Until the Light Takes Us

Films don't have to have a message or a mission statement, but they should have a voice--like they were made with intent. That's not the case with UtLTU. It's as if the filmmakers went to Norway, shot a bunch of footage, and cut it into something that resembled a movie. Because there was no voice, no guiding principle, no obvious intent, it felt as though, well, as though I were watching 2 hours of footage about black metal, and nothing more. I didn't come away enlightened, or even entertained.

I'm not sure who is supposed to be the audience of this film. As a documentary for black metal fans, it drudges up the same old stories heard time and time again, adding nothing new to the conversation. If it is meant to be informative for people unfamiliar with the scene, then it fails here as well. The narrative is practically nonexistent, and it seems to meander through segments with no real vision or purpose.

(Viewed in 2010): When taken as a blow by blow account of Norwegian black metal, it's obvious and uninteresting. However, as a portrait of lost souls who became trapped by the extreme image they created in their youth, it's considerably more effective. Varg and Fenriz are both presented as rather lonely and isolated figures, and Fenriz's curious reactions to a black metal exhibit captures the extent to which an artist can become alienated from their creation once it takes on its own life.

The story of Norwegian black metal is undoubtedly an interesting one, but the way these filmmakers tackle it isn't engaging in the slightest. They also seem to hold frustrating and problematic loyalties which interfere with the portrayals of their subjects. It has some pretty funny moments, though (ie small child reacts to black metal dude on plane).

I didn't like all those seconds in this where Fenriz wasn't on the screen.

Almost comically shapeless.

Among the best, honest examinations of black metal out there. The criticisms of the documentary that say it's too disjointed and that it lacks a structured narrative miss the underlying point. The form of a film should reflect its subject matter. If you want the disembodied voice of an unseen narrator hold your hand the entire way, read a history book. A documentary is an artistic medium and the alienating, numbing nature of the film reflects the core themes of black metal itself.

As a black metal enthusiast, none of this was information that I didn't already know. That's not really the point of the film though. It's a look at how the whole scene affected two of its most prominent survivors, and how the idea of what they knew as black metal is lost to time, mostly out of their own doing. And Frost! His time in the film is the most disturbing scene in any film, and all too real. I guess I liked the film more than most people, though.

An interesting topic subverted by the filmmaker's own attempts at making the doc like black metal? I dunno. The music was awful, the construction boring, just... fuuuuck.

black metal musicians are some of the most fascinating dudes ever

Heard it all before. Well, except for the soundtrack, but that's because they chose to completely forego the genre in question for whatever reason.

I disagree with people who say there's no point. From it, one can learn that there's an opposing voice in Norway that gets misunderstood, media twists shit the way they want, and one can learn things about black metal they might not have known. It has a good mixture of ambient music and black metal. It's not perfect by any means, but it has a certain aesthetic, a visual and emotional sense, that is true to the scene and is just interesting on its own. Pretty good for a pointless film.

Random patchwork of interviews does not a documentary make. Still there is plenty of cool moments, nice soundtrack. Not a bad watch.

Old info is old...

Poorly structured documentary consisting only of interviews with important figures in Black metal, but the problem is they're not native English speakers and are, thus, kind of hard to understand. I would have liked some narration or analysis of the subculture, but the filmmakers just let the metal-heads analyze themselves, making it impossibly difficult to fully understand exactly how they're thinking. As interesting as the subject is (and Fenriz), this movie was poorly handled.

Enjoyable documentary with faults, most notably the rather unsatisfying quantity of the music it's documenting. Fenriz can be a bit annoying, but he's still an interesting guy who I have grown to like the more of him I see. Particularly interesting is how he and Varg talk about each other, with a disinterestedness that remains respectful and honest. Frost, the "dark angel" is, indeed, a beautiful creature to behold.

Awesome Subject, Bad Execution. Its good as a watch on youtube but its not really a documentary

The story here is old news to anyone who's been into the genre for more than a month but it still functions as an interesting character study of the central players. Varg is a dipshit but makes for a compelling interviewee. Unfortunately it's dragged down by some superfluous bullshit about performance art or whatever but it's still worth a watch.

I don't really see anyone not already familiar with the scene fully understanding this since it's pretty light on background info, but for people who are, it doesn't really add anything new. It's pretty wandering and aimless and does a lot more of simply relating events than answering or even asking interesting or insightful questions about them, and it's much more about the people involved than the music. Varg is such a smug, self-assured cunt.

Less an examination of the sordid past of black metal and more a character study of its two most prominent figures and their vastly differing views on what they created and its impact on the world.

I didn't like Until The Light Takes Us. Although the subject material is interesting, it's presented poorly. There's no direction or narrator, it's just a series of random interviews. If you're a huge fan of black metal, then I'd say go for it. Otherwise though, simply reading about the subjects on Wikipedia would be more satisfying.

Burzum.

A treat for black metal fans and a good historical piece. It moves very slowly, some scenes seem to meander and go no where, and it could've used more shots of the Norwegian landscape that influenced nearly every band from the country. Nonetheless it manages to intrigue, even for those who aren't familiar with the genre and the history of it.

"Terrible editing, aimless and shallow. Still, the interviews were interesting but only because I know the background story and music from beforehand. For a person not familiar with both music and persons this must have been a very confusing experience. " - agree with this.

Very appropriate for my 666th ranking.

"It not only crucially fails to address the cultural forces that might have spawned the country's prime musical export but it also neglects to include more than cursory snippets of the tunes themselves." - Nick Schager

Some of the interviews and random moments are interesting enough, but the film fails as a documentary that's trying to tell a coherent or compelling story. Maybe this is the black metal approach to filmmaking, but that doesn't really make it better.

Terrible editing, aimless and shallow. Still, the interviews were interesting but only because I know the background story and music from beforehand. For a person not familiar with both music and persons this must have been a very confusing experience.

The reviews of this film are odd and mostly unfair. Does it lack direction and flow? A bit, but overall the craft of this documentary is very good. There seems to be two types of black metal fans and black metal interpretations. That is pretty much the entire premise of the film. I'm fascinated by the subculture, so I'm biased.

Pretty awful as a film, but worth the watch once for the Fenriz bits and a hilarious Harmony Korine appearance.