''Grendel Grendel Grendel'' is a 1981 Australian

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

written, directed and designed by Alexander Stitt and starring

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

. It was based on John Gardner's novel '' Grendel''. The music was composed and conducted by Bruce Smeaton and has been released on the 1M1 Records label. Like Gardner's novel, the film is a retelling of part of the epic poem ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'' from the monster Grendel's point of view. Grendel (voiced by Ustinov) is by turns a thoughtful and contemplative character and a rampaging monster who attacks the

mead hall Among the early Germanic peoples, a mead hall or feasting hall was a large building with a single room intended to receive guests and serve as a center of community social life. From the fifth century to the Early Middle Ages such a building was t ...

of an early Danish kingdom, biting the head off of one would-be defender. This was the second full-length fully animated film ever made in Australia (coming after 1972's '' Marco Polo Junior Versus the Red Dragon'').

Plot

Initially narrated by the titular character through a flashback, Grendel (

), the "Great Boogey", recounts how he first left his cave as a child and encountered the Danish King Hrothgar (Ed Rosser) and his

thegn In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn or thane (Latin minister) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and ealdormen. He had to be a substantial landowner. Thanage refers to the tenure by which lands were ...

s. After being rescued by his mother, Grendel pondered over the similarities he shared with the Danes, yet lamented on their not being able to understand his language. He watched as Hrothgar's power and wealth grew, disgusted at his excesses and the royal

Shaper In machining, a shaper is a type of machine tool that uses linear relative motion between the workpiece and a single-point cutting tool to machine a linear toolpath. Its cut is analogous to that of a lathe, except that it is (archetypally) line ...

's ( Keith Michell) revision of history, presenting the king's underhanded and brutal achievements as glorious victories. Desperate to find meaning in life, Grendel encountered the dragon ( Arthur Dignam), who informed Grendel that his sole purpose in life is to terrify humanity, thus stimulating human imagination and encouraging social cohesion. Grendel accepts his new role and regularly visits the king's

to frighten Hrothgar's people and devour them. He stops short of killing the king himself and the warrior

Unferth In the Old English epic poem ''Beowulf'', Unferth or Hunferth is a thegn (a retainer, servant) of the Danish lord Hrothgar. He appears five times in the poem — four times by the name 'Hunferð' (at lines 499, 530, 1165 and 1488) and once by ...

(Ric Stone), whose delusions of grandeur and passive opposition to the king amuse Grendel. Feeling sympathy for Hrothgar's miserable wife Wealhtheow, who is also the object of Unferth's secret affection, Grendel decides to finally kill Hrothgar and take her to his lair. Before Grendel can arrive, the meadhall is visited by the hero

(also voiced by Dignam), who kills Unferth on the increasingly paranoid Hrothgar's orders. Beowulf then ambushes Grendel and tears off his arm, leaving the monster to die outside, pondering over the accidental nature of his death.

Voices

- Grendel * Keith Michell - The Shaper * Arthur Dignam - The Dragon, Beowulf * Ed Rosser - King Hrothgar * Bobby Bright - Additional Voices * Ric Stone - Unferth * Ernie Bourne - Additional Voices * Rho Schepisi - Additional Voices * Colin McEwan - Additional Voices * Alison Bird - Wealhtheow * Barry Hill - Additional Voices * Peter Aanensen - Additional Voices * Jack Brown - Additional Voices * Julie McKenna - The Shaper's Boy

Uncredited

* Phillip Adams - Narrator

Production and release

Stitt acquired the film rights to ''Grendel'' in 1978, and work was commenced at Melbourne Al et al. Studios the following year. The film was conceived as a coproduction with producer Phillip Adams, under the banner of Animation Australia. Although completed in 1981, it was not released in US theatres until the spring of 1982. Because of its limited appeal, broadcasting of the film was largely restricted to art theatres in urban centres.Beck, Jerry (2005), ''The Animated Movie Guide'', Chicago Review Press, p. 99,

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, grendel_grendel_grendel
Grendel Grendel Grendel at the National Film and Sound Archive
1981 animated films 1981 films Australian animated feature films Films based on Beowulf Animated films based on American novels Animated films based on Norse mythology Animated films set in Denmark Films set in the 6th century Films scored by Bruce Smeaton 1980s Australian animated films 1980s English-language films Australian animated comedy films Films based on adaptations