NAME: Brenda Marishel Aguilar Ajata Nro.

26

BEOWULF

The film counts the history of one legendary warrior Viking called Beowulf, who goes
to an ancient Denmark to liberate the king and his town of Grendel, a troll who has been
terrifying the population. Right after the battle, he goes with his band of soldiers, including
his best friend, Wiglaf his new situation will define forever as its destiny warrior, like leader
and like man. They travel in response to the call of King Hrothgar, who needs a hero to
slay Grendel. Grendel attacks Hrothgar's mead hall, Heorot, whenever the Danes hold a
celebration there, and Hrothgar was forced to close the hall. Upon arriving, Beowulf
immediately becomes attracted to Hrothgar's wife, Queen Wealtheow, who does not love
her husband and reciprocates Beowulf's interest.

Beowulf and his men celebrate in Heorot to lure Grendel out. When the beast does
attack, Beowulf engages him unarmed and naked, determining that since Grendel seems
to be immune to mortal weapons and carries no weapons of his own. Watching his
reactions during the melee, Beowulf discovers that Grendel has hypersensitive hearing,
which is why he interrupts Hrothgar's celebrations – the noise they make is physically
painful to him. After his eardrum is ruptured by Beowulf, he attempts to escape Beowulf
manages to restrain Grendel and severs his arm using the door. In thanks for freeing his
kingdom from the monster, Hrothgar gives Beowulf his golden drinking horn, which
commemorates Hrothgar's victory over the mighty dragon.

Returning to his cave, the dying Grendel tells his mother what was done to him and
by whom, and she swears revenge. She travels to Heorot in the night and slaughters
Beowulf's men while they were sleeping. Hrothgar tells both Beowulf and Wiglaf, who had
been sleeping outside the hall during the attack, that it was the work of Grendel's mother,
the last of the Water Demons, who was thought by Hrothgar to have left the land. Beowulf
and Wiglaf travel to the cave of Grendel's mother to slay her. Only Beowulf enters the cave
where he encounters Grendel's mother who takes the form of a beautiful woman. She
offers to make him the greatest king who ever lived if he will agree to give her a son to
replace Grendel and let her keep the golden drinking horn. Beowulf gives in to her
advances and returns, claiming to have killed her. Hrothgar, however, realizes the truth. He
tells Beowulf indirectly that, much like Beowulf, he was also seduced by Grendel's mother;
Grendel was the result of their tryst. Hrothgar names Beowulf his successor as king, much
to the dismay of his royal advisor, Unferth who was hoping to take the throne. Hrothgar
then commits suicide by jumping from the castle parapet onto the beach below. A wave
momentarily engulfs Hrothgar's body, there is a golden flash under the water, and the body
is gone.

Years later, the elderly Beowulf is married to Wealtheow. She refuses to give him an
heir because of his tryst with the water demon. Beowulf takes a mistress. One day,
Unferth's slave Cain finds the golden drinking horn in a swamp near Grendel's cave and
brings it back to the kingdom. That night, a nearby village is destroyed by a dragon, which
leaves Unferth alive in order to deliver a message to King Beowulf: the dragon is Beowulf's
son born to Grendel's mother. Removing the horn has voided the agreement between
Beowulf and Grendel's mother, who has now sent their son, the dragon, to destroy his
kingdom.

Beowulf goes to great lengths to stop the monster, even severing his own arm, and
ultimately kills the dragon by ripping its heart out. The dragon's fall mortally hurts Beowulf,
but he lives long enough to watch the carcass of the dragon transform into the humanoid
body of his son before it is washed out to sea. Wiglaf gives Beowulf a Norse funeral and
watches as Grendel's mother appears and gives Beowulf a final kiss before his ship sinks
into the sea. Wiglaf sees the golden horn in the sand while Grendel's mother floats in the
sea, looking at him seductively.

It’s not well explainded what is the curse that tormented the king and that also
supposedly falls upon Beowulf, neither the motivation of the mother of the monster and that
happens with her wihtim the years that passed by. I consider that the main fault is that he
does not go into the relation of Beowulf with queen The Wealthow, simply he shows them
distant because Beowulf has a quite young mistress and it is not gone deep inside in the
relation of Beowulf with his son either.
 Concluding it’s possible to say that Beouwulf is a good epic genre film with a lot of
action involved since the beginning.