Lords of Chaos is a film I’ve been waiting to see come to fruition for many years, and for many reasons. As a teenager struggling to fit in somewhere, the metal, punk, and movie nerds were always the most welcoming. The music spoke to me and the films would shape me, so my adoration and fascination grew into a lifelong obsession. I remember hearing stories about the black metal scene, but while I was familiar with many of the bands, I never really crossed over. Then the news broke of murder, suicide, and church burnings, it was all so very surreal. When Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind released the book the film is based on, Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground, I couldn’t resist it. The book is captivating, but the truth is, no one, except for those involved, will fully know what the truth really is.
Director Jonas Akerlund was the brave soul who decided to bring the story to the screen. Having started directing music videos, he’s worked with everyone from Satyricon to Lady Gaga. His film work includes the Guinness Book of World Records holder Spun (it has over 5000 edits) and the recently released action epic Polar. What he delivers may split audiences to some extent, but the film does deliver on many levels.
Euronymous (Rory Culkin) is the lead guitarist for Mayhem, a black metal band ready to make noise in the new scene. As the band’s notoriety begins to rise, he expands his horizons by opening a record store to cater to the scene, along with beginning his own label so he can release music he himself enjoys. In comes a timid young man named Kristian (Emory Cohen) who has changed his name to Varg. Euronymous doesn’t think much of the guy until he hears Varg’s demo. He calls the project Burzum and it’s everything he could want for an artist on his label. Together, the two embark on a dark journey of hate, church burnings, and ultimately murder, these true event are one of the music industries’ most terrifying tales.
Akerlund had to make a difficult choice when tackling the tone and type of film Lords of Chaos was going to be. After seeing the film, I’m not quite sure he made the right decision. Everything is a bit off-balance, the humor and violence don’t mix well in this particular instance. I wasn’t particularly fond of the voice over narration, either. It took me out of the film on a couple of different occasions. I was hoping the film matched just how dark the crimes that took place really were, so I found myself let down in certain respects. Even with those issues, there’s some really great stuff in the film.
The performances from Culkin and Cohen were top-notch. They made great adversaries and brought out the best in one another. Another standout with far less screen time was Jack Kilmer (son of Val and Joanne Whalley). His portrayal of Death was very believable and a young actor we should be keeping an eye on. The film shows, in gory detail, the suicide and murders associated with these events. The camera never strays from the heinous acts and gives the audience a healthy dose of the violence. Because of this, and the seriousness of the crimes, the humor felt out of place and the fact they tried to make Euronymous a sympathetic character, it didn’t quite work out. The church burnings were handled properly, showing the destruction by using real-life news footage to let the audience know just how bad it was.
I may have been a little hard on the film, but I just think my expectations were too high. I’m not sure how members of the black metal community will feel about it. There’s already been backlash from Varg Vikernes and others in the scene. Varg went so far as to not allow the filmmakers to use any of Burzum’s music in the film. Even Mayhem only allowed them to use a few.
Lords of Chaos takes MANY liberties when telling the story, and it’s okay. If they made the film they wanted to make, then good for them. It’s a good movie with some disturbing imagery, but, for me, the tone felt a little out of whack. I do, however, recommend Lords of Chaos, as most people will find it rather jarring and that’s the reaction it should receive.
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