Kingdom Of Heaven
From FilmFile
Taglines:
- Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless, and do no wrong
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Synopsis
Kingdom of Heaven is set during the first Crusades. Bloom plays a blacksmith, Balian, who discovers that his father is a Baron and a crusader in the Holy Lands. Leaving his home with his father he travels to Jerusalem to try to find forgiveness from God, but ends up taking his father’s place, becoming a close companion to the King, and making an enemy of the next in line to the throne. Pretty soon war between the crusaders and the Muslims arises.
Review
The casting of Orlando Bloom in a lead role was a dangerous gambit for Ridley Scott to take. Did he see in Orlando some untapped potential, like Scorcese did with DiCaprio? Would we finally see a performance from Orlando which equated to more than just reading lines, and staring into the distance? Well, the answer to that is no, and this film suffers because of it.
This could have been a really good film! Really, it could! Unfortunately despite a decent story, in which neither side is shown as evil, some gripping and brutal action, and a scattering of strong supporting cast, the whole feel of the film is flat. The main reason for this is that extremely uncharismatic Bloom who, in a role where he is built to be a leader of men, looks totally out of place. You end up wondering why the people turn to such a bland personality to lead them into battle! It makes no sense. Bloom does his usual ‘one facial expression’ performance throughout the film, and it makes it impossible to engage with him, or emote in any way. If we can’t emote with the lead character in such a powerful film, then the whole feel is lost. Other performances on offer serve to the detriment of the tale, such as the role of the second in line to the throne, Guy, which is played in the style of Bill Bailey!
Over the past 10 years Ridley Scott has made a lot of average films, which people have praised as ‘the next best thing since sliced Hovis’. With the majority of them, such as Gladiator or Matchstick Men, they were pretty dull films lifted up by the charisma of the stars. With Kingdom of Heaven what would have been good is dragged down by terrible performances. If Russell Crowe were in the lead role, it would have made a huge difference! Even Liam Neeson could have raised it up if he were the focus of the whole film! I would have believed more if Jeremy Irons’ character were the one to lead the people…I’d follow him into battle (if only on the hope he finds a piano and sings “PlayAway” – but that’s off on a tangent!) No, we are left with Bloom, and a role that is far above his station.
Overall the film was average. It didn’t really drag, and some of the battles (or the lack of in places) are really intense. Just a shame that the cast can’t live up to the tale.
Trivia
- WILHELM SCREAM: During the climactic battle, when the Muslims cross the first white rocks and Christians fire for the first time.
- Edward Norton filmed his part in two weeks.
- Edward Norton was briefly considered for the role of Guy, but upon reading the script, he lobbied for the role of King Baldwin. Because the king appears behind a mask, he requested not to be credited. However, his name was put back in the video releases of the film.
- Several alternative endings were shot for the film. Orlando Bloom's preferred ending was as Balian rides past the pilgrims as they leave Jerusalem, he doesn't see Sibylla (Eva Green), but returns to France alone and resumes his life as a blacksmith. In another, version, he does see her, and they speak and ultimately take one another hand's, and the film ends with them walking away into the desert with the other pilgrims. In another version, he sees her, they talk, and then we cut to him arriving in France alone.
- For the final scene, when Balian runs his hand along the sapling planted by his wife, and sees that it is starting to bud, a subtle digital effect plays a pivotal role in the shot - the plant used in the scene had no buds, so all the buds seen in the shot are 100% CG.
- Both director Ridley Scott and writer William Monahan felt that the unnamed character played by David Thewlis was an embodiment of God, or at the very least, an angel on a mission from God. This is not at all apparent in the theatrical cut, but in the Director's Cut, there are two scenes which strongly hint at it - one where the character seemingly disappears after a conversation with Balian (Orlando Bloom); the other where he seems to 'resurrect' Balian after being attacked by three assassins.
- The reason Jeremy Irons' character was renamed Tiberias (as opposed to his 'real' name, Raymond III of Tripoli) was because the studio felt audiences would get confused with two major characters both having names beginning with R (the other being Raynald de Chatillon (Brendan Gleeson), and so they ordered writer William Monahan to change the name of one of them.
- After being cast in the role of Godfrey, actor Liam Neeson realized he knew nothing about the Crusades and began his research with The Complete Idiots Guide to the Crusades by Paul L. Williams, a book Neeson calls "extremely informative".
- Two practical trebuchets were built for the film. The arms could pivot 56 feet and fire loads of 100 pounds some 400 meters. During filming, the arms of one of the trebuchet towers snapped due to the extreme temperature changes which dried the wood in the arm. The snapping of the arm can be seen in the behind the scenes footage on the 4-Disc Director's Cut DVD.
- Ridley Scott offered the small role of Richard I to Russell Crowe, but due to scheduling conflicts, Crowe was unable to do it. The part eventually went to Iain Glen.
- In reality, Orlando Bloom's character Balian was not an illegitimate blacksmith, he did not fall in love with Sibylla but actually married her stepmother, he was hugely rich and was noted for his harsh attitude to the Muslims.
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