Kingdom of Heaven
A stirring epic set just before the Third Crusades, this film delivers a message about virtue, life, and religious freedom and tolerance. I thought Orlando Bloom did a great job as Balian of Ibelin, a French blacksmith with an English accent.
Plot: Balian's wife and child are dead, and he has lost all hope. A great knight named Godfrey, back from the Crusades to seek his son, finds Balian. He reveals that he is his father. Godfrey show him the true meaning of knighthood and takes him on a journey to Jerusalem. A fragile peace prevails in Jerusalem during the Second and Third Crusades through the efforts of its enlightened christian king, Baldwin IV. King Baldwin wears a silver mask to cover up the leprosy that he has. Greed and religious fanaticism fuel some of the Crusaders who attack the Muslims. Saladin, the Muslim leader, leads an attack on Jerusalem after being attacked first by the Crusaders. King Baldwin's vision of peace, a kingdom of heaven, is shared by a handful of knights, including Godfrey, who swear to uphold it with their lives and honor. Godfrey knights his son after being mortally wounded. He passes on the sacred oath to protect the weak and helpless and work towards building harmony so that a kingdom of heaven can flourish on earth. Balian chooses to accept this task and inspires others to do so.
This movie has great visual flare. The war scenes are brutal and stunning to watch. The characters, however, are a bit one-sided. The bad guys are bad and the good guys are good. There isn't much character development except for Balian. And he is too remarkable, which means it's unbelievable. From his origins as a poor blacksmith, he becomes a great knight. He knows battle tactics and agriculture and seems to know everything else. He probably was only trained just for a few weeks during his travel time to Jerusalem. The movie just shows a few seconds of his sword fighting training.
The movie paints a fascinating picture of what the Crusades were like. Although, it's not entirely historically accurate, it does provide a good idea of what must have happened during those times. Since I'm interested in church history, it was fascinating to watch for me. Jews, christians, and Muslims have fought for Jerusalem for at least 2,000 years, and they are still struggling over it today.
My rating: B, 86.
3 comments:
Saladin is a very interesting historical character and far from the (relative) villain that this movie seemed to make him out to be. It was a good movie, but I felt it was historically inaccurate and might give people the wrong idea of the Crusades.
The crusades rocked were in one now.
I thought the movie portrayed Saladin to be a noble Muslim leader. I didn't think he was portrayed as a villain, but someone who was fair and honorable. The movie showed that he attacked after the crusaders killed his sister and other Muslims. The movie may not have been entirely accurate, but did send a message about peace rather than war.
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