Letters to the Editor
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Great Essay
I'll probably end up seeing the movie, although my hopes for it are pretty low.
For my money, 13th Warrior is still the Beowulf movie to beat (although I haven't seen Beowulf and Grendel yet). 13th W. did many things right, as far as capturing the spirit of the original work. It wallows in foreignness- Ibn Al Fadan is himself from a foriegn culture (the Middle East during the European Dark Ages), who finds himself caught up in the affairs of yet more outlandish foreigners (Beowulf and his band), who are trying to confront yet another foreign entity- the neaderthals.
I'm not sure if you could ever really make a true adaptation of the original poem. As I remember it, it starts in Hrothgar's grandfather's life, and then a bunch of stuff happens, and then the hall is built, and then the monster comes, and then Beowulf comes, and then we follow Beowulf to the end of his life. There was also a lot of introducing oneself in light of the various conflicts and border clashes that dominated the time.
So, it's a tall order.