Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

 

                    In 2005, Ridley Scott was coming off the small-scale “Matchstick Men” and decided to return to an historical epic like his “Gladiator” and “Black Hawk Down”.  He returned to where he had filmed those two movies -  Morocco.  By this time he was good friends with King Mohamed VI who allowed 1,200 soldiers (mostly cavalry) to be used as extras.  Parts of the film were also filmed in Spain.  A lot of effort went into the film.  The replica of Jerusalem covered over 300,000 square feet with a front of 1,200 feet.  Two trebuchets were constructed which could hurl a 100-pound projectile over 1,300 feet.  Three siege towers were built with one being toppled for the film.  The original cut came in at over 190 minutes, but a poor test audience review resulted in 45 minutes being cut.  Scott disowned the theatrical release and later created a director’s cut that fleshed out several characters and added some scenes.  The Director’s Cut is the version I am reviewing here. 

                    The movie is set about 100 years into the Crusades.  In a French village in 1184, the local blacksmith Balian (Orlando Bloom) is despondent over the suicide of his wife.  Because of this sin, she was doomed to Hell.  Soon after, a wizened Crusader named Godfrey (Liam Neeson) urges Balian to accompany him to Jerusalem where he may get a dispensation forgiving his wife.  After initially turning him down, Balian tags along and is given a five-minute fighting lesson that makes him Sir Lancelot.  He goes from the cinematically dark (get it?) medieval France to the bright lights of the (at that time) progressive Muslim world.  He’s a fish out of water who is very adept at learning how to navigate on land.  In the Holy City, Balian finds that there is a power struggle between the pious Marshal Tiberias (Jeremy Irons) who represents King Baldwin VI (Edward Norton playing a leper in a mask) and the Guy/Renald He-Man Muslim Hating Club.  Baldwin’s sister Sibylla (Eva Green) is married to the villainous Guy de Lusignan (Martin Csokas).  Guy is allied with the psychopathic Raynald (Brendan Gleeson). They share the desire to foment war with the Muslims by breaking the tenuous truce.  Since Balian is Godfrey’s son and looks like a hero (and in spite of his lack of a resume), his services are enlisted by Baldwin.  Since Guy is abusive and Sibylla is a feminist before her time, she naturally hooks up with Balian.  The sex is great and Balian would just as soon settle down to agriculture (which he is just as quick an expert in as swordsmanship), but he gets dragged into the war that Guy and Reynard provoke with Saladin.  It will be a rough time to be a Christian fighting on the wrong side, but Balian ends up leading the defense of Jerusalem during its siege. 

                    “Kingdom of Heaven” is certainly epic in scale.  From the sands of the Sahara (in Palestine?) to the crowded streets of Jerusalem.  That set is awesome.  For Balian, it’s something of an odyssey.  He starts off a poor blacksmith and ends up de facto ruler of Jerusalem.  Along the way, he represents the religiously tolerant members of the audience as we open our minds to the positive aspects of Muslim culture.  And are introduced to the negative aspects of the Crusaders.  That’s one thread.  Then we have the romance between the saintly Balian and the shameless hussy Syblla.   Unfortunately, Bloom and Green have little chemistry and the romance is predictable.  It seems anachronistic with Balian being the sensitive type and Syblla being as non-medieval and non-Muslim as you can get for a woman.   Guy is a cinematic poster boy for cuckolding and duel-losing.  A third thread is the complicated political situation.  What should be gray is simply black versus white.  Guy and Raynard are cartoonish villains.  This is the kind of movie where the villains kill Saladin’s sister just in case there are any Crusader apologists in the audience.  And if you expect Guy to treat Saladin’s envoy with chivalry, you haven’t been paying attention.  He’s an infidel!

                      The movie has an outstanding cast, but several are wasted in one-dimensional roles.  This includes Bloom, who plays Saint Balian.  It’s an embarrassing performance.  The movie revolves around an unbelievable character.  Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons bring the gravitas in virtually identical roles.  As far as Norton, I admire him for not wanting screen credit for his performance.  I would like to know how much he was paid to do nothing special, in a mask!  Also, who made the decision to put the best actor in a mask!  I guess the same guy who killed off three interesting side-kicks before Balian even reaches the Holy Land.  This will be a one man show.

                    Another thread is the warfare. There are three set piece battles.  First, the ambush blending shock with missiles.  While well-choreographed and visceral, it sets off alarms as a blacksmith is suddenly a skilled warrior.  There’s a suicide charge that gives us the “Braveheart” hacking melee required in an epic movie with swords.  The movie climaxes with the siege.  It was clearly influenced by the Battle of Helm’s Deep.  It starts realistically and escalates all the way to gonzo.  It’s not redundant as new and bigger weapons are introduced, but not used in the next stage.  For instance, the first night the city is bombarded with fire bombs, but not on the other nights.  It is a tutorial in extreme siege warfare.  Nothing happens that could not have happened, but no siege had all of it.  Much of what happens makes no sense tactically, but who’s going to notice?  It’s for entertainment purposes and sieges were boring in reality.

                    The movie has the feel of bad history, but it actually is fairly accurate (see below).  The script could not have been made in the 20^th Century.  No studio would have green-lit a movie sympathetic toward the Muslim side in the Crusades.  I imagine Muslim groups were concerned when they heard about the film, but they needn’t have worried.  If anything, the movie is tilted toward the Muslims (or Saracens as they are called in the movie).  As it should be, if you know your history.  The best character in the movie is Saladin (Ghassan Massoud looking like Bin Laden’s good twin).  The most commendable thing about the movie is the recognition this remarkable historical figure gets.  The movie tries to please all viewers by providing role models on both sides.  However, the only mustache-twirlers are on the Christian side.

                    The theatrical version was pilloried by critics, but most were impressed by Scott’s director’s cut.  The praise was overblown.  The added 45 minutes do flesh out the characters and better explain their motivations (see below), but that does not change the fact that the movie is mediocre.  Too many characters are either poorly conceived or ill-used.  It definitely fails as a biopic.  Balian reminds of Lawrence of Arabia, but without the warts and with better shampoo.  However, as an attempt to rectify the traditional view of the Crusades, Scott deserves some credit even though his take is too one-sided in putting all the blame on the Christians. But I support the replacement of Richard the Lionheart with Saladin as the face of the Crusades.

ADDED SCENES:

 -  It turns out the Priest (the underused Michael Sheen) who buried Balian’s wife, is Balian’s brother.

-  Godfrey is the brother of the local lord and it’s his nephew who leads the posse sent to arrest Balian, so this implies Godfrey’s death was inheritance related.

-  Balian is a blacksmith who also makes weapons which might have been used to explain his proficiency in their use.  However, he has to be instructed by Godfrey.

-  When he arrived in Jerusalem, Balian makes a trip to Calvary to establish his wife was saved and he is a true Christian even though he will be kissing some Muslim butt

-  Balian advises Baldwin on the defense of Jerusalem.  Even though the King has no reason to believe he has any talent in military strategy.

-  The movie gives more coverage to Syblla and her son.  It turns out that she poisoned him so he would not have to suffer from leprosy.  I bet the test audience nixed that.

-  The theatrical release did not have a ridiculous duel between Balain and Guy to bring the audience the full revenge it expects.  But since Balian is a saint, he lets Balian survive.  Hopefully not for a sequel.

 

GRADE  =  C

 

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:  There was a Balian, but he was not a blacksmith and he did not live in France.  He was the son of an important nobleman in the Crusader kingdoms.  He would have been 41 at the time of the start of the movie and he was married and with kids.  He was not the saint portrayed in the movie although he was a brave and noble warrior.  He maneuvered through the political maze with aplomb.  He would switch alliances when necessary.  He was allied with Raymond of Tripoli (Tiberias in the movie) and usually opposed to Guy and Raynald.  Raynald of Chatallon was accurately portrayed, although he may not have been insane.  He was basically a plunderer who attacked caravans and built a fleet to raid Muslim trade ports.  Guy de Lusignan was not so much allied with him as he was unable to contain him.  Guy apparently was not keen on war with Saladin, but did nothing to prevent it.  The raids did provoke Saladin in a way similar to shown in the movie.  There was no Battle of Kerak where Balian is defeated and Baldwin does not arrive immediately after and negotiate peace with Saladin. This did not remotely happen.  Once Saladin was provoked, it was on.  The story of his sister being killed in a caravan raid has been refuted, but it was believed for a long time. Guy was married to Syblla, but the marriage was a good one.  She knew Balian, but he was married and there is no hint of a relationship between the two.  King Baldwin was a leper, but he did not wear a mask.  His nephew did succeed him, but died one year later from leprosy.  There is no proof (or even conjecture) that Syblla euthanized him.  Syblla took over as Queen and surprised everyone by crowing Guy as co-ruler.      

The Battle of Hattin is handled well and it is understandable that the actual battle is not shown.  There is enough Crusader bashing in the movie as it is.  However, Balian was there.  He led the rearguard and convinced Guy to halt the doomed march and make a stand.  The army was wiped out, but all three survived.  The movie does a good job on the meeting of Saladin and Raynald and Guy.  He killed Raynald by beheading him, not cutting his throat.  He offered Guy some water and when Guy accepted, he came under the protection of hospitality.  Guy was imprisoned (he was not put on display outside Jerusalem) and freed after a year.  He went on to be King of Cyprus.  Balian escaped at Hattin.  He met with Saladin who allowed him to return to Jerusalem to evacuate his family, if he promised not to take up arms.  When Balian entered the city, Patriarch Heraclius and the Christian public begged Balian to lead the defense and Eraclius forgave him for violating his oath.  Saladin allowed Balian’s family to escape as he released Balian from his oath.  Balian did knight some burgesses and squires because he had few knights.  The siege is fairly close, although without all the bells and whistles.  The Saracens did not have trebuchets, but they had plenty of other siege engines (catapults, mangonels) that could pelt the city.  There were sorties against the siege towers that the movie foolishly leaves out.  The actual breach was created by a mine after Saladin shifted the assault to a less defensible area of the wall.  The assault through the breach was halted at first, but it was obvious the city was doomed.  Balian negotiated with Saladin, who insisted on unconditional surrender.  However, after Balian sincerely threatened to burn Muslim holy sites, kill their own Christian families, and kill all the Muslim slaves, Saladin relented and agreed to accept ransom for Christians.  As it was, there was not enough money to ransom all them, so the poor were enslaved.  But not slaughtered like when the Crusaders took Jerusalem.  Heraclius left with wagons full of church treasures.