Downloaded from YTS.MX
And also cinematographer and one of the producers.
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
And this is the director's commentary.
I'm gonna do this in English because this is also going to be used for the
international versions and releases of this movie.
The movie costed 7 million Euros.
That's kind of 8 million dollars, a little bit less than 8 million dollars.
And we shot it in 40 days in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Belgium.
So for this shot when you see now, we are really
physically coming out of the ground with the camera.
I wanted to come out of a big black hole and that's what we did and even when you
saw things in the sand, you know, my set dresser, Sander, he's really really good.
He even put...
We put the little skull of the little bird in there, but we are going really with a
macro lens, a 35mm macro lens in slo-mo over the grass and all the white things
that you see flying around is a snow candle, these are kind of little special
effect things that when you put them a little bit on fire then it does all this
white kind of ash flying around and I think we only had a hundred pieces of them.
Because we bought the last ones that were available
in Europe to do this snow candle kind of effect.
Only this shot is a digital snow and the rest is all practical snow candle stuff.
For me it was kind of blue-some or whatever you feel that it is, some
atmospheric texture in the opening of the movie and that is what we did.
So as I told you, we shot this movie mainly in the Netherlands, also in
Denmark, Germany and Belgium, but mainly in the Netherlands.
And it is a Dutch-Belgian co-production.
This is the producer, Klaas de Jong.
I also did another movie with him, Admiral.
And also Alex Van Galen, the writer, he also wrote the script for Admiral,
the other movie I did in the Netherlands, the historical movie.
So the scene, this scene started the movie off.
It is really an introduction of the main characters of our main village in Dorrestad.
So this movie, the story, the history of this story is a little bit complicated
because in the Netherlands, in my history books when I was a
child, there was a description of a holy guy called Bonafati.
Bonafatius and Willibord, these were like priests in the 8th century.
And the name Red Butt was really not in my history books, but later you kind of
figure out that Red Butt was a significant person in our history, because hospitals
are named after him and you have like museums named after him and some castles
in the Netherlands that are named after him.
But I never really, it never really resonated to me that he was a historical figure.
And I really didn't know the story.
So you have to know in the 8th century, the Dutch territory, what was kind of
north of the Rhine, the river and a little bit south of the Rhine, that, especially
north of the Rhine, it was never conquered in the Roman Empire.
Now the Roman Empire, they almost...
conquered the whole of Europe, but only they stopped at the Rhine.
They never went north, because they felt like the north of the Rhine, there's so
many swamps and little tribes and little
villages that they were not really interested in.
So that means till the 8th, till the 7th or the 8th century, the northern
territory, and they called it Friesian territory, and it spanned it from the
south of the Netherlands, and just above the Rhine all the way to Denmark.
And this territory, there were different little
kingdoms and different little tribes spread around.
But there was one city, very famous city in that time was called Dorpestad.
And it was laid on the center of this territory, also
on a river, not the river Rhine but another river.
I've forgotten the name.
And this city was kind of... open reach.
It's a very nice city where people could trade and so the Franks that conquered,
that took over the Roman Empire, they basically were ruling a part of the
Roman Empire, especially the ones in France and the northern part of Italy,
they kind of wanted to conquer this Dorastad city because it was like a very
powerful city where they did commerce but also the pre-Vikings and later...
but they were merchandising there as well, the Friesians were merchandising there and
it was kind of a free haven of merchandising.
And so our story is about the ruler of Dorastad and his son, here he is,
Red Bat, placed by Grijs Naber and he is kind
of in this city, ruling this little city.
Now we're cutting to rhymes.
I wanted to introduce kind of the Franks.
The Franks were a very Christian belief, extremely Christian belief.
And here we see the Frankish army kind of praying in front of the relics.
I really wanted to kind of have these relics and
these symbols of the different religions in the movie.
And also seeing the contrasts, you know.
When we just started the movie, you saw that... What's up?
You see a woman, played by René Sauternac, she was
open, cut open this bird and took out the intestines.
And that was kind of part of their belief and their kind of healing powers.
And then I'm seeing our villain of the movie, the Franks, but there I see,
I start on the bird and I end on this bird.
But here these people are using the bird as kind of a holy thing.
It stays alive, they don't kill it.
Instead of praying.
I think it's beautiful here, you see it, the eagle.
So it already gives you a nice contrast.
Because, funny enough, the... Oh, this, by the way, I like this shot.
It's a one-er.
I was running out of time.
And I think I shot this on the last day of shooting.
So it runs out of time.
And I always planned to do these one-ers in the movie.
And I thought this is a perfect opportunity to do this one-er.
So, with the Steadicam.
Brilliant Steadicam operator from Belgium.
This is one take where all the extras were passing us by.
So I wanted to do this contrast all the time.
So you see this constantly contrasting between
religious, extreme things that they do.
And therefore I thought it was interesting to see a tribe that is using nature.
They love nature.
They worship nature as their god.
So you will see later the Holy Tree.
That's kind of the pagan belief.
They have like natural things that they kind of worship as gods.
They're cutting the bird open.
And the ones that worship one man, Christianity, worshiping Jesus,
they are embracing nature and have these beautiful birds.
So the whole movie is kind of filled with these kind of...
contrasts between good and bad.
Between religious extremists.
But on both sides.
I didn't want to place a judgement.
So this is the scene where we're going to choose the girls that will be sacrificed.
In that time people were sacrificed.
Also animals were sacrificed.
To kind of...
you know...
make good with the gods.
And we...
Also I think you have to realize... this movie was based on...
a lot of legends.
And some written words.
But it was very difficult to do in extensive research.
Because the Frisians, so the people that live above the Rhine, the main of our
story, they were not people that were writing.
So they never wrote down their history.
They only were kind of telling stories.
From elders to kids and to the next generation.
And they were... So they became kind of legends.
And the only people that were really writing at the time were the Franks.
But of course the Franks were the enemy of the Frisians.
So in their history books... they describe Red Butt as this rebel...
kind of barbarian.
What was not really a threat to them.
And... and of course they were the good guys in their stories.
And also later... in the 12th century... when kind of the...
the history of Frisian was kind of written.
But this was written by a lot of... priests and Christians.
So again... they made a very difficult...
different kind of historical description... about what took place in this time...
in this place.
So we based our screenplay...
Alex based and Klaas developed the script...
and they based it mainly on a lot of legends...
different stories from different people... and different historical things.
But also... we tried to implement...
our world view now... and the situation where this world is...
and project it to this movie.
You know the... I think we are now... this is now 2018...
we are living in a world where... there is a lot of diversity...
people...
I am lost with our identity.
They don't know anymore... who they are... or what they are...
or what they belong to.
The Christian churches... are running empty.
People...
being Christian is less popular... especially in Europe... in the Netherlands.
Muslim is kind of growing... and of course you have extreme Muslim...
and the regular... the real Muslim... belief... that is kind of...
conquering Europe... and expanding.
And then we have... people that don't know... if we are Dutch... or are we Europeans.
We have the Brexit... of the British... leaving the European Union.
So there is like... this moment in time...
and we wanted to kind of... reflect this moment of time... into a historical movie.
And so we got a little bit... criticised by some historians...
who were saying that... we were not historically correct.
But that was not our purpose.
You know I think this movie... is 30-40% historically correct.
And the rest is... us projecting our vision... of the world...
into this historical context.
Because I think... if you want to... make a decision about... what your life is...
or where you are... in your life... then looking at the past...
learning how these people... went through it... and what they did...
with all these questions...
is a way... that we can learn.
So that was kind of... the purpose of our movie.
And a big theme of our movie... is the relation... between father and son.
Of course what we are watching now... is father and son... in Red Button...
and his father.
But also two really important... bonafaces... and our bad guy...
Pepin... King Pepin... with his bastard son... Charles.
But it is also... later with Freyja... and her father.
It is that relationship... and the struggle... between those... two generations...
father-son...
is kind of the theme... of our overall movie... and inflicts all the characters.
So...
the movie was shot... on RED cameras... RED Dragons...
or was it the new one?
I don't know anymore.
I normally shoot... with 3-4 cameras... because... this on this movie as well.
So I... as a cinematographer... had a brilliant gaffer... from Belgium...
and I had... two... three colleague... operators.
I set myself...
did the A camera... we had a B camera... steady cam... a C camera...
Bart... he was also...
on my... he is a Belgian... operator... he was also... on my movie...
Admiral... and we had... a D camera... with Malika... and... and sometimes...
somebody else... was dropping me.
So... I was shooting... with 4 cameras... and also...
I'm... a lot of people... ask me... how did you... cool this off... this movie...
in 40 days... because it was a very... complicated shoot.
I remember... we started with like... 50 days of shooting... or schedule...
that was already tough... but during the... production... you know... we...
were a lot of stuff... happening...
and things that... that had to be... adjusted...
and therefore... the budget was... slinking and slinking... and so...
I had to adjust... the schedule as well... so I was... giving up days...
to make sure... that we got enough... stuff... to do this story... so we ended up...
shooting this movie... in 40 days... I'm also a director... who doesn't...
I don't like... second units... so I don't... use a second unit... so I did...
everything myself... in one unit...
but...
on every day... I kind of... sent away... one of the operators...
with some elements... and had them shoot... kind of...
some shots... some close-ups... some insults...
like a splinter unit... and... and then... but they were... always on our...
main set... and then... after an hour or so... we enjoyed... this again...
the main... the main...
so this is... kind of...
Also, the lighting-wise, I wanted to be as
realistic as possible, but in a stylistic way.
So, lighting-wise, we just used a big source, a nice night with a big moon source.
And then we had some balloons hanging with tungsten lighting.
The moon was kind of the daylight.
And then we had a lot of torches, of course.
And then we had some soft boxes that we
filled to do a nice fill where the camera was.
That was kind of the basic plan.
At the end of the movie, I wanted to do something very extreme with the lighting.
So, also, the movie...
I was looking at... I was researching...
the wardrobe of this world.
And there is a museum in Weikenduurstede.
Dogenstad was a city.
And that city now is a village called Weikenduurstede.
It's very close to Utrecht.
And there is a Dogenstad museum.
And I went there.
And there you can kind of see what the archaeological... Archaeological?
I don't know how to pronounce it.
The people that dig up historical artifacts from the ground.
So they found things there.
Houses and props and wardrobes kind of things.
So they had like a demonstration in the museum.
And the outfits that people were wearing were just dead.
And it was really boring.
And I think that at this time where we are now...
where series as Vikings and Game of Thrones...
are kind of the standard for us visually...
to see these kind of worlds... I kind of talked with the costume designer...
to kind of really have a non-realistic... kind of stylistic world, visual world.
And so that's kind of what we went for.
We went for a different kind of look.
And my costume designer... It's ours!
Martina.
She did a fantastic job...
building these wardrobes and refining them.
This is, by the way, this shot here.
This is a location in Friesland.
And a beautiful look at that.
And this is just as it is.
And I'm flying with a drone just there.
And there's no visual effects involved.
It's exactly as it is there.
This is a visual effects shot.
But what the what is... between in the north of the Netherlands... on the ocean.
There's an area.
It's called the Wad.
And basically when there's low tide... you can walk over the bottom of the ocean...
towards the islands that are... north of the North Shore of Holland.
So, but in the pre-production process... I also asked this costume designer...
Jonny Tam... who I worked with before as well... and he is kind of...
very much into fantasy designing... to do some concept designs of wardrobe...
as well as a kind of inspiration... or finding the tone.
When you work in America... it's all about tone.
So to find the right tone... for our movie's design.
And so that's what we did.
And then we ended up with what we have.
Another big problem was that... just a few months before...
the shooting...
I kind of lost my production designer... that I also used on my April.
And we lost a line producer... that was also on my April.
So we lost really two big...
serious pieces of this production.
So we had to find a new line producer.
This is by the way a real longhouse.
We shot this in Eindhoven.
It's the place where I was born as a child.
And...
and here of course Jonathan Banks... who plays Pepin.
A really cool actor.
And this is Thiebaud.
He's a Belgium actor.
He plays the son.
He plays Charles.
He's a really brilliant actor in Belgium.
And...
both of them play our villains in the movie.
So now we're going to... for the first time we're going to see...
Willibert and Bonifatius.
These are the two historical figures... that I really know from these three books.
Charles.
Bonifatius.
And...
and it was a blast... to see them... joining our movie.
These brilliant actors.
Isn't it beautiful?
For this character.
So...
then when it comes to...
to hair and makeup... also that was very specific in the time... and...
we went all the way... to do this incredible task.
Of...
of bringing this to life.
Now I had a brilliant...
You must be careful.
A brilliant team... to do this.
I have to... They are wild animals.
Wild animals.
Something...
Sorry, something went wrong.
So yes, we're talking about the hair and makeup.
Ingeborg, she's also from Belgium.
She also did the Admiral movie.
She... very early on... she showed me this lookbook... where she kind of...
showed me all her research... and the things and all the...
stuff that she wanted to use.
And it was a brilliant kind of plan... of what she wanted to do with the hair...
and extensions... and things in the hair.
And she really designed... all these characters.
Here you see Gijs again.
He had his beard grown.
So his beard is real.
But everything else... in his hair are extensions and...
and Ingeborg did an incredible...
Brilliant.
Visually.
So we had some wonderful actors.
The casting was done by Leonie.
She also did the casting for my Admiral movie.
And we had some brilliant actors... that I'm so happy with.
And we did extensive rehearsals.
I did like three weeks of intensive rehearsals...
with all the actors.
We were going through the lines... every scene, scene by scene.
Different combinations.
And then also some of the scenes... we really played.
And we were working on characters... and the developments and the art.
And Gijs is really... such a professional actor...
that wanted to be really involved... with this whole process.
And he also... you know, as the lead of the movie...
you're responsible for not only your own character...
but also the interaction and the relationships... with all the other characters.
So, and he was very serious about that.
And I really liked that.
I did a lot of work with him... getting it right and finding the right tone...
and the right moments for everybody.
And then the main actors... they did like a three months rehearsal...
on riding horses, sword fighting... and all kind of stuff.
So our main characters that had to fight... did this also, this whole...
Oh, I love this shot by the way.
I want to talk about this shot.
I really liked it.
That's done with a 35 macro.
All these shots, these close-ups... are done with a 35 macro.
And the Steadicam operator is really close... to their faces.
And I love those angles and those shots.
And then we have a nice lighting coming in.
It was a handheld kind of LED softbox... that Mike Gaffer kind of...
put in the right corners.
And I love those shots.
Then...
So we did a casting in the Netherlands.
This is Ben Kalboer.
Really good actor from the Netherlands.
He plays kind of the... nephew basically... of Red Butt.
Who later becomes king.
And we did a casting in Belgium.
We had some wonderful Belgium actors.
And basically what we did... we asked the Belgium actors... to be kind of the Franks.
And play English.
And then the Dutch actors... would do the Dutch parts.
And then we went to Denmark.
And we had the Danish cast... in Denmark.
And then... we had Jonathan Banks... as kind of... the lead king.
That later of course killed.
The casting process in the Netherlands... is really a long time before.
It's kind of a year... or like ten months before shooting.
And I really like that.
Because you have... you can really take the time... to find the right people.
I did like intensive castings... in the Netherlands.
Together with Leo Nie... the casting director.
And finding these people.
And it's of course a blast.
A blast to do that process.
I remember casting her.
And she is such a... brilliant, brilliant... young actress.
And...
and her name is... Britte Lacher.
And I remember in the casting... that I was telling her... that I like...
kind of performance... of being... kind of timing... even a teardrop.
And she said... yeah, yeah.
I can do that.
So this was that moment... where I really wanted to... time in and cue a teardrop...
coming from her eyes.
And she did a perfect job.
So that is not CG.
That is just her...
having the drop... coming down at the right moment.
So then of course... this is Renee Soutendijk.
I'm a huge fan of her... all my life.
And I was glad... that I finally could work with her.
And then of course... Derek De Lintz.
Who kind of plays the father... of the nephew.
And he's kind of also... kind of a semi-villain...
of this movie.
And I worked with him before... on Admirals as well.
And a wonderful actor.
And then... we had Huub Stapel... who plays the father of Red Buds.
But he is already dead, right?
And then... we had Egbert-Jan Weber... who plays Bonifatius.
And we had...
Otter and Calbu... who already said that.
And I had some... Jack Wouterse of course... who plays Willy Port.
So these shots... on the beach... this is kind of... the real ocean.
This we shot on Ameland...
that is in the north of Holland.
There's an island.
And it's a beautiful island... with beautiful dunes.
And there we shot... this sequence.
And I was always hoping... for bad weather.
And we got it.
You know, we got it.
We got good weather...
in the Netherlands.
And then... and then also... I wanted to do... this stylistic look... of kind of...
overexposing... this whole movie...
in a kind of... in the look that you see.
But what I did... is that...
we made LUTs.
What is basically... a digital color correction... that we dropped...
into the cameras.
So on set... I was looking... at this color timing... already in cameras.
So that was kind of... the color that we wanted... because we had... Oh, there's a...
ambulance passing by.
We had...
So this LUT... this color correction... already in the camera.
So I could see... on my monitor... when I was operating... so the other operators...
could see.
So you were... directly inspired... by this... extreme stylistic... look.
And I really... loved that.
You still...
because it's... a RED camera... you're still
recording... the raw material... material.
So in the...
In the post-production we still had to do an extensive color timing, but the color
timing was done again by this LUT and also the LUT was created, the digital LUT was
created by the colorist who also colored the time to the movie for me, and he's a
very brilliant artist from Belgium as well, and also did my movie as well.
So I wanted to do this silhouette-y kind of color timed kind of overexposed world,
and I'm really proud of the look of this movie.
Of course when you do these kind of scenes, you know, you are shooting with
available lights, especially the way I film, you know, I film 360 degrees around,
subject matters, and you cannot put lighting there.
And so you do what you have to do.
And then with the right color timing, you can give it a nice look.
And I love these skies, you know, these skies are real.
You know, in Hollywood you would do a skies
replacement, but of course we had no money for that.
On this budget, was that impossible?
So other people on the crew was the music,
beautiful music that was done by Trevor Morris.
Trevor Morris is a composer, Canadian, British composer, who lives in L.A.
He's done more of my movies, and I worked on other movies with him.
So he did a brilliant job composing the music.
And we recorded the live orchestra and choir in the Galaxy Studios in Belgium.
What was really spectacular and beautiful.
We talked about the writer, Alex Van Galen, who wrote also another movie, Admiral.
Then, of course, Radul Eon.
He's my editor.
He edits almost all my movies.
And this movie was really a really tough edit.
So this location that we're looking at now, this is Eindhoven.
So I was born in Eindhoven.
It's a little town in the south of the Netherlands.
And when I was a child, there was a kind of historical farm.
And like a prehistoric farm.
And so I remember this spot.
So when we were developing this, and we were
talking about how are we going to do this world.
Because when you have 7 million Euros, there's
no way you can build towns and build cities.
That was also the reason why I lost my first production designer.
Because his plan was to build everything.
But it's kind of an impossible task.
So we are traveling through, scouting through
Holland and Germany and Denmark and Belgium.
To find prehistoric villages that were kind of little
museums or places where they go with school children.
To kind of learn about the pre-middle century world.
And so in Eindhoven, the town where I was born, I wanted to use this one farm.
So at one of the scouting we had, I was thinking we're going to this farm.
But when I arrived now, they built a whole village.
And it was a beautiful village.
So we kind of changed the plan radically at that moment.
And decided to shoot Dorstad in this town in Eindhoven.
So we ended up shooting there for like three weeks.
Where we also did the exterior, the battle, the end battle at night.
And so that was the...
It solved all our production problems to be able to shoot Dorstad there.
And then we had a few different other villages that I will point out later.
That we shot in other territories.
And so the shoot became kind of a...
A traveling road movie.
To go to these different spots and different places.
Now the movie only had a hundred page script.
And I really asked Alex to bring the script count down.
Because I knew that with these battles, the screen time will be extended.
And therefore, and I really wanted to make a movie for two hours.
Okay, so this is the Danish coast.
We went to Denmark to shoot these scenes.
And I really, really like this shot.
This one around him.
To kind of reveal him in the water.
That is also a little bit kind of I think my style.
Doing really extreme close-ups.
And then going to big wide angle...
I call them ants shots.
So people are ants.
And doing these big wide vistas and see the world.
When I'm so tight and close.
I'm using this 35 macro lens.
But I also use this wide angle zoom lens.
That I bought from eBay.
It's kind of a re-housed Tokina zoom lens.
It's 11mm to 16mm.
And when you buy this re-housed lens.
It's like a 2000 dollar lens or something.
Very, very cheap for a lens.
But it's a beautiful lens.
And it shoots kind of full frame.
5K.
On a RED camera.
And it gives you this really, really wide angle lens.
What I like.
So here we are in Denmark.
With a lot of Danish actors.
Except the girl.
Her name is Loes.
And she is a Dutch actress.
And I always was a fan of her as well.
And she joined us to play Freya's character.
And then of course.
We had Søren.
What is really one of the big legend actors in Denmark.
Søren who played Freya's father.
And this is a scene where I kind of wanted to extend to see him.
And the first time that we are going to really see him.
Is together in the shot with RedBot.
And his own son.
And then his daughter Freya.
In one shot.
So this is kind of a cool reveal of this character.
We saw him a little bit in the background.
We saw his hands.
And then we reveal him in the same shot as RedBot.
And then we are doing this beautiful pull out shot.
I love this shot.
And I had a really nice techno crane.
We built it on a little tank buggy.
So I could drive it to these extreme difficult locations.
Because you have to imagine.
If you shoot on these villagers.
These prehistoric kind of farms or villages.
Then really you have to find.
You will find them in the middle of a forest.
Or in the middle of a field.
So getting there logistically with your equipment.
Was kind of a huge challenge.
So that is the reason we built this little tank.
And we had a techno crane on it.
So I could bring it all the time.
And here again.
I love rain.
And then we have a big 12K.
Blasting light from the sides.
And high contrast.
And siluety.
I love this look.
And this specific thing.
And this is Holy Pike.
In Eindhoven location.
Here you see Eindhoven again.
And then the Viking ship that you saw in the background.
We brought that from Denmark with us.
And put it in this little water place.
In Eindhoven.
And it stayed there during the shoots.
And so we could like show.
That is what was kind of an international harbor kind of thing going on there.
So I was talking about page count.
So we had a hundred page script.
I wanted to make a two hour movie.
And not longer.
Because already my Admiral movie was a little bit too long.
But then when I started shooting.
I just felt you needed scope.
And you need this moment.
And so I started.
I started extending scenes.
Excuse me.
I extended scenes.
I put some new things in.
And extended a lot of moments.
And then when my editor Radu was starting to cut.
The first assembly was four and a half hours.
So we were kind of shocked.
And in a big panic mode.
So we had to hack a lot.
And.
And when we were really satisfied with the story.
And with everything that we had.
The movie was two hours and fifty minutes or something.
So I was devastated.
And I didn't know what to do.
So we showed the movie to some of my friends.
One of my friends is Jan de Bont.
The director.
I showed it to him.
He was very impressed with what he saw.
But he said yeah it's too long.
So he had some suggestions of cutting.
And then some other friends.
And he showed the movie to them.
To make some suggestions of cutting.
So I ended up with a movie that was two hours and fifteen minutes.
And then when I was looking at it.
I really didn't like it.
It was just.
It was all pop-plot-plot.
All the stylistic things were gone.
All the emotion was gone.
You were not investing anymore in these characters.
And you were just slamming through the story.
So after we discussed it with the distributors.
We said alright fuck it.
Let's make the movie as long as it needs to be.
So it became two hours and thirty-seven minutes.
And what is a pity.
Because it's too long.
To be for example.
In a few territories in cinemas.
Because they don't like these long movies.
And so we missed a few theatrical windows.
But anyway yeah.
The movie needed to be what it was.
So it was.
So this town.
This was also like a prehistoric village in Denmark.
That we used.
It was very small.
But I had to kind of shoot it in a way.
Also you have to realize.
Yes we have a lot of visual effects in the movie.
But you don't want to spend all your money on visual effects.
And we used this very good company in Belgium called Grit.
They also did the visual effects on Eberron.
And I loved it.
I loved this shot.
It was beautiful.
Low sun.
And a lot of smoke in it.
And also something that's what I really like about this movie.
I really like this really big wide shots.
And then doing the silhouettes.
And especially this location.
That has this beautiful back sky.
And this is all practical in camera.
No visual effects.
No sky replacement.
And just with this lot.
This color timed lot in the camera.
And then exposing the right way.
Even in the camera on the location.
We make it very extreme.
And doing this silhouette kind of thing.
And of course I work a lot in America.
I do TV series.
I do feature films.
Action movies.
With the studios in Hollywood.
And they would never let me shoot a scene like this.
With this kind of silhouette.
I know.
They always want to see the faces.
So this was kind of cool.
To have this freedom.
So this was shot there.
I think we went four or five days.
In Denmark.
And again.
This movie was very very tough to shoot.
We had not a lot of money.
So it was very complicated.
To get these things in camera.
On these locations.
But we had a brilliant production team.
Lied by Martijn Heide.
He became the line producer.
And his team did a wonderful job.
Organizing all the stuff.
This is one of my favorite shots.
The silhouette of him.
Standing there.
And so...
What was for me very important.
Is that for me the historical movies.
They succeed or they fail.
With the number of extras.
In the scenes.
You know.
You need just extras.
To fill these shots.
Like this shot.
You know.
You want to see an amount of people.
In a village.
To believe that it is real.
You know.
I've seen Dutch historical movies.
That are very empty.
Because they don't spend money on extras.
And so there are like a few people.
In the background.
But then you... I don't feel that it is very realistic.
So what we had.
And I'm very lucky.
We had 8000 different extras.
Joining us on the sets.
And they were basically.
Came there with no pay.
So they didn't get paid.
The only thing.
We fed them food.
And we gave them wardrobe.
And that kind of stuff.
And we organized.
The bus.
If they needed to come to Denmark.
But they were all there.
By their own accords.
And also.
They loved it.
You know.
They were wonderful people.
That were very excited.
And they were very motivated.
To kind of being in that world.
In those characters.
And these people.
Made very long days.
Because they.
Because of the wardrobe.
And all the costumes.
And everything.
They had to be there.
Four, five, six hours.
Before shooting.
Then be on set.
For twelve hours.
And then.
Take everything off again.
And then be in the bus.
Back.
And so.
It was very hard.
And tough on them.
But they were so motivated.
They were there.
Every day.
Giving us ideas.
Giving us a lot of energy.
And input.
And they became.
Really part of the whole crew.
And the cast.
And they were wonderful.
To have.
And that really.
Makes or breaks.
This movie.
So.
I'm really happy.
Well done.
As a result of that.
So.
And that also goes.
For Denmark.
We needed to bring them.
With us.
To Denmark.
Which was a big logistical.
Kind of nightmare.
But.
We succeeded.
And I'm so proud of it.
And I'm so.
Grateful.
And thankful.
For all of them.
To be part.
Of this.
Of this movie.
So.
The overall production.
Was tough.
The shooting days.
I.
I don't like.
To go over.
In shooting days.
So.
I think.
We had.
11 hours.
To shoot.
Per day.
And.
But it was just.
Very.
These locations.
Were logistically.
A nightmare.
We had.
A lot of elements.
That are difficult.
Horses.
They take time.
Boats.
They take time.
Getting everybody.
In wardrobe.
And.
And then also.
Shooting action.
Is kind of.
Very.
Difficult.
And.
So.
But.
We did what.
We.
We can.
And.
The end result.
So.
Now.
They are.
Teaming up.
For.
A.
Battle.
The.
Swedes.
To swear.
Are coming.
Coming in.
And.
Historically.
This was.
They.
These tribes.
Never.
Kind of.
Fought.
For.
What.
Called.
Land.
Of.
Economic.
Reasons.
So.
A lot.
Of.
These.
Battles.
Were.
Just.
Battled.
Because.
It.
Was.
The.
Way.
They.
Were.
Living.
You.
Know.
But.
I.
Think.
What.
We.
This.
Battle.
Of.
Is.
That.
They.
Just.
Came.
In.
To.
Rob.
Them.
Take.
Whatever.
They.
Need.
So.
Red.
Bots.
Join.
Them.
And.
Help.
Them.
But.
He's.
Not.
Allowed.
To.
Do.
That.
They.
Think.
He.
Bring.
Bad.
Luck.
So.
We.
Had.
Two.
Viking.
Ships.
You.
See.
Them.
On.
The.
Back.
There.
And.
They.
Came.
From.
Denmark.
They.
Very.
Difficult.
To.
Kind.
Of.
Sail.
But.
They.
Did.
A.
Really.
Good.
Job.
With.
Boat.
And.
So.
They.
Were.
There.
The.
Only.
Thing.
Is.
They.
Were.
Very.
Precaire.
Of.
This.
Boat.
So.
We.
Don't.
Really.
Do.
Any.
Spectacular.
Things.
With.
Them.
So.
Gladly.
We.
Had.
A.
Two.
Rowing.
Boats.
But.
That's.
Also.
Something.
You.
Know.
He.
Like.
Two.
Rowing.
Boats.
To.
The.
Shore.
And.
That's.
Low.
Budget.
Filmmaking.
There.
So.
Then.
At.
This.
Moment.
He's.
Joining.
The.
Fight.
And.
I.
Want.
To.
The.
Two.
Reveal.
Shots.
This.
Is.
That.
Reveal.
Shot.
Where.
We.
Gonna.
See.
And.
We.
Basically.
Two.
Boats.
Laying.
There.
The.
Rest.
So.
That.
Boat.
Is.
Real.
And.
Then.
The.
Other.
Ones.
Are.
With.
The.
Back.
Boat.
Composite.
The.
Same.
Boats.
Over.
And.
It's.
Also.
A.
Technique.
We.
On.
The.
Airport.
Last.
Shot.
Coming.
When.
I.
Location.
Scouting.
This.
Hill.
I.
Was.
Really.
Seeing.
This.
Shot.
And.
Seeing.
A.
Red.
Button.
Running.
Over.
The.
Side.
And.
Doing.
This.
Long.
Kind.
Of.
Pushy.
Shot.
Over.
Grass.
And.
So.
Here.
Comes.
I.
Don't.
Show.
The.
Timer.
Going.
Down.
And.
Kind.
Of.
Running.
And.
Then.
I.
Want.
To.
Extend.
This.
Shot.
And.
Have.
This.
Shot.
As.
Possible.
Thing.
That.
I.
Love.
This.
Is.
Of.
My.
Favorite.
Shots.
And.
Then.
The.
Fighting.
Also.
We.
Had.
A.
Fighting.
Crew.
They.
Are.
Kind.
Of.
Re-enactment.
School.
They.
Call.
Vanguard.
And.
They.
Are.
Guys.
And.
Ladies.
That.
Are.
Very.
Motivated.
Swordfight.
Men.
And.
They.
Came.
In.
As.
Extras.
And.
They.
Kind.
Of.
Fighting.
Also.
They.
Trained.
100.
Extras.
Months.
And.
Months.
Before.
We.
Start.
Shooting.
They.
Start.
Training.
Them.
In.
The.
Weekend.
And.
So.
We.
Had.
100.
Extras.
From.
The.
200.
Extras.
From.
The.
8000.
That.
Would.
Kind.
Of.
Act.
Call.
An.
Action.
Extra.
I.
Love.
This.
Shot.
And.
Help.
Going.
To.
The.
Right.
And.
The.
Arrows.
For.
CT.
And.
What.
Was.
Also.
Kind.
Of.
Interesting.
Because.
Here.
When.
He's.
Fighting.
Assault.
Fighting.
When.
He.
Grabs.
A.
Arrow.
And.
Then.
Let's.
Drop.
Before.
He.
Pulls.
The.
Trigger.
And.
Then.
CT.
Takes.
Over.
And.
Do.
A.
Frame.
Of.
A.
Comparison.
You.
See.
That.
Kind.
Of.
He.
Drops.
It.
And.
That.
Is.
There.
Again.
And.
That's.
Kind.
Of.
How.
You.
Do.
The.
Because.
Of.
Course.
It's.
Very.
Dangerous.
If.
You.
Start.
Shooting.
Little.
Arrows.
At.
The.
Crew.
Standing.
By.
A.
Cannon.
But.
So.
These.
Vanguard.
Guys.
Trained.
100.
To.
The.
Actors.
During.
Those.
Months.
Of.
Rehearsal.
And.
These.
Are.
The.
Guys.
That.
The.
Actors.
Are.
Fighting.
Right.
Now.
And.
Some.
Of.
Them.
If.
You.
Really.
Watch.
The.
Movie.
10.
20.
Times.
Or.
100.
Times.
Like.
I.
Did.
Then.
You.
Gonna.
Recognize.
Oh.
Yeah.
This.
Is.
A.
I.
Wanted.
To.
Do.
One.
Shot.
Where.
We.
Can.
See.
Them.
Fighting.
Together.
And.
So.
They.
Trained.
Guys.
And.
Old.
Guards.
And.
I.
Could.
Do.
This.
In.
A.
One.
Shot.
Deal.
And.
The.
Two.
Of.
Them.
Are.
Multiple.
Characters.
With.
A.
Different.
Wigs.
Of.
With.
A.
Different.
Outfit.
And.
That's.
How.
You.
Can.
Move.
The.
Camera.
So.
This.
Interior.
Again.
I.
Really.
Like.
This.
Camera.
Movements.
This.
Is.
In.
And.
Out.
Shots.
Where.
We.
Go.
With.
The.
Techno.
Crane.
Forward.
And.
Backwards.
Into.
This.
Location.
Was.
Beautiful.
Dressed.
Oh.
Yeah.
So.
We.
Lost.
The.
Designer.
We.
Got.
A.
New.
One.
His.
Name.
Is.
Michael.
And.
He's.
Basically.
A.
Director.
Coming.
From.
Film.
School.
And.
He.
Likes.
The.
Art.
Department.
And.
He.
Pitched.
Us.
Kind.
Of.
A.
Visual.
Tone.
And.
Props.
And.
Things.
That.
You.
Do.
So.
And.
That.
He.
Felt.
That.
The.
Movie.
Should.
Look.
Like.
So.
We.
Asked.
Him.
Or.
Martijn.
The.
Line.
Producer.
Asked.
Him.
To.
Be.
The.
Production.
Designer.
And.
He.
Said.
Yes.
So.
Basically.
It's.
His.
First.
Job.
Ever.
Being.
A.
Production.
Designer.
Or.
Our.
Director.
He.
Never.
Done.
It.
Before.
And.
He.
With.
His.
Very.
Small.
Team.
Did.
Wonders.
Man.
It.
Was.
Absolutely.
Miracle.
What.
They.
Got.
Together.
And.
How.
They.
Dressed.
These.
Sets.
And.
These.
Houses.
And.
It.
Was.
Pretty.
Incredible.
They.
Had.
Like.
A.
Big.
Truck.
Full.
With.
Stuff.
And.
Then.
They.
Would.
Travel.
With.
Us.
And.
Put.
The.
Stuff.
In.
These.
Locations.
Or.
In.
These.
Houses.
I.
See.
So.
Now.
We.
Have.
The.
Moment.
Of.
Them.
Kind.
Of.
Being.
Married.
This.
Was.
Also.
Very.
Difficult.
To.
Get.
Here.
As.
Fast.
As.
Possible.
In.
The.
Editing.
We.
Do.
And.
I.
Were.
Really.
Struggling.
By.
Bringing.
The.
Time.
Down.
But.
You.
Kind.
Of.
Want.
To.
Tell.
The.
Story.
To.
This.
Far.
Because.
Basically.
The.
Story.
Really.
Takes.
Off.
After.
The.
Moment.
When.
They.
Married.
And.
They.
Go.
Back.
To.
Dorrestad.
Sorry.
About.
That.
Then.
Really.
The.
Movie.
Gets.
Kind.
Of.
A.
Acceleration.
And.
Then.
It.
Was.
Much.
Easier.
To.
Cut.
And.
To.
Structure.
The.
Movie.
So.
We.
To.
Bring.
Down.
The.
Amount.
Of.
Time.
We.
Spent.
With.
Them.
In.
This.
Village.
And.
Then.
Of.
Course.
This.
Whole.
Marry.
Ceremony.
Did.
A.
Wonderful.
Job.
Parallel.
Cutting.
These.
Two.
Elements.
Together.
Something.
We.
A.
In.
My.
Movies.
Where.
We.
Kind.
Of.
Having.
Two.
Or.
Three.
Elements.
That.
We.
Kind.
Of.
Parallel.
Montaging.
Together.
To.
Get.
An.
Emotional.
Impact.
To.
Condense.
Time.
A.
Little.
Bit.
And.
To.
Get.
The.
Emotion.
That.
You.
Need.
And.
Work.
And.
It.
Was.
Cool.
As.
Time.
So.
I.
Think.
I.
Went.
To.
All.
The.
Departments.
Yeah.
So.
We.
Talked.
About.
The.
Techno.
Crane.
The.
Wardrobe.
And.
Art.
Direction.
Casting.
Yeah.
I.
Think.
We.
Discussed.
That.
All.
So.
When.
I.
We.
Shot.
This.
Movie.
In.
The.
Netherlands.
The.
Release.
Of.
The.
Netherlands.
Was.
A.
Bit.
Disappointing.
We.
Released.
A.
Movie.
In.
June.
And.
What.
Was.
A.
Terrible.
Timing.
Because.
At.
That.
Moment.
The.
Netherlands.
Were.
Hit.
By.
This.
Incredible.
Heat.
Wave.
And.
Never.
Has.
Been.
So.
Hot.
In.
Netherlands.
Still.
Since.
The.
1970s.
Or.
Something.
So.
And.
The.
Dutch.
Are.
Not.
People.
That.
Then.
Run.
Into.
Airconditioning.
Theaters.
No.
The.
Dutch.
Then.
Run.
To.
The.
Ocean.
To.
Swim.
In.
The.
Ocean.
Or.
Sit.
On.
Terrace.
Outside.
In.
The.
Cities.
And.
So.
We.
Had.
A.
Hard.
Time.
Filling.
The.
Cinemas.
And.
To.
Get.
A.
Good.
Box.
Office.
Like.
We.
Did.
On.
The.
Admiral.
Movie.
In.
An.
Animation.
So.
That.
Was.
Kind.
Of.
More.
On.
This.
World.
And.
What.
Is.
Very.
Popular.
And.
So.
We.
See.
And.
Then.
Also.
The.
Movie.
Was.
Picked.
Up.
To.
The.
Rest.
Of.
The.
World.
On.
Multiple.
Territories.
Like.
Germany.
And.
England.
And.
France.
And.
Korea.
And.
Russia.
And.
China.
And.
America.
And.
So.
We.
Are.
Very.
Happy.
That.
This.
Movie.
Is.
Getting.
An.
International.
Release.
So.
This.
Back.
In.
The.
Location.
In.
Eindhoven.
Where.
We.
Shot.
These.
Scenes.
Dorastad.
Scenes.
Jonathan.
Banks.
Came.
To.
The.
Picture.
I.
Really.
Like.
What.
We.
Did.
On.
We.
Wanted.
To.
Do.
The.
Same.
In.
This.
Movie.
So.
Then.
You.
Kind.
Of.
Look.
Who.
Is.
Kind.
Of.
Interesting.
For.
This.
Part.
And.
Who.
Is.
Available.
And.
We.
End.
Up.
With.
Jonathan.
Banks.
I'm.
A.
Huge.
Fan.
Of.
Calling.
Saul.
And.
So.
He's.
Absolutely.
One.
Of.
My.
Favorite.
TV.
Actors.
Out.
There.
So.
We.
Asked.
Him.
To.
Join.
Our.
Movie.
And.
To.
Be.
In.
This.
Camera.
It.
Was.
A.
Blast.
So.
Much.
Fun.
To.
Do.
So.
These.
Movies.
Are.
Done.
With.
A.
Very.
Small.
Crew.
Oh.
I.
Forget.
Now.
I.
Know.
Which.
Division.
I.
Forgot.
I.
Forgot.
Cary.
Is.
Our.
Stunt.
Coordinator.
And.
His.
Team.
Are.
From.
South.
Africa.
And.
I.
Used.
Them.
Also.
On.
A.
Of.
My.
Movies.
Including.
The.
Race.
Movies.
And.
They.
Were.
Also.
The.
Ones.
Doing.
Black.
Sails.
And.
They.
Were.
Part.
Of.
Admiral.
Stunt.
Coordinator.
Admiral.
This.
Is.
Also.
A.
Really.
Cool.
Shot.
With.
The.
Techno.
Crane.
Seeing.
The.
Silhouettes.
And.
They.
Outside.
In.
The.
Rain.
And.
So.
This.
Village.
Basically.
Where.
We.
Played.
The.
Territory.
We.
Shot.
That.
In.
Germany.
Funny.
Enough.
When.
You.
Drive.
When.
We.
Were.
Driving.
To.
Denmark.
To.
Do.
The.
Danish.
Coast.
In.
The.
Danish.
Village.
One.
The.
Scouts.
Or.
One.
Of.
Producers.
Said.
That.
Was.
A.
Historical.
Town.
In.
Germany.
Right.
On.
Way.
Towards.
Denmark.
So.
They.
Brought.
Me.
There.
And.
I.
Took.
A.
Look.
Or.
To.
By.
The.
Way.
And.
Of.
Them.
Was.
In.
This.
Forest.
And.
I.
Really.
Liked.
The.
Look.
Of.
It.
And.
It.
Was.
Also.
Very.
Logistic.
Interesting.
Because.
It.
A.
Big.
Parking.
Lot.
Right.
On.
The.
Side.
Where.
So.
Put.
The.
Circus.
There.
So.
We.
End.
Of.
Using.
This.
Little.
Village.
As.
Well.
What.
Came.
On.
The.
Badal.
Territory.
And.
I.
Wanted.
To.
Have.
A.
Look.
I.
Wanted.
To.
Feel.
Miserable.
Cold.
And.
Not.
An.
Ideal.
Place.
To.
Be.
So.
I.
Wanted.
To.
Do.
This.
Completely.
In.
Rain.
And.
So.
This.
Was.
Nightmare.
For.
The.
Wardrobe.
Department.
Because.
These.
Are.
All.
Leather.
Clothes.
And.
Fur.
So.
Every.
Day.
When.
They.
Are.
Standing.
In.
This.
Rain.
Then.
They.
Are.
So.
Wet.
And.
Having.
Next.
Day.
The.
Wardrobe.
Ready.
Again.
Was.
A.
Nightmare.
Because.
Of.
Course.
You.
Don't.
Have.
Two.
Or.
Three.
Or.
Five.
Or.
Six.
Or.
Ten.
Of.
Different.
Wardrobes.
Of.
The.
Characters.
Because.
It's.
A.
Budget.
Movie.
So.
You.
Have.
One.
Piece.
Of.
Wardrobe.
So.
During.
The.
Night.
They.
Build.
These.
Warm.
Tents.
To.
Kind.
Of.
Getting.
The.
Moist.
The.
Water.
Out.
And.
Make.
Them.
Dry.
Again.
But.
Of.
Course.
It.
Was.
Absolutely.
Impossible.
So.
The.
Wardrobe.
Of.
The.
Apartment.
Was.
Such.
A.
Distress.
Every.
Day.
You.
Know.
They.
Hated.
The.
Rain.
Machines.
But.
I.
Think.
The.
Rain.
Machines.
Make.
It.
So.
Beautiful.
And.
Realistic.
And.
Grounded.
That.
So.
This.
Is.
Another.
Different.
Spot.
We.
Went.
Here.
One.
Day.
But.
A.
Very.
Small.
Little.
Hut.
I.
Think.
Somewhere.
In.
I.
Don't.
Know.
Anymore.
Where.
It.
Was.
Somewhere.
In.
Brabant.
Where.
We.
Did.
One.
Day.
Of.
Filming.
And.
There.
We.
Used.
The.
Last.
Snow.
Candles.
That.
We.
Have.
To.
Give.
Kind.
Of.
The.
Feeling.
Of.
The.
Opening.
Of.
The.
Movie.
With.
Two.
Of.
Them.
Because.
Basically.
He.
Of.
Course.
The.
Relationship.
With.
The.
Other.
Girl.
Played.
By.
Lisa.
Smith.
And.
Now.
He's.
Married.
With.
Freya.
And.
She's.
Cracked.
Funny.
Enough.
Now.
The.
Courier.
I.
Needed.
The.
Courier.
To.
Kind.
Of.
Explain.
Here.
A.
Small.
Plot.
Point.
And.
Officially.
This.
Would.
Be.
My.
Cameo.
I.
Recorded.
My.
Own.
Audio.
And.
Speaking.
If.
I.
Was.
Saying.
This.
Little.
Thing.
This.
Information.
Moment.
But.
Of.
Course.
I.
Suck.
As.
An.
Actor.
I'm.
Just.
Terrible.
So.
Staple.
Who.
Plays.
The.
Father.
Of.
Red.
Bots.
Who.
Was.
Killed.
Of.
Course.
In.
The.
Right.
Now.
He.
Came.
To.
The.
ADR.
Session.
To.
Do.
Some.
ADR.
Work.
On.
This.
Home.
Character.
So.
I.
Asked.
Him.
If.
You.
Want.
To.
Our.
Kind.
Of.
Editors.
Assembly.
And.
Then.
You're.
To.
Cut.
Down.
The.
Movie.
You're.
Going.
To.
Cut.
Down.
A.
Of.
Stuff.
And.
So.
In.
The.
Script.
There.
This.
Little.
Nightmare.
Moments.
Where.
He.
Kind.
Of.
Feels.
The.
Guilt.
And.
He.
Feels.
The.
Nerve.
To.
Go.
Back.
And.
To.
Go.
To.
His.
Sister.
And.
I.
Suggested.
To.
Use.
One.
Of.
The.
Moments.
That.
Was.
On.
The.
Editor.
Floor.
That.
We.
Seen.
That.
We.
Didn't.
Use.
Where.
The.
Two.
Of.
Them.
Really.
Met.
Because.
In.
The.
Struck.
In.
The.
Script.
And.
How.
We.
Shot.
It.
Is.
That.
Two.
Times.
To.
The.
Castle.
To.
Kind.
Of.
Go.
To.
His.
Sister.
And.
The.
Time.
That.
We.
Didn't.
Use.
I.
Suggest.
To.
Use.
It.
Then.
In.
The.
Flashback.
And.
Like.
He's.
Thinking.
Of.
Her.
And.
Seeing.
Her.
In.
His.
Dreams.
And.
That's.
Kind.
Of.
Really.
Nice.
And.
I.
Must.
Say.
Dreams.
Not.
Flashback.
It.
Is.
Of.
Course.
So.
Here.
Again.
The.
Extreme.
Lighting.
Blasting.
It's.
Big.
I.
Really.
Like.
Tungsten.
Lighting.
So.
We.
Used.
Here.
This.
Big.
Nine.
Lights.
Tungstens.
Maxi.
Brutes.
And.
They.
Called.
Mini.
Brutes.
Yeah.
Blasting.
To.
The.
Sites.
Then.
Recording.
Drone.
Shots.
I.
Almost.
Did.
All.
The.
Drone.
Shots.
Myself.
I.
We.
Used.
The.
DJI.
Inspire.
2.
To.
Do.
The.
Drone.
Shots.
And.
Then.
Visual.
Effects.
Would.
Clean.
Up.
Shots.
Because.
Of.
Course.
There.
Were.
So.
Many.
Houses.
In.
The.
Shots.
Or.
Windmills.
Or.
Like.
How.
Do.
You.
Call.
Them.
Yeah.
The.
Modern.
Wind.
Mails.
And.
Wind.
Towers.
And.
Modern.
Ships.
And.
Then.
CG.
Cleans.
Them.
Out.
And.
That.
Was.
A.
Of.
A.
Of.
Work.
And.
Also.
This.
Time.
We.
Didn't.
Have.
Fancy.
Camera.
Boats.
And.
That.
Kind.
Of.
Stuff.
It.
Was.
Really.
A.
Budget.
Movie.
This.
Shot.
This.
Drone.
Shot.
Is.
Shot.
By.
The.
Producer.
Klaas.
He.
Owned.
The.
Drones.
By.
The.
Way.
But.
This.
Shot.
I.
Was.
Really.
Handheld.
On.
Another.
Diggy.
Boat.
And.
Going.
Around.
The.
Ship.
And.
Normally.
You.
Can.
Do.
A.
Nice.
Stabilized.
Head.
And.
Have.
All.
This.
Beautiful.
Equipment.
That.
We.
Had.
Basically.
On.
The.
Admiral.
To.
Do.
But.
Definitely.
I.
Had.
No.
Money.
For.
It.
Here.
So.
This.
Is.
Just.
A.
Handheld.
Me.
In.
Front.
Of.
This.
Little.
Speed.
Boat.
And.
Going.
Around.
The.
Vacuum.
Ship.
To.
Do.
This.
Shot.
And.
Then.
In.
Post.
Production.
You.
Take.
Out.
The.
Wake.
Because.
Of.
Course.
My.
Speed.
Boat.
Is.
Making.
A.
Big.
Wake.
And.
Then.
Oh.
This.
By.
The.
Way.
Is.
A.
Wheel.
Castle.
In.
Belgium.
A.
Beautiful.
Castle.
Anyway.
So.
That.
Shot.
With.
The.
Boat.
You.
Stabilize.
It.
And.
So.
This.
Shot.
Is.
Still.
A.
Little.
Shaky.
But.
We.
See.
The.
Original.
Shot.
That.
Was.
Completely.
Shaky.
Pretty.
Unusable.
But.
Then.
With.
The.
Help.
Of.
Visual.
Effects.
You.
Can.
Stabilize.
And.
Is.
Good.
Again.
So.
This.
Castle.
Now.
I.
Forgot.
The.
Town's.
Name.
What.
Is.
On.
Belgium.
On.
The.
Border.
With.
Luxembourg.
And.
Leon.
Was.
It.
Leon.
Yes.
I.
Don't.
Know.
Anyway.
This.
Beautiful.
Castle.
Look.
At.
This.
Man.
And.
This.
Me.
Flying.
With.
The.
Drone.
And.
Then.
Only.
We.
Replace.
With.
CGI.
The.
Town.
In.
The.
Background.
Because.
There.
Was.
A.
Big.
City.
In.
The.
Background.
And.
We.
Put.
In.
This.
Kind.
Of.
Middle.
Century.
Town.
It's.
Not.
Completely.
Historical.
Correct.
There.
Stone.
Buildings.
In.
The.
Time.
But.
Not.
That.
Sophisticated.
I.
Think.
That.
Was.
Like.
200.
Years.
Later.
But.
I.
Just.
Wanted.
To.
Show.
The.
Kind.
Of.
Power.
Of.
This.
World.
And.
To.
Make.
The.
Contrast.
Again.
More.
Big.
Between.
Those.
Two.
Worlds.
We.
Let.
Ourselves.
To.
Kind.
Of.
Make.
The.
World.
And.
The.
Castle.
200.
Years.
Younger.
Kind.
Of.
Thing.
And.
Sometimes.
You.
Have.
To.
Get.
That.
Creative.
Freedom.
Funny.
Enough.
It.
Are.
The.
Historic.
Historian.
Reader.
Of.
Viewers.
That.
Are.
Kind.
Of.
Bumped.
About.
It.
But.
I.
Don't.
Get.
So.
But.
This.
Castle.
Or.
This.
Is.
Also.
One.
Of.
Favorite.
Shots.
This.
Is.
So.
The.
Coastline.
Again.
Of.
Ameland.
But.
CGI.
Put.
In.
The.
Ships.
And.
The.
Terps.
And.
But.
The.
Drone.
Plate.
Is.
For.
Real.
And.
Then.
We.
Brought.
This.
Ship.
The.
Same.
Ship.
They.
Transported.
On.
A.
Big.
Truck.
Towards.
The.
Eindhoven.
Location.
Where.
We.
Then.
Put.
It.
In.
The.
Water.
And.
This.
Was.
Also.
Visual.
Effects.
And.
A.
Little.
Bit.
Less.
Happy.
About.
Those.
Shots.
But.
We.
Were.
Just.
Running.
Out.
Of.
Time.
To.
Make.
Them.
More.
Pretty.
And.
So.
Sometimes.
We.
Win.
Sometimes.
And.
Then.
Of.
Course.
The.
Horse.
Riding.
We.
A.
Beautiful.
And.
Played.
This.
Is.
The.
Guy.
And.
He.
Plays.
Also.
A.
Parts.
In.
The.
Movie.
And.
They.
Did.
An.
Incredible.
Job.
Organizing.
These.
Horses.
Learning.
The.
Actors.
To.
Ride.
The.
Horses.
And.
Bring.
The.
Horses.
To.
The.
Sets.
And.
Of.
Course.
That.
Is.
A.
Logistic.
Challenge.
Here.
Again.
We.
Are.
That.
Swamp.
And.
Basically.
This.
Swamp.
It's.
In.
Friesland.
And.
In.
The.
Northern.
Territory.
Of.
The.
Netherlands.
And.
It's.
Exactly.
What.
I.
Shot.
Here.
With.
The.
Drone.
It's.
Beautiful.
And.
It's.
Basically.
The.
Backyard.
Of.
It's.
In.
The.
Backyard.
Of.
The.
Producer.
Who.
Lives.
In.
Friesland.
And.
Remember.
That.
He.
Kind.
Of.
Introduced.
Me.
To.
This.
Whole.
Story.
While.
We.
Were.
Working.
On.
The.
Admiral.
Movie.
And.
He.
Drove.
Me.
Around.
His.
Neighborhood.
And.
Showed.
Me.
These.
Spots.
And.
I.
Really.
Love.
These.
Locations.
And.
So.
We.
End.
Up.
Shooting.
There.
This.
Was.
One.
These.
Scenes.
What.
Is.
Much.
Longer.
In.
The.
Original.
In.
The.
Original.
Cuts.
Like.
Ten.
Minutes.
Longer.
Beautiful.
Scene.
About.
Her.
Talking.
With.
These.
People.
About.
Baptism.
And.
Baptized.
And.
But.
Because.
Of.
The.
Time.
Saying.
We.
Cut.
It.
Down.
But.
In.
The.
TV.
Series.
You.
Gonna.
See.
The.
Whole.
Length.
Of.
This.
Beautiful.
Scene.
Yes.
That.
Also.
Plays.
So.
Wonderful.
She's.
A.
Wonderful.
Actress.
And.
Very.
Intense.
And.
Really.
Enjoyed.
Working.
With.
Her.
So.
Then.
We.
Would.
Come.
To.
This.
Big.
Baptizing.
Moment.
Scene.
And.
What.
Was.
Always.
Imagining.
That.
The.
Baptized.
Were.
Very.
Kind.
Of.
Violent.
In.
A.
Way.
It's.
Also.
Something.
That's.
Some.
Historic.
Story.
She.
Said.
To.
Us.
And.
That.
Was.
The.
Case.
That.
Was.
A.
Lighting.
By.
The.
Way.
One.
Light.
Is.
Kind.
Of.
In.
The.
Back.
And.
They.
Become.
Silhouette.
Again.
In.
That.
Light.
Beautiful.
Lighting.
You.
See.
This.
One.
Be.
Bath.
Up.
And.
When.
You.
See.
The.
Long.
Extension.
Version.
Of.
The.
Scene.
See.
That.
The.
Bath.
Up.
Is.
A.
Big.
Thing.
When.
In.
Shower.
So.
Was.
When.
You.
Another.
So.
Was.
The.
When.
Happened.
That.
Before.
You.
The only thing we cleaned out, I think, a
few modern things, but the rest is all real.
It's all real.
So Thibaut had a very intense casting, so I was
so happy that he wanted to join us in the movie.
And he came with a lot of ideas and he took his part very seriously.
And I don't know how he did his English, but his English is so good.
A lot of people, especially in the Netherlands, that are
already saying it's like a Dutch person talking English.
Nobody was talking about Thibaut about it.
They all thought it was an English or an American actor.
And he was not.
So this is also a very cool moment.
I will tell you a little bit about the Baptist scene.
And I like the color timing here.
We have the bluish and the reddish and the red light.
On the right side of that castle shop.
But this scene here, basically what I did...
I'm a big fan of Arvo Pertz, the composer.
A Russian composer who does this Gregorian music.
And at the two baptizing scenes, I asked a choir from The Hague to kind of
come to the set and sing Arvo Pertz on the set during the scenes.
And we see this choir also in the background of these shots.
And so they rehearsed the Passum song from Arvo Pertz.
But I didn't tell... The actors knew, but I never really rehearsed it.
So this shot now, this wide shot.
I'm going to explain to you how I did this shot.
So what I did, we had individual rehearsals
with the actors before we arrived on the set.
So a month before shooting, a few months before shooting.
Then when we came on the set.
We kind of... I did like a blocking with everybody.
But not a real full rehearsal.
Just a blocking.
Tell what everybody was doing.
And where they needed to be.
We talked a little bit about what Jack Watts was going to do with Britt in the water.
And then trying to push her down.
Almost drowning.
So we talked about it.
But she didn't step in the water yet.
We did not do a rehearsal.
And then...
Basically, I had all the cameras set down.
Four cameras.
I self performed this frame.
And what I wanted to do is... Because for me, that music is so powerful.
I wanted to capture the emotion of these actors being in this scene.
And so we never rehearsed it.
Nobody really heard the choir singing yet.
Except they were like tuning their voices a little bit.
And so what we did.
I did one take.
It was the first take where we had done all the elements.
For the first time for everybody.
While the cameras were rolling.
So at that time.
When I say action.
This choir starts to sing.
And there was this emotion coming through all the actors.
And through everybody that was there.
The cameras were moving.
I was doing this crane shot.
Passing Jack.
And going close to Britt.
And then the other cameras were doing all the other shots.
And... And so we did this one really big long take.
Where the music.
The choir was singing.
This beautiful Alpha part.
And after we did this shot.
And I say cut.
I then look behind me.
Because I was uploading the crane.
And I look behind me.
And I see the crew.
All prying their eyes out.
Because they thought it was so beautiful.
There was so much emotion in the air.
And then the actors were kind of... They were in such a... High place.
Because they really felt they were there.
They really had the emotion of this moment.
And Jonathan Banks came to me and said.
What the fuck was that?
He said.
We have never experienced such a moment before.
Making all these movies over the years.
But it was such a magical moment.
By me not telling them about this choir.
And just going for this first take.
Where everybody could feel the real thing.
He was in awe.
It was a really big moment for me.
So then the fighting.
Gijs does all the fighting himself.
So he trains a bunch.
Battles and fights.
And I love this little graphic.
That's what Radu is really good at.
Intercutting these kind of things.
And find the right rhythm.
And then sound designing.
Jonathan Mills.
He was a sound design producer.
He has done many movies for me.
Including Admiral.
And he also did this movie.
I think this is his best work.
When you hear this movie in Dolby Digital.
Or Dolby Surround.
Or AdMob sound.
He makes the movie in AdMob.
When you hear this movie in an AdMob theater.
It's mind-boggling.
How beautiful.
How detailed.
How stylistic.
Even in the sound design.
So Gijs did all the stunts himself.
All the fighting himself.
All the horse riding himself.
Except this stunt.
Also Loes.
He did all the fighting.
All the stunts himself.
Except this moment.
This little jump.
From this bridge.
Of course something.
He did doubles.
Stunt doubles.
So this is an awl.
And a loop.
Here the stunt doubles.
Jump.
But then we hang.
The two of them.
This stunt double.
But here we have the actors hanging again.
Stunt doubles.
And then the actors again.
So you can grab them.
And the close up of the knife cutting.
Closing of the rope going down.
And the closing of the rope going down.
And there are the selling points.
Which you really need to sell.
I told you.
No one.
Between you and me.
In this story.
Um.
So here again we are.
At the castle.
And it's...
I'm now hesitating about the name of this town again, but it's a beautiful,
beautiful town in the side of Belgium, close to the Luxembourg border.
Lyon.
Is that now Lyon or not?
I don't think it was Lyon.
It was in the side of France.
So we had this one room where we played.
This room.
It was the biggest room in the castle.
And we used it for three different locations.
We used it here for kind of the room where they eat and have these discussions.
Then we used it as the throne room with the bathtub.
And then we also later used it as a bedroom where we put the bat in where
Pepin will die and he gets murdered by his stepson.
Again, I love the color differences in the lighting.
So we have daylight combining with tungsten and the candles
to kind of give you this kind of different kind of colors.
And then, of course, with the LUTs, with the extreme color correction,
it becomes a really interesting thing.
So I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to talk for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
But we'll see how far we get.
This is also one of my favorite shots.
It's out of focus, macro thing.
And then we see him coming in the background and we shot.
We had help with the rain.
Man, this scene was so much rain.
Everybody was so wet, including all the extras.
They were so cold.
But I think it's a beautiful, beautiful scene.
And this scene would not be as powerful.
And it's beautiful if we didn't do this in the rain.
This is Martijn Fischer, also a wonderful actor from the Netherlands.
This is my wife, Freya.
And this is my son, Popo.
And then, of course, his first love comes back.
Lisa's, played by Lisa Smits.
And what was very interesting in the casting is that I
had like 8 or 9 Dutch actresses that I liked and picked.
But I brought her here.
I love this reveal moment and the music that is coming there.
They see each other again.
And definitely you feel that it's still... You know, this is your first love.
The tension is still there.
The emotion is still there.
And I remember really feeling this on the set.
I was crying while I was operating these shots.
Or maybe it was the rain dropping in my eyes.
But no, I was really feeling it when I shot this.
Especially this shot here.
Look at her.
Really, really good.
So what we did during the casting... I had these 8 Dutch actresses.
And I asked them to come by all at the same time.
And then every 10 minutes we brought somebody else in playing with Gijs.
So I could see what chemistry would work for them with Gijs.
And how would they be in the room.
It was a very physical kind of scene where they were kind of rough with each other.
And had a kiss at the end.
But they were fighting.
Rough fighting.
Not fighting but fighting with words.
And then there was like a kiss or death at the end.
So it was very interesting to see the diversity of all these actresses.
Coming in to play with Gijs.
And then based on that I really divided the parts between them.
And make Lisa the one.
And then make Luz the other.
And hit the other.
So like that.
That was a very interesting process.
So of course this is then that village again in Germany.
Where it always rains.
And I also wanted to have it rain inside.
So the special effects guys built this little water rig inside.
So I could have like dripping things.
Inside of this.
Of course of course a painting he has for the sound.
But it looks so nice and so beautiful.
And again here I liked the lighting scheme.
Where through the door comes this daylight.
And inside we have all this tungsten going on.
And makes it very different and colorful.
And it starts where I like it.
So here Red Buds.
Shows his loyalty to the new king.
What was really cool about this scene is that.
So Luz who plays Freya.
She is a very very good actress.
And she has an incredible control.
About being very subtle.
In the subtle things of acting.
And I already saw that during the casting.
And so this scene what I asked her to do.
Because she had no lines in the scene.
She was just standing there.
In the script she was just standing there.
But I noticed that she was really.
With her subtle expressions.
It was really interesting to tell this scene through her.
You know.
How is she experiencing this moment.
Of him giving himself up to his own people.
That treat him like shit.
And how is he coping with that.
And what is he doing.
So I did this.
Two takes or three takes on her.
For the close up of her.
And then of course.
In these shots I put her in the background.
Right in the lighting of the door.
And basically.
When I saw the scene cut for the first time.
Where I do cut it like in a traditional way.
Cut to the character.
But I told him to.
I asked him.
To kind of recut the scene.
And cut the scene through her.
Focus on her.
Telling her reaction.
To all the important moments in the story.
Where RedBot kind of challenges his own people.
Or giving up his heritage and his kingdom.
To his nephew.
And telling this through the look of Freya.
And then when I saw this version of the scene.
I was so happy.
So proud.
Because I really like that she is kind of carrying this scene.
Because through her.
She is kind of RedBot's mentor.
In this whole process of him finding his identity.
Because this movie is really all about RedBot.
Not knowing what to believe.
Where to stand.
What his place is in this world.
Finding his identity.
And Freya is the one going to guide him.
Inspire him to find his way.
And his path.
And his purpose in life.
So doing that scene.
What is a pivotal scene for his character.
To kind of realizing that he doesn't know what he is.
And what his purpose is.
To tell that then through the character.
That is going to help him to get there.
And so that was the reason I wanted to do this.
And it worked out really well.
It was really wonderful.
So this house is in Arnhem.
There was a really nice historical farm.
In the forest in Arnhem.
I really loved that place.
Because it was really magical.
But there was not a lot of stuff I could film there.
So we ended up shooting these scenes there.
And there are some other scenes we shot there.
And especially some scenes that are in the deleted scenes.
That ended up in the TV series.
And of course he is kind of trying to ask him the right questions.
So he can find the answers for himself.
In this beautiful scene.
So again this is all Techno Crane kind of fun stuff.
So then these scenes between...
Pepin and Charles.
Also those scenes were very long.
And very extensive.
Really beautiful.
King's drama.
And I really was bummed out to cut them down.
But for the feature film version.
You want to go as quickly as possible.
Following RedBot's story.
And his journey.
So we cut down all these scenes extensively.
But in the TV series you can see them again at full length.
And they are really really cool stories.
And again this is then the same location as we had with the throne room.
And the bathtub kind of thing.
But then we shot the other way around.
And back to the middle.
And that was it.
Not too complicated.
And beautiful.
Because this location was really spectacular.
I remember that it was very cold in the castle.
And so between takes.
Jonathan always wanted to put on this warm hat.
This head warm.
And then take it off and be all together.
So this location is literally in the backyard of my producer's house.
In Friesland.
Where we built this little hut.
For René Soutendijk's character to kind of live.
And here we played this scene.
She is kind of... I remember talking with René about her character.
And in the beginning she did not quite get the right tone.
She did not realize yet what her character's purpose was in this world.
And so I suggest to her to watch The Matrix.
And in The Matrix you have the oracle.
What is this African-American woman who plays the oracle.
Who Nero goes towards her to ask her what his purpose is.
And if he is the one or not.
In The Matrix world.
And she is then... We call it the cookie scene.
At the end of the scene he says... Take this cookie.
And when you finish this cookie you realize that this is all a hoax.
That this is all not true.
You don't believe this mambo-bambo bullshit.
And Alex and I really felt that this René Soutendijk character...
was a little bit the oracle in this movie.
And so I said to René... You should watch Matrix, the oracle.
And she did.
And she came back to me.
She said yes.
She said now I understand.
I understand what you wanted to be.
So she found the right way.
And she is a wonderful actress in the Netherlands.
Very famous of course in the 80's.
For all the Paul Verhoeven movies.
That she played the lead in.
This church... Also we had a lot of scenes between Loes and this Afraeus character.
And Bonifatius.
Also we need to cut them down.
You can see them also in the TV series.
But I still wanted to feel her religious kind of fascination.
And making the church something beautiful.
I was baptized when I was a baby.
I went to my community.
I was Christian educated.
But I think when I was 16, 17 years old.
I kind of fell away from believing in God.
And the church.
And I am not a full atheist.
I definitely believe in energy.
And spirits.
And your soul.
When you die, your soul, your spirit.
Will leave your body.
And become part of the world.
So this energy becomes part of other people.
And everybody else.
So I am a spiritual person.
I love Buddhism.
When I am in Asia.
I am always in Buddhist temples.
And stay there for a day.
And humming.
And meditating kind of thing.
So I am a spiritual person.
But not kind of Christian anymore.
But I respect and disrespect all religions.
I must say.
Especially when you historically see.
That how much slaughtering and killing.
Christians have done.
In our history.
Is of course shocking and mind-boggling.
But for me this movie.
Was about showing.
Also the beauty of Christianity.
And the beauty.
And the harshness.
And brutality.
Of the pagan belief.
Therefore.
That is also one of my notes.
I think very early on.
That I really wanted to see.
That they were sacrificing.
These live girls.
You know.
I wanted to see.
How barbaric.
Also the pagans were.
And then I love that line later.
When Willy Bottas.
Do this speech for the people.
Saying.
You don't need to burn people.
You don't need to burn these girls.
Because Jesus has sacrificed himself.
On the cross.
For you all.
So he has done this.
So you don't need to do this.
That was a beautiful line.
I think Klaas came up with that line.
And so.
I think.
That is also the interesting thing.
About this movie.
When we are showing this movie.
In the Netherlands.
People enjoy it.
Or people don't like it.
But the reactions are more based on.
The story of RedBot.
And the historical context.
And the battles.
And the action.
And way less talk about religion.
While.
If we are showing the movie in America.
Or even in Germany.
People are really talking about.
The religion side of this whole story.
And that is kind of interesting.
That here in America.
Where I live.
The religion part of this movie.
Is much more.
In people's minds.
After seeing the movie.
Than it is in the Netherlands itself.
So.
So this scene.
The assault scene.
Between.
Him and her.
I really.
It was scripted as a one line thing.
That he is kind of.
I think in the script it was saying.
He is forcing himself to her.
And I talked with the actress.
And talked with the actor.
To do this kind of.
Horrific kind of.
Rape scene.
That was showing kind of.
The power struggle.
And the power.
And that is what she had to.
Get through to be.
You know part.
Of this life.
And being who she is.
But.
And so we did this scene.
I talked through it.
We shot this like in an hour.
So.
I didn't spend too much time on it.
And I wanted to make it a little poetic.
And violent.
At the same time.
And I remember asking.
I have a wonderful.
AC.
First AC.
On the set.
And she is a woman.
And I asked if she was kind of.
Offended by it.
Or if she.
Because she was looking at it.
While she was focus pulling it.
And.
Her name is Rose.
And I asked her.
Because I wanted to make sure.
That the scene would work.
Whatever we did.
And what I asked the actors to do.
On a.
On a different level.
Than just a rape scene.
So.
And I think.
It worked.
And it was like.
Something.
Disturbing.
And poetic.
At the same time.
But we never could find.
A place for it in the movie.
Because where.
It was really.
Originally planned.
In the movie.
It didn't work at all.
So I was kind of.
Bumped out.
That we would not use it.
Till.
When we were kind of.
Compressing the story.
Came the.
The plan.
Where it always should have been.
In the first place.
Because at the moment.
When he kills.
The little kids.
What is really.
The succeeded.
To the throne.
And then.
He grabs.
The power.
Of his own.
Franks.
And then.
Starts.
His conquering.
Of.
The Dutch.
Territory.
The Friesian.
Territory.
That.
Should be.
The moment.
Where we see.
The rape scene.
Because he's.
Trying to.
Extend.
His own.
Heritage.
You know.
Getting a child.
Of.
His own.
Who can be.
The new king.
And.
And then.
Doing.
To her.
What he's going.
To do.
To the country.
And.
Assaulting it.
And.
Raping it.
So.
When we.
Put it.
In the montage.
At this moment.
In the story.
For the first time.
It really worked.
And.
I'm really happy.
How now.
How it all.
Turned out.
And when you see.
That gag.
By the way.
Of the.
Tree hanging.
Of.
People.
That was like.
A gag.
We did.
On black.
Sills.
That.
The same stunt people.
Did.
And I was so impressed.
In what they did.
That I asked them.
To do this gag.
Again.
For.
For my movie.
Basically.
They are.
Completely.
Have a harness.
Inside their wardrobe.
With cables.
So when they.
Fall down.
They.
Hanging.
On safety cable.
In their harness.
Not their neck.
In the noose.
And then.
Making.
The noose.
In the neck.
As.
Minimal.
Length.
As possible.
It looks like.
They are.
Hanging.
There.
For real.
And.
So.
That's so.
Powerful.
So.
Then.
This battle.
Yeah.
In the script.
There was.
This battle.
This big battle.
Where.
The Franks.
Finally.
We.
Are.
Confronted.
By.
Redbots.
And.
So.
I.
We were.
Planning.
To.
Shoot.
This battle.
In.
Friesland.
So.
I.
Called.
It.
The.
Battle.
Of.
Friesland.
And.
Because.
One.
Of.
The.
Provinces.
In.
Holland.
Called.
Friesland.
Based.
On.
I.
Tried.
To.
Do.
Was.
Designing.
The.
Battle.
Together.
With.
The.
Stunt.
Coordinator.
So.
I.
Used.
Playmobil.
Puppets.
The.
Kind.
Of.
Playing.
Out.
The.
Sequence.
And.
Then.
Doing.
The.
Steps.
And.
Building.
Up.
The.
Steps.
And.
Then.
Designing.
The.
Battle.
As.
You.
Now.
Going.
To.
See.
It.
And.
These.
Are.
All.
Extras.
That.
They.
Came.
In.
Every.
Day.
They.
Were.
Trained.
By.
The.
Vanguard.
Guys.
And.
We.
Had.
Some.
Other.
Extras.
On.
The.
Set.
Itself.
Of.
A.
Very.
Nice.
Man.
I.
His.
Name.
That.
Was.
Kind.
Of.
A.
Soldier.
And.
He.
Kind.
Of.
Trains.
The.
People.
On.
The.
Day.
To.
Do.
This.
Kind.
Of.
Running.
Up.
And.
Then.
I.
Love.
The.
Wind.
With.
The.
Spandals.
I'm.
Really.
Happy.
With.
All.
These.
Shots.
And.
That's.
Also.
When.
You.
Do.
These.
Battles.
You.
Build.
Up.
Through.
The.
Battle.
You.
Take.
Time.
To.
That.
You.
Want.
To.
Build.
Tension.
And.
Build.
Confrontation.
Between.
The.
Two.
Groups.
So.
We.
Ended.
Up.
Shooting.
This.
Battle.
In.
Three.
Days.
But.
What.
I.
Planning.
And.
I'm.
So.
Bumped.
Out.
I.
Planned.
A.
One.
Shot.
What.
Basically.
The.
Was.
That.
At.
The.
Moment.
When.
Red.
Bots.
Leads.
These.
Troops.
To.
The.
Water.
To.
Have.
Them.
See.
This.
Cavalry.
Being.
Drowned.
By.
The.
Coming.
Of.
The.
Ocean.
In.
The.
Watts.
When.
He.
Comes.
Back.
The.
Plan.
Once.
Was.
That.
He.
When.
He.
Back.
To.
Have.
Him.
Drive.
Into.
The.
Field.
Slaughter.
Some.
People.
While.
They.
Were.
Losing.
Inspiring.
Everybody.
Then.
Have.
Everybody.
Come.
Back.
And.
Battle.
Again.
To.
Then.
Win.
The.
Battle.
And.
Do.
That.
In.
One.
Shot.
One.
Continuous.
Shot.
And.
That.
Was.
The.
Intention.
And.
We.
Rehearsed.
For.
Three.
Days.
Battle.
I.
Never.
Had.
Rehearsal.
For.
Action.
Before.
So.
We.
Rehearsed.
And.
With.
The.
Camera.
Because.
Also.
I.
Wanted.
To.
Do.
An.
Elaborate.
Very.
Difficult.
Techno.
Crane.
Shot.
We.
Had.
The.
Techno.
Crane.
On.
A.
Buggy.
Going.
Through.
The.
Field.
And.
When.
We.
End.
Of.
Shooting.
The.
Scene.
There.
Was.
No.
Way.
That.
The.
Whole.
Field.
Was.
Swampy.
And.
Wet.
So.
I.
Could.
Not.
Have.
Horses.
And.
This.
Car.
This.
Camera.
Car.
Driving.
Through.
The.
Mud.
At.
This.
Incredible.
Speed.
In.
This.
Increasing.
One.
Shot.
That.
We.
End.
Of.
Not.
Shooting.
The.
Water.
And.
I.
Really.
Bugged.
Out.
Of.
I.
Really.
Sick.
Of.
The.
Stomach.
And.
So.
I.
Keep.
Up.
Through.
This.
One.
Thing.
So.
We.
End.
Of.
Doing.
What.
Did.
What.
Gonna.
See.
In.
This.
Voltage.
Of.
This.
Battle.
Then.
Also.
I.
Remember.
In.
The.
Script.
There.
Was.
A.
Rabbit.
Was.
Leading.
This.
Cavalry.
Out.
And.
He.
Was.
Leading.
Them.
Into.
The.
Swamp.
But.
I.
For.
Me.
Shooting.
A.
Swamp.
Would.
Be.
Very.
Difficult.
And.
Also.
I've.
Seen.
It.
Before.
But.
What.
Never.
Seen.
Before.
In.
Any.
Movie.
Is.
This.
What.
This.
Place.
Which.
You.
See.
Now.
Is.
In.
Area.
It's.
Very.
Unique.
I.
Think.
It's.
On.
The.
List.
Of.
The.
UNESCO.
Seat.
But.
You.
Need.
To.
Bring.
Big.
Large.
Big.
Boots.
Because.
You.
Sink.
Into.
The.
Mud.
All.
The.
Time.
But.
Kind.
Of.
Oh.
So.
That's.
The.
Area.
Between.
And.
Then.
So.
I.
Pitched.
Alex.
A.
Writer.
That.
He.
Would.
Do.
That.
You.
Know.
That's.
Kind.
Of.
A.
Tide.
In.
Run.
The.
Access.
Through.
The.
Water.
And.
Then.
Because.
The.
Tide.
Comes.
Up.
High.
Tide.
Comes.
Up.
They.
Drown.
The.
Horses.
In.
Time.
Of.
Red.
Bugs.
Is.
So.
Packable.
Perfect.
Time.
That.
He.
Destroyed.
The.
Gravity.
And.
Go.
Back.
The.
Battle.
Without.
The.
Enemies.
Careful.
Of.
Course.
The.
Cavalry.
Is.
A.
Much.
More.
Powerful.
Than.
Any.
Battle.
As.
Is.
Another.
Raccoon.
So.
Yeah.
That.
Was.
His.
Plan.
So.
Then.
So.
This.
Was.
Shot.
On.
The.
Real.
Wad.
So.
We.
Brought.
The.
Horses.
On.
The.
Wad.
And.
That.
Was.
Really.
Unique.
I.
Don't.
Think.
It.
Has.
Been.
Done.
For.
Hundreds.
Of.
Years.
And.
It.
Very.
Safe.
And.
We.
Had.
Horse.
Owners.
Who.
Dare.
To.
Do.
This.
With.
Their.
Horses.
And.
Then.
We.
Brought.
Shoreline.
Where.
There's.
The.
Big.
Waves.
So.
This.
Is.
Like.
CG.
Water.
On.
Right.
Side.
Of.
Them.
But.
The.
Horses.
Are.
Really.
On.
The.
Wad.
What.
Was.
A.
Absolutely.
Amazing.
Start.
Basically.
And.
What.
They.
Did.
Well.
But.
These.
Shots.
Of.
The.
Close.
Of.
The.
Horses.
In.
The.
Water.
We.
Shot.
That.
On.
Amelan's.
Beach.
And.
Basically.
Asked.
Them.
This.
Is.
Then.
CG.
Posting.
Again.
With.
The.
Coastline.
And.
So.
We.
Asked.
Them.
To.
See.
If.
Can.
Fake.
That.
They.
Are.
Drowning.
And.
The.
Owners.
Did.
This.
You.
It's.
Kind.
Of.
A.
Amazing.
This.
Is.
Real.
This.
Is.
A.
Horse.
In.
The.
Ocean.
And.
They.
Were.
Not.
In.
Panic.
They.
Were.
Kind.
Of.
Tapping.
Or.
Swimming.
And.
They.
Fine.
But.
I.
Make.
It.
Really.
Cool.
So.
Now.
You.
Basically.
We.
Would.
Go.
Into.
The.
Warner.
And.
During.
The.
Reversal.
Day.
I.
Shot.
A.
Few.
Shots.
And.
A.
Few.
Of.
The.
Final.
Version.
Of.
This.
Battle.
So.
You.
Can.
See.
Kind.
Of.
What.
My.
Intention.
Was.
With.
The.
One.
Shot.
And.
We.
This.
Tracking.
Shot.
You.
See.
The.
Whole.
Battlefield.
In.
The.
Background.
Fighting.
That.
Would.
Be.
Part.
Of.
The.
Warner.
And.
I'm.
So.
Bumped.
Out.
That.
We.
Could.
Not.
Do.
It.
But.
So.
Here.
Loose.
Is.
Kind.
Of.
Everybody.
Is.
Kind.
Of.
Holding.
And.
They.
Can.
Lose.
The.
Battle.
And.
The.
Fleecing.
Flag.
Is.
Dropping.
Down.
And.
The.
Files.
Is.
Happy.
That.
Loose.
Looks.
There.
We.
See.
A.
Red.
Bouts.
Slow.
Mo.
Arriving.
And.
Now.
Comes.
The.
Shot.
So.
Not.
This.
Shot.
But.
This.
Shot.
This.
Is.
Of.
The.
Warner.
You.
See.
How.
Powerful.
That.
Could.
Have.
Been.
If.
I.
Was.
Going.
On.
The.
Side.
Of.
Him.
And.
Doing.
This.
At.
But.
Anyway.
So.
We.
End.
Up.
With.
Solving.
It.
This.
Way.
That.
He.
Kind.
Of.
Comes.
In.
And.
Inspires.
Everybody.
To.
Kind.
Of.
Building.
Another.
Wall.
And.
Starting.
From.
Scratch.
And.
Battle.
Again.
And.
We.
Are.
Happy.
With.
The.
Goal.
All.
These.
Days.
I.
Think.
We.
Have.
Like.
550.
Or.
600.
Extras.
On.
This.
Field.
Including.
The.
Horse.
With.
The.
Horses.
And.
What.
Do.
Did.
Is.
That.
At.
Moment.
Where.
I.
Realized.
We.
Could.
Not.
Do.
The.
Wonder.
Anymore.
I.
Was.
Using.
Now.
This.
Little.
Car.
To.
Do.
This.
Shot.
So.
This.
Not.
This.
Shot.
But.
The.
Next.
Shot.
This.
Shot.
Is.
Of.
A.
Taffetrain.
On.
A.
Buggy.
Shot.
Where.
The.
Camera.
Goes.
All.
The.
Way.
Around.
This.
Is.
No.
Vision.
Effects.
No.
CGI.
This.
Is.
All.
For.
You.
Horses.
In.
The.
Background.
But.
I.
Think.
This.
Is.
A.
Stunning.
Amazing.
Shot.
And.
This.
Is.
All.
Real.
All.
These.
Shots.
Are.
Real.
And.
Then.
Of.
Course.
I.
Wanted.
To.
Show.
How.
Good.
Geist.
Of.
Fight.
So.
You.
Do.
This.
And.
This.
In.
As.
Long.
And.
What.
Is.
Cool.
That.
Carrie.
Gave.
All.
Them.
A.
Special.
Skill.
So.
She.
Was.
Lisa's.
Character.
Lisa's.
Special.
With.
Knives.
How.
She.
Fights.
Is.
Very.
Cool.
And.
Of.
Course.
The.
Brilliant.
Editing.
Of.
Radu.
Cutting.
This.
Very.
So.
Later.
In.
The.
Movie.
I.
Think.
I.
Have.
To.
Stop.
This.
Now.
And.
Now.
And.
There's.
Another.
Hour.
To.
Go.
So.
It's.
A.
Too.
Long.
For.
Me.
But.
I.
To.
Talk.
About.
A.
Little.
Later.
Oh.
This.
Was.
Also.
Part.
Of.
The.
One.
Shot.
This.
Shot.
Here.
In.
The.
Reversal.
Shot.
And.
So.
What.
Happens.
Is.
That.
The.
End.
Battle.
In.
The.
Battle.
I.
Really.
Want.
To.
Try.
Something.
Else.
So.
That.
Is.
Really.
Kind.
Of.
This.
Thing.
With.
The.
Little.
Kids.
So.
I.
Really.
Felt.
That.
There.
Should.
Be.
Kind.
Of.
Some.
Kind.
Of.
The.
So.
These.
Are.
Things.
That.
Were.
Not.
In.
The.
Script.
And.
Then.
So.
I.
Am.
Coming.
Up.
With.
These.
Things.
Doing.
Prep.
And.
Then.
You.
Shoot.
Them.
And.
Then.
Of.
Course.
They.
Take.
Extra.
Time.
And.
Therefore.
The.
Movie.
Becomes.
Longer.
But.
I.
Really.
Felt.
There.
Needed.
To.
Some.
Kind.
Of.
Visual.
Cue.
Or.
Visual.
Reference.
For.
His.
Realization.
Of.
His.
Place.
In.
Life.
And.
How.
Powerful.
Would.
It.
Be.
To.
See.
The.
Younger.
Red.
Bud.
As.
A.
Child.
Kind.
Of.
In.
This.
World.
So.
We.
Cast.
This.
Little.
Boy.
To.
Become.
Kind.
Of.
The.
Younger.
Version.
Of.
Red.
Bud.
And.
Through.
Flashback.
Into.
Him.
Kind.
Of.
Catalyze.
His.
Thoughts.
You.
Know.
Making.
His.
Thoughts.
Visual.
And.
Seeing.
What.
He.
As.
A.
Boy.
Experienced.
His.
Angst.
Afraidness.
And.
To.
Become.
Red.
Bud.
The.
Warrior.
And.
So.
That.
Was.
For.
Me.
Kind.
Of.
The.
Symbolic.
Thing.
I.
Used.
The.
Kid.
For.
Also.
This.
Kind.
Obscure.
Shots.
And.
Like.
That.
But.
So.
That's.
Kind.
Of.
For.
Me.
The.
Flashback.
And.
Basically.
We.
Asked.
All.
The.
Extras.
To.
Lay.
On.
The.
Ground.
And.
It.
Was.
Also.
Very.
Scary.
For.
The.
Boy.
So.
We.
Did.
One.
Version.
Where.
Everybody.
Was.
Kind.
Of.
Laughing.
And.
Talking.
To.
Him.
So.
He.
Was.
Not.
Scared.
To.
Walk.
Through.
All.
These.
People.
That.
Were.
Laying.
Down.
And.
I.
Told.
Them.
That.
They.
Were.
Sleeping.
And.
Anyway.
In.
The.
Editing.
We.
There.
Was.
This.
Moment.
It.
Was.
Basically.
Now.
So.
After.
This.
Big.
Battle.
We.
Now.
Kind.
Of.
Going.
To.
See.
All.
The.
Pieces.
Of.
The.
Puzzle.
Moving.
In.
Direction.
That.
Is.
Not.
Good.
For.
Red.
But.
And.
In.
The.
Editing.
This.
Part.
The.
Next.
Kind.
Of.
20.
Minutes.
Were.
Always.
The.
Toughest.
Because.
This.
Was.
Kind.
Of.
After.
The.
Battle.
And.
Then.
Towards.
His.
Arrest.
And.
Being.
Imprisoned.
That.
All.
The.
Storylines.
Were.
Kind.
Of.
Developing.
To.
A.
Next.
Stage.
But.
They.
Were.
All.
Back.
To.
Back.
To.
Back.
To.
Back.
So.
When.
We.
Cut.
The.
First.
Few.
Versions.
This.
Was.
The.
Least.
Workable.
Moment.
And.
I.
Felt.
That.
We.
Were.
Doing.
Something.
Wrong.
Because.
It.
Should.
Work.
But.
It.
Didn't.
It.
Felt.
Very.
Yeah.
It.
Didn't.
Work.
At.
All.
So.
I.
Ask.
Radu.
To.
Kind.
Of.
To.
Go.
Home.
Basically.
And.
I.
For.
A.
Night.
A.
Full.
Night.
I.
A.
Edited.
Version.
Because.
I.
Had.
In.
My.
Mind.
To.
Try.
Something.
That.
I've.
Seen.
At.
The.
Movie.
Magnolia.
In.
The.
Movie.
Magnolia.
Paul.
Thomas.
Anderson.
There.
Are.
This.
Four.
Or.
Five.
Different.
Characters.
And.
They.
All.
Having.
Their.
Development.
In.
The.
Story.
And.
He.
Intercuts.
All.
These.
Things.
Together.
But.
To.
Not.
Make.
It.
Very.
Cutty.
Of.
Editing.
He.
Puts.
This.
One.
Piece.
Of.
Music.
Over.
It.
The.
Symphonic.
Thing.
That.
Goes.
On.
For.
Like.
20.
Minutes.
And.
Really.
Loud.
In.
The.
Mix.
And.
It.
Smears.
These.
Stories.
Together.
And.
I.
Wanted.
To.
Try.
A.
Similar.
Thing.
With.
Us.
Here.
To.
Solve.
This.
Moment.
Problem.
And.
So.
During.
The.
Nights.
When.
Radu.
Was.
Home.
And.
The.
Editor.
System.
Was.
Home.
I.
Was.
By.
Myself.
Behind.
The.
Air.
Fit.
I.
In.
The.
Early.
Days.
I.
Was.
One.
Of.
The.
Editors.
Of.
The.
Of.
This.
Difference.
Story.
Elements.
And.
Put.
Them.
In.
A.
Rhythm.
With.
One.
Piece.
Of.
Music.
That.
I.
Cut.
The.
Scene.
With.
The.
Music.
And.
Then.
The.
Morning.
I.
Showed.
It.
To.
Radu.
And.
We.
Both.
Were.
And.
I.
Saw.
It.
For.
The.
First.
Time.
After.
The.
Whole.
Night.
And.
We.
Both.
Were.
Like.
This.
We.
Solved.
It.
So.
Then.
I.
Went.
To.
Trevor.
Morris.
And.
I.
Told.
Him.
Listen.
My.
Friend.
Not.
Only.
Is.
The.
Movie.
Two.
Hours.
And.
45.
Minutes.
What.
Is.
A.
Very.
Long.
Movie.
For.
A.
Composer.
To.
Fill.
With.
Music.
I.
Also.
Need.
You.
To.
Write.
A.
17.
Minute.
Symphony.
That.
Is.
Going.
To.
Go.
Over.
This.
Is.
Long.
Montage.
Of.
Scenes.
And.
I'm.
Going.
To.
It.
Really.
Loud.
This.
Music.
And.
Needs.
To.
Be.
Building.
Up.
And.
Organic.
And.
Cool.
And.
Deep.
And.
Emotional.
And.
So.
He.
Did.
He.
Pulled.
It.
Off.
I.
Think.
It's.
The.
Best.
Composing.
Thing.
He.
Has.
Done.
And.
That's.
Basically.
What.
Looking.
At.
Now.
The.
Montage.
You're.
Looking.
At.
And.
I.
Love.
The.
Way.
That.
We.
Intercutting.
This.
Element.
And.
The.
Rest.
Of.
The.
Story.
And.
It.
Becomes.
One.
Thing.
And.
It.
Becomes.
Journey.
Of.
Him.
Realizing.
Who.
He.
Is.
Who.
He.
Has.
To.
Become.
That.
He.
Now.
Needs.
To.
Really.
Take.
The.
Leadership.
This.
Is.
By.
The.
Way.
Shot.
I.
Also.
Really.
Like.
You.
Know.
That.
They.
Both.
Looking.
At.
The.
Different.
Same.
Direction.
To.
Each.
Other.
But.
There's.
A.
Distance.
In.
Between.
Them.
So.
They're.
Not.
Looking.
At.
Each.
Other.
They.
Looking.
Away.
From.
Each.
Other.
While.
They.
Look.
To.
Each.
Other.
And.
I.
Put.
Different.
Lighting.
In.
Their.
Face.
One.
Looks.
Outside.
The.
One.
Looks.
Inside.
And.
I.
Really.
Like.
That.
Shot.
There.
Was.
One.
Of.
The.
Things.
You.
Know.
When.
You.
Prep.
A.
Movie.
And.
You.
Also.
DP.
The.
Movie.
Or.
Your.
Director.
Movie.
You.
Come.
Up.
With.
These.
Iconic.
Shots.
Ideas.
That.
Kind.
Of.
Symbolizing.
That.
Moment.
Stories.
Characters.
Or.
Their.
Motion.
And.
Then.
You.
Execute.
Them.
When.
They.
Work.
This.
Is.
By.
The.
Way.
Of.
The.
World.
One.
Of.
My.
Favorite.
Shots.
This.
Flying.
On.
The.
Drone.
This.
Is.
All.
The.
Way.
To.
The.
East.
Point.
Of.
Ameland.
And.
There.
Is.
An.
Area.
Called.
The.
Rolling.
Hills.
And.
Are.
These.
Dunes.
That.
Kind.
Of.
Moving.
Around.
During.
The.
Year.
Because.
The.
Wind.
Is.
Kind.
Of.
Making.
Sands.
Move.
Around.
And.
So.
It's.
Never.
The.
Same.
There.
We.
Shot.
That.
Shot.
Of.
Him.
Kind.
Of.
Running.
With.
The.
Horse.
And.
Also.
That.
Is.
Just.
Guys.
Doing.
It.
And.
Not.
Like.
Bringing.
In.
A.
Double.
Or.
Something.
Also.
This.
Is.
Guys.
Beautiful.
Silhouette.
Again.
It's.
So.
Dutch.
And.
Then.
This.
Is.
I.
Think.
My.
Producer's.
Favorite.
Shot.
Because.
You.
See.
Kind.
Of.
The.
Landscape.
And.
You.
Have.
These.
Water.
Things.
Going.
In.
And.
Outside.
The.
Land.
What.
Is.
Very.
Historical.
Correct.
That's.
How.
Kind.
Of.
How.
Holland.
Was.
Looking.
At.
The.
Time.
And.
There's.
Only.
One.
Area.
Was.
Also.
In.
Ameland.
Where.
You.
Can.
Still.
Feel.
Or.
See.
This.
Kind.
Of.
Landscape.
Where.
Of.
Comes.
In.
And.
Out.
Of.
The.
Of.
The.
Country.
Side.
And.
Of.
Course.
That's.
Now.
Holland.
Is.
Surrounded.
With.
Dags.
To.
Kind.
Of.
Keep.
The.
But.
That's.
Place.
In.
Holland.
Where.
The.
Water.
From.
The.
Ocean.
Can.
Have.
Free.
Come.
In.
And.
Out.
Of.
The.
Country.
And.
There.
You.
See.
All.
This.
River.
Things.
And.
I.
Class.
Always.
Wanted.
To.
Show.
This.
In.
A.
Movie.
And.
We.
Did.
He.
Was.
Very.
Proud.
Of.
That.
Shot.
A.
Part.
Of.
Now.
It.
Becomes.
A.
One.
Thing.
One.
Emotional.
Evolving.
Story.
Moments.
I.
Know.
That.
There.
Was.
One.
Of.
Two.
Critics.
In.
The.
Netherlands.
On.
Their.
Reviews.
They.
Talk.
With.
Here.
It.
Smears.
All.
The.
Story.
Elements.
Together.
To.
One.
Montage.
Where.
Can.
Feel.
This.
Story.
Evolving.
For.
All.
The.
Characters.
While.
Through.
The.
Music.
You.
Feel.
It.
As.
It.
Is.
One.
Thing.
It's.
One.
Moment.
It's.
One.
Development.
And.
If.
I've.
Done.
This.
Without.
Music.
Or.
Some.
Different.
Music.
For.
Different.
Little.
Moments.
Or.
Different.
Scenes.
It.
Would.
Have.
Been.
A.
Zootje.
We.
It.
In.
The.
Netherlands.
It.
Have.
Been.
Awful.
Disturbing.
A.
Mess.
And.
Now.
It's.
Done.
So.
I.
That.
I.
Have.
To.
Let.
Go.
Of.
This.
Is.
By.
The.
Way.
Church.
Of.
The.
Castle.
Anyway.
Talk.
For.
Hours.
About.
This.
But.
I.
Hope.
This.
Was.
Of.
Cool.
For.
You.
Guys.
If.
Have.
Any.
More.
Questions.
Or.
Feel.
Free.
To.
Find.
Me.
Through.
The.
Internet.
Facebook.
Or.
Twitter.
Or.
Instagram.
And.
I.
Hope.
You.
Enjoyed.
Watching.
RedBat.
And.
I'll.
See.
You.
In.
The.
Next.
Way.
You.
Want.
The.
Powerful.
Army.
Of.
The.
World.
Defeat.
Yes.
We.
Do.
This.
I.
Have.
Seen.
I.
Have.
Talked.
With.
A.
Priest.
And.
I.
Any.
Not.
That.
Enough.
To.
In.
You're.
The.
Next.
I.
A barbarian.
But that's not who you are.
Where is that?
How is Belle?
Is she manageable?
You know her.
I was afraid of that.
What is your plan?
How many ships can you bring to Dorastad before the next full moon?
Enough.
Enough?
Why buy the next full moon?
Leave some Franks for us.
Everything will.
be alright.
I know.
I would like to find the words to stay here, father.
I would like to find the words to take you with me.
Father...
There must be other ways to convert them.
Those barbarians only speak one language.
And yet they are people.
Like you and me.
If you would just talk to them.
You are a good boy.
But if you only see the good in people...
...then you are at the end of what I would like to see.
The one who speaks sweetly.
Like this.
Music... This thing... This tree... If it is so holy...
...why doesn't Donaar send a flash of light from the heaven... ...to kill me!?
Why?
Come on!
I'm here!
Nothing at all.
Come on!
Belief!
All of it!
You don't have to sacrifice people!
Jesus!
Jesus has sacrificed himself... for all of us!
Do you know where Frank is?
With the holy oak.
The Christian priest is with him.
Wolf, you stay with the troops.
Tomorrow you lead them to Dorenstad.
With or without me.
Go!
Crazy!
No!
We can't destroy our world.
No.
You know who you are.
I know who is to blame.
Redmatt's wife!
She is a Christian!
That's ridiculous.
I saw her with the priests.
They were praying in one of their churches.
Redmatt.
She says this is nonsense.
She has nothing to do with it.
She knows it all!
So she is a Christian.
It's not about what you believe.
It's about what you do with it.
Give us Redmatt!
And his wife!
And we will leave you alone!
It doesn't matter.
Just leave in peace!
It won't hurt you!
Take the three of them!
And take down that pagan tree!
Sounds like happiness, doesn't it?
May God be with you.
It's not about happiness.
Or that God makes the lives of the people easy.
What are you talking about?
Jesus says that you should keep your enemies.
I don't think he was right.
Jesus knew that he was betrayed by a Roman.
And yet they took him prisoner.
And killed him.
Why?
He wanted to show his friends that he loved them.
You still love him.
I could never have given him a child.
Maybe it just had to happen what happened.
You.
betrayed Redbat.
Oh yes, is that so?
You betrayed me!
I protected our people from an enormous defeat.
A defeat?
Everyone is ready.
The Danes are on the coast.
Let them lie down.
Father.
We can still keep them.
And free Redbat.
Is that what you really want?
Yes, Father.
We'll settle this with Carmel Martel.
The Danes will be strong enough to defeat the Franks.
Oh yes.
And who will lead the attack?
Huh?
Go.
Go to them.
And tell them we're going to war.
Because you need to prove yourself.
One mistake and they'll kill you.
But you don't stand a chance.
You were Redbat a hundred times.
It just never occurred to me that I would be a good leader.
That I could lead our people to victory.
That I could be like...
Why don't you support me?
Tell me.
Tell the Danes we don't need them anymore.
We're going to Utrecht.
To negotiate with Carmel Martel.
No, no.
No, don't touch him.
No.
Stop.
Please.
Stop.
Get him to me.
Jesus.
Papa!
Redbat!
How cozy.
A family reunion.
I.
wanted to get a closer look at the men everybody talks about.
The great Redbat.
We have to give the people...
What... The people want.
Nice fairy tales about heroes and...
Dark fairy tales about God.
Our fathers believed that, but we don't, so...
Let's keep that a secret.
For us.
It doesn't matter what's up there.
Because down here...
We rule.
And we do as we please.
Maybe we do.
Or maybe our fathers understood something we still have yet to learn.
But that's the problem, isn't it?
You're too smart to really believe that.
So...
Just play along.
And I'll let you live.
Oppose me and I'll kill you when you're...
Understood?
Redbat!
Do you defy the devil... in all his work?
Do you defy...
the pagan gods... Wodan?
Donner?
Freya?
Yes?
Or no?
Huh?
Yes.
Hahaha!
Then I'll dip you in the water... in the name of the Holy Spirit.
In the name of the Holy Spirit.
On your knees.
Do you believe...
in the only true God?
The almighty Father?
His Son?
Jesus Christ?
And the Holy Spirit?
Yes or no?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
In the only true God?
In the almighty Father?
In the only true God?
Jesus Christ?
In everything that has to do with...
His traditions, His customs, His uses?
Or no?
Huh?
He.
gives you every chance to become the leader... you want to be.
And in the Holy Spirit... and in the Holy Spirit...
any authority to gain?
to be accepted?
To see the holy spirit Therefore life is nothing but suffering?
the Holy Spirit will not like us.
His will.
Right or wrong?
Or will it suffer but stay in us forever?
The Holy Spirit is working now.
But is that not for all?
You my God...
You know...
Where do I go?
Where do I go to heaven?
Every good Christian goes to heaven.
Do you believe in... My ancestors.
What about your ancestors?
I see them back in heaven.
They are being buried.
My own father.
Your father wasn't buried.
But I do see him back in heaven, right?
He wasn't a Christian.
But he was a good man.
A brave man.
Who gave his life for his own people.
He was a pagan!
And pagans don't come to heaven.
That's not possible.
That doesn't exist.
You see them.
Son of Boed.
Lord, son of Rijden.
Maaike, daughter of Taka.
Your fathers.
Your sons.
Your daughters.
All honorable people.
Who died for their people.
Is there a place for them in Christianity?
They can pray for their souls.
Yes or no?
No.
Yes or no?
No.
We don't do that.
Why would I let myself be broken into such a belief?
I want you to grab him.
I thought I could break his will.
And get him baptized.
Our fathers weren't gods.
But they were our fathers.
Yes!
And I'd rather be in hell with my friends.
Than in heaven with my enemies.
Yes!
Save me!
Come with me now.
We'll leave him for Dovzat.
Attack!
We'd have had too much to do.
Dovzat is yours.
Yours.
Ours.
Yes.
It's good to have you.
I can't believe it.
Bradbath!
He escaped.
The door is open.
Is there a fall?
Of course there's a fall.
I asked you.
Everything is ready.
Bradbath.
They have Poppo.
It's time.
The traffic is bad.
Don't you want.
to wait until the light is on?
Is he ready?
And now?
Wait a little longer.
He knows what he's doing.
Most of the time.
We'll never be able to save this without the Danes.
Not much choice.
Bradbath, what do you want to do?
The power.
Everything is ready.
It's time for blood.
Bradbath.
Stay in line.
Hold the formation.
Is it a bad result?
Yes.
But for whom?
It's the 50th full month of the year.
You knew that this was going to happen.
Not to win.cemus!
Is this a sign?
Maybe.
This is a bad sign.
I could do this.
Was this a Are we going to die today?
Probably yes.
But I know one thing for sure.
We don't let anyone tell us how we should live our lives.
Or what we should believe.
No king.
No priest.
Not even the sun or the moon.
Because this is the land of free people.
Free people who bow to no one.
This is the land of our forefathers.
Of the people we love.
That is what binds us.
And no one takes that away from us.
So if you want to live freely...
or want to die freely... Follow me!
Well, General, it's started.
Yes, my lord.
I think they're attacking, my lord.
Order the front lines to attack.
Front lines, attack!
Redman, you're late.
Chase the pigs into the city now.
Are you sure, my lord?
Pig fat burns for hours.
That will clean things up.
It's sound.
General, aim for the child!
Is this still about your father?
Those are the laws of war!
The law of war!
You fool!
Soldiers!
A horse!
We could have ruled the world.
I think of you...
God is good.
We have to get out of here.