Film Review: Until the Light Takes Us
Until the Light Takes Us
Directed by: Aaron Aites, Audrey Ewell
Reviewer: Marc Patterson
One of the first things that you’ll notice about Until the Light Takes Us is that this is NOT horror, at least not in the traditional sense. It does deal with a particular set of abhorrent true-life crimes that occurred in the early 1990’s in Norway, centered on a handful of individuals from the early Norwegian Black Metal scene. Church burnings, Satanism, and murder are the elements that on the surface define the central focus of the film. Certainly this IS our cup o’ tea here at Brutal As Hell.
My initial fear about the film was that it was going to be a one-sided music documentary with ninety minutes of brain scrambling black metal that would leave me gasping for a moment of quiet afterwards. Having spent most of my life involved in punk rock/experimental music scenes, I’m well aware how most music documentaries get made. While there are some examples of unbiased documentary, most tend to glorify the subject at hand. My fears were abated almost instantly as when the film begins playing, it does so in an almost overly subdued manner with calm electronic music quietly following the movements of Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell, the first of the many musicians we’ll meet along the way.
When we are introduced to Varg “Count Grishnackh” Vikernes his intense gaze immediately strikes me in a manner that demands attention. Currently he is serving a maximum twenty-one year sentence in prison for murder of another member of the Black Metal scene, a bandmate he stabbed repeatedly in the skull with a pocket knife. The extreme difference in ideology these former bandmates have is quickly apparent. Gylve has clearly moved on from the early political leanings of the scene into that of a serious musician and artist, whereas right off the bat Varg makes clear his still strong anti-establishment leanings calling the passing out of medicine at the prison the equivalent of a “chemical lobotomy”.
What evolves from here is less documentary and more straight up filmmaking. The film takes a narrative tone with these key players as our lead characters highlighting this unique youth culture movement from its earliest stages beginning with Darkthrone, and then introducing us to a plethora of other early influential bands such as Mayhem, who perhaps has been most famous within the music scene for the suicide of their frontman “Dead”. While there was nothing overtly shocking about the suicide itself, as Dead was clearly on a path of extreme self-destruction, it was the reaction of the community that perhaps was ultimately the most shocking. After he blew his brains out with a shotgun he was found by a bandmate, who instead of rushing to call the police, was inclined to get his camera and photograph the death scene, eventually putting this now famous image on the cover of their next album.
What’s fascinating about the entire film is that filmmakers Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell set out to do something that hadn’t been done before, and that was to capture the story of the Norwegian Black Metal scene, from the musicians themselves. Led by their own curious fascination of the music movement, they left the US to spend two years in Norway building relationships and trust between themselves and these various individuals, most of whom at first did not want anything to do with the project. And this is where the film becomes vastly interesting to the viewer. It becomes clear that reality itself is not an objective thing. The mainstream media would have been happy to call the actions of these youth domestic terrorism in the name of Satan. Certainly to a degree there is no denial that this was just that. The second generation of Black Metal musicians seem to have just as much distorted sense of reality of these events as the media. Even the founders of the movement themselves seem to have a different perspective, now having had many years to separate themselves from these notorious beginnings. Whether or not there is any clear cut path of reality to this anymore is questionable at best.
What is undeniable is that in every way this has been a unique movement not replicated anywhere else. Burning churches as a protest against the increasing globalization of their country, as well as a pagan reclamation of sacred land “stolen” by the churches, these early Black Metal musicians certainly fancied themselves to be equal part political protestors as they did musicians, and they certainly weren’t content to let their music do all the talking.
Like the early DIY punk rock movement of the 80’s, this boiled down Norwegian Black Metal, epitomized by stripped down and minimalist music, using the basest instruments and recording devices to capture the pure untainted ferocity of the artists, represents a fierce middle finger in the face of the establishment. While American punk publications – such as the former Punk Planet Magazine – led the charge through the late 90’s with highly political text and ideology, the activism that accompanied it was something of a far more tame experience. Black Metal blows the more tame American leftist politics out of the water with extreme uncompromising action. It’s hard to tell from viewing the film if this was simply a case of youthful naïveté, or perhaps a more well thought out path of terror, but there is no question of the conviction these artists and musicians fervently hold.
What is equally striking is how inaccessible the music wants to be. The dominating viewpoint of this form of black metal, and the root ideologies that it holds to, is that this is something of a secret society, and truly an underground movement for insiders only. Anyone who chooses to come along and should want to co-opt the music into his or her own form is laughable at best. This music not only encapsulates loud protest, but extreme activism, and extreme action, and despite what conceptual form of reality you choose to subscribe to, one thing is clear – this is not your music.
Until the Light Takes Us is a highly engaging – if not at times entertaining – look at a musical movement that deserves a second look. Aites and Ewell do a superb job in presenting the material in a well-constructed and well thought out manner. They do not glorify nor belittle their subjects, but allow them to speak for themselves and represent their own ideas in the way they wish to be seen. Their passion for this project is clear and presented in a way that is arresting and compelling for the viewer, making this ninety-three minutes well spent.
For those of you who are interested, you can learn more about the film at the official website (and check back here soon for our interview the Aaron and Audrey, which will be hitting in the web in a few days!) Until the Light Takes Us opened in NYC this past Friday, December 4th, and will open in LA on December 11th.
http://www.blackmetalmovie.com/
Trailer:
