|
|
Post by scothia on May 10, 2005 0:56:42 GMT -5
Anyone seen the new Orlando Bloom film, Kingdom of Heaven? What did you think of the questions it raises, and did you think director Ridley Scott presented a fair picture of the times he portrayed?
|
|
|
|
Post by dinadan on May 10, 2005 6:15:59 GMT -5
I posted my comments on the movie in the movie critiques thread.
|
|
|
|
Post by Riothamus on May 10, 2005 7:36:49 GMT -5
My comments as well are in the critiques thread.
|
|
|
|
Post by Child of Immanuel on May 10, 2005 14:08:12 GMT -5
Is it worth me seeing this weekend? Be warned- whatever you say, I'm going to see it anyway.  |
|
|
|
Post by dinadan on May 10, 2005 14:10:34 GMT -5
Oh yeah, it's definitely worth watching.
|
|
|
|
Post by Child of Immanuel on May 10, 2005 14:15:05 GMT -5
Thanks. |
|
|
|
Post by CynanMachae on May 10, 2005 16:43:19 GMT -5
I'm gonna be seeing this weekend too!
|
|
|
|
Post by Gwalchmai on May 11, 2005 9:01:48 GMT -5
I have a friend who worked on the movie while they were filming. According to him, everything was incredibely well done and very historically accurate. The only real problem that he mentioned was that Orlando Bloom was out of his depth. But hey everything else seems good enough for me to go see it this weekend =P
|
|
|
|
Post by dinadan on May 11, 2005 13:51:40 GMT -5
Locations, armor, etc were very accurate. People and events, a little fuzzy (seeing as how Orlando Bloom's character, the main character of the film, was fictitious). Still, it was a very good movie, and I liked it a lot. It's definitely on my must-own list.
|
|
|
|
Post by Riothamus on May 12, 2005 15:41:26 GMT -5
Fictionalized might be a better term. Balian of Iblin really existed and was commander in the defense of Jerusalem against Saladin. He even negotiated the surrender of Jerusalem by suggesting that, if his terms weren't met, he would slaughter every Moslem in the city (a detail curiously omitted in the movie.)
|
|
|
|
Post by dinadan on May 13, 2005 10:27:33 GMT -5
Well, granted...but what I meant was, given that there are roughly no biographical details about him (other than his defending of Jerusalem), he was a blank slate.
|
|
|
|
Post by Riothamus on May 13, 2005 11:27:57 GMT -5
I see. Just my pedantic/picky side showing through. ;D
Incidentally, one aspect that I very much admire was the ability of Ridley Scott to wring a victory out of what was essentially a miserable defeat. No Braveheart blaze of glory here, just a miserable limp back home.
The more I think about it, though, I don't think the "Kingdom of Concience" thing was handled at all well. It had no resonance, no real emotion, and no substance: Balian thinks it's alright to fornicate with his archrival's wife, but refuses to have him killed, and subsequently turns his self-righteously cold chin to her. It's just a bit shallow, methinks....
|
|
|
|
Post by dinadan on May 13, 2005 16:17:44 GMT -5
True enough; I do have a problem with his perception as a perfect knight when he had the affair with Sebylla...but then, Lancelot had his Guinevere, so eh.
A scene I was intensely interested in was the one where Sebylla cuts her hair (after Guy is killed) and while looking in the mirror she sees the face of her brother as it looked after the transmogrifying illness from which he died. Any thoughts on the symbolism of that?
|
|
|
|
Post by Child of Immanuel on May 15, 2005 7:40:54 GMT -5
I didn't really like the movie. It was the standard "epic" stuff, but no real soul.
|
|
|
|
Post by Riothamus on May 16, 2005 8:46:38 GMT -5
Yeah, that scene was interesting. At first, I assumed she had caught the illness from her brother, and that this shot prefigured it, but nothing seemed to come of it. Perhaps we're meant to think of the lordship over Jerusalem as in itself a corrupting influence, rotting away everyone who holds it, even good men/women.
It was pretty hollow in several spots, but I'll give it this: it tried to have soul, tried to handle ideas deeper than the "standard epic stuff." They deserve kudos for at least that much, I think.
|
|
