Troll Described Differently From the Original: Troll (2022) Film Review
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers from the film. If you have not yet watched the film but still wish to read this article, the choise is yours.
The film Troll (2022) tells the story of a gigantic ancient creature named Troll that awakens at Norwegian mountain. The creature is depicted as an ugly giant with a large nose, bulging eyes, and four fingers. This film tells us that troll is made by earth and stone. Their hearts were snow-clad, and their bones were made of ice.
According to Troll mythology, there are several types of Trolls; giants, dwarves, and those with more than one head. Some people categorize Trolls into two types: the first is the mountain or forest Troll, which is gigantic, strong, and brutish, often using trees as clubs or throwing boulders. The second is the cave Troll, which is smaller (dwarf-like), and known for baffling and deceiving humans.
One ability of the troll is camuflage itself in the earth, rocks, or mountains and cannot be detected by thermal scanner (as it shows no sign of life). This is shown in the film when Nora Tidemann tries to find the Troll with a thermal scanner but to no avail. Instead, she smells the Troll through a strange stench in nature, which she calls ‘hypernature’. This term refers to phenomena or environments that appear natural but have actually changed, such as animals in camouflage or in the case of this film, the Troll itself.
When the sun comes up, Troll have to hide because they would turn into stone when exposed directly to the sunlight. That’s why whenever Troll show up in this film, it’s always night or during cloudy weather. Some theory say that Troll can also control the weather, but the truth is unclear. Roar Uthaug, the director of this film, put this topic into this film through the dialogue between Andreas and Nora Tidemann.
Trolls Are Described Differently From the Original
Tobias Tidemann said that a collection of folklore, myths, and art was created to cover up the truth about Trolls. All the folklore was made to discredit the Troll, and it was all done by Asbjørnsen and Moe. In the folklore, Troll were described as evil, dangerous, stupid and dumber than humans. Tobias also said that Kittelsen (a Norwegian artist) drew the wrong thing about Troll in his drawing. Kittelsen drew a Troll walking in the village when sun was shining brightly. This is contradictory to the Troll’s weakness that causes them to turn into stone if they exposed by sunlight directly.
I think Roar Uthaug, the director of this film, wants to show us that Troll are friendly and not stupid. According to the film, there is no scene that shows the stupidity or wickedness of the Troll. Several scenes may show us that the Troll is attacking humans and even eat them, but that is part of its self defense.
