their own. He feels like a leader who was betrayed by one of his disciples who misunderstood his preaching’s. Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell from Darkthrone is the other key participant to the film and unlike Vikernes you can appreciate what he does on a musical level. Fenriz takes the filmmakers into the world of the music and this provides an essential counterbalance against the headline grabbing stunts by other acts. There are also several interviews with members of Immortal, Enslaved, Mayhem and Frost; all of the key bands in this movement. However, it’s the pairing of the movement (Burzum) with the music (Darkthrone) which takes the film to another level. Instead of merely focusing on the more sensational aspects of black metal, they’ve gone deeper to show you it’s not just about church burnings. The isolation, resentment and dissatisfaction with life forced these people to see out music, but in some cases, it proved to be ill-advised and turned into the eventual burning of churches indicative of an eye-for-an-eye culture.
Some of the images from the film are picturesque, vivid, stunning and downright disturbing. Most of the exterior shots of Norway that are shown appear to be during winter and the bitter cold can be sensed and despite the fact it was near 90-degrees when I watched this film, I could feel a chilliness down my spine. There is no sweeping aerial shots or a voice over from someone out to steal your soul. The most intensely unsettling images (and discussion) are based around the cover of Mayhem’s Dawn of the Black Hearts. It’s a picture of lead singer Dead (Per Yngve Ohlin) lifeless body after he had committed suicide. You see a lifeless face, blood and head fragments splattered against a wall and an image that is impossible to erase from your mind. While it’s been deemed one of the most controversial album covers of all time, in the world of Swedish Black Metal, it’s merely one of dozens if not hundreds of events that unfolded in the 1990’s that brought this niche genre to the world’s attention. This photograph was allegedly taken by Mayhem's guitarist, Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth), upon discovering Dead's body. Euronymous would eventually meet his own demise by the hand of Vikernes and this is one of the film’s eeriest jaw-dropping moments. This is not for the faint of heart and yet I find it hard to believe that anyone could not be fully engrossed by the narrative of Until the Light Takes Us. When I used to take film classes with Roger Ebert, he had a saying about films; “Never judge a film based on the subject matter but judge it by how well it’s about said subject matter”. This isn’t a film that will leave you warm or reinforce faith in the human race, but it’s executed with detailed care for the subject matter. Surprisingly you will not find a multifaceted dissection of the actual music in the documentary or even on the bonus disc. Even though the genre of black metal is front and center here, the music is in the backdrop while the actual movement and the events surrounding it receive most of the consideration. To some, they may walk away disenchanted they couldn’t immerse themselves in the music the way a basic Rockumentary or Behind the Music would do. However, it leaves you with something so much more vital, authentic and disconcerting. This is more than a recounting of history or stock interviews, the filmmakers take you inside their lives and more importantly, their minds. Even if you’ve followed the black metal movement closely in the last two decades, Until the Light Takes Us is so authoritative you’d be hard pressed to find a more encompassing resource anywhere on the subject matter.
The deluxe edition of the DVD comes with a bonus disc that has nearly 4-hours of extra features that will pull you into the web of darkness even further. The bonus disc is broken down into 3-sections; Deleted Scenes (35 minutes), Black Metal University 101 with Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell from Darkthrone (45 minutes), and lastly the Cutting Room (which includes 150-addional minutes of further interviews with) the following:
- Vikernes/Burzum (45-minutes)
- Darkthrone (36-minutes)
- Fenriz/ Enslaved (21-minutes)
- Frost (8-minutes)
- Immortal (18-minutes)
- Mayhem (9-minutes)
- Ulver (10-minutes)
Music is often associated with moments of happiness, expression and release. However, there’s also a darker side to it all. Due to the more morose aspects that invade our lives, it’s been easier to embrace the dark side over the last few decades rather than the light. The honest to god truth is that most of our lives deal with pain more often that bliss. It’s also one of the defining reasons that heavy metal will be one of the few genres of music to still be potently prevailing a century from now; pain will never go away and as long as there are those who are disillusioned with life, metal will be a primordial force. Although the embrace that metal has received the world over, no one could have anticipated or foreseen what would occur in Norway during the 1990’s and what eventually became Norwegian black metal. Until the Light Takes Us pulls you into their world and while it’s downright frightening at times, it gives one a front row seat to a complicated world you can’t turn your back on.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
