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A Knight's Tale [Blu-ray]
Columbia Pictures - Columbia Pictures
Release date: 2006-09-19
Blu-ray
Director:Brian Helgeland
Actors: Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk
Action, Action / Adventure, Action/Adventure, Adult Language, Adventure, Class Differences, Color, Costume Adventure, English, Feature, Feature Film-action/Adventure, Humorous, Irreverent, Knights and Ladies, Light, Movie, Nudity, Questionable for Children, Rousing, Suitable for Teens
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A Knight's Tale [Blu-ray]
Date undefinedFor very little kids, or young girls who want to look at Heath Ledger. He died but that didn't improve the film.
History is so boring. It needs to be jazzed up?
A Knight's Tale [Blu-ray]
Date undefinedSometime in the early 1370s, six months in the life of English writer Geoffrey Chaucer went unaccounted. A KNIGHT'S TALE - an earnest, historical epic movie (okay, not really) - ventures a tongue-in-cheek answer to that mild conundrum. But, firstly, the film gravitates towards the young peasant squire, William Thatcher, who fears of wasting his life away as a humble nothing. When his knight is fatally injured during a joust, William seizes an opening for self-betterment. With the help of his reluctant fellow squires, he passes himself off as a nobleman, intending to compete in knightly tournaments. But William must first qualify by presenting patents of nobility, which list his noble lineage.
Which is where Geoffrey Chaucer comes in, naked in bodily form but not in spirits. Chaucer gets William, now callling himself Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland, that much closer to achieving his objective, being able to forge the necessary patents and acting as Sir Ulrich's herald. As tournament follows tournament, Sir Ulrich proves to be mighty in prowess and very popular with the masses. But he may have set too lofty a goal when he dares to fall in love with the nobleman's beautiful daughter, Lady Jocelyn. And, ultimately, Sir Ulrich's dreams of love and a better life may rest on his ability to best the grim and haughty Count Adhemar, who is a tournament champion and a rival for Jocelyn's fancy...
This film is definitely a far cry from one of those tired medieval epics. A KNIGHT'S TALE is a rousing, high spirited adventure, bolstered by a perfect cast, an immensely relatable underdog story, a sexy romance, and friggin' rock & roll music. As director Brian Helgeland confesses facetiously in his audio commentary with Paul Bettany, he was not aware that rock & roll did not exist back in the 1370s. But, believe or no, this anachronism serves the movie well. One of the early scenes involves the tournament crowd getting amped up with Queen's "We Will Rock You." This right away lends an amazing energy to the screen and gives notice to the movie audience that this one film isn't quite like any other. Other classic rock tunes pepper the film, with David Bowie's "Golden Years" being particularly effective in the dance sequence; there's a sense of exhilaration and sensuality to Jocelyn and Sir Ulrich getting jiggy on the floor. What the music does, other than setting a desired mood, is lend a refreshing contemporary feel to the film. I really dug those moments, historical inaccuracies be damned.
Speaking of historical inaccuracies, you don't really think this is where the Nike swooosh logo originated, do you? Or sports fan face painting?
"I give to you the seeker of serenity, the protector of Italian virginity, and the enforcer of Our Lord God, the one, the only - Sir Uuullrich von Lichtenstein!!" I have to admit that my favorite actor here is Paul Bettany, who plays Geoffrey Chaucer. From the moment Bettany makes his very startling onscreen appearance, he begins to steal scenes left and right. He's even more brilliant when he takes on the role of Sir Ulrich's herald and begins to rev up the tournament crowds with his ringing, bombastic introductions of his liege. I'm such a big fan of this dude.
Not to neglect the rest of the cast. The lead is the late, very much missed Heath Ledger and, at this stage in his career, he was well on his way to attaining bankable leading man status. His very engaging performance in A KNIGHT'S TALE definitely put him on that level. William Thatcher, handsome and bold, appeals to every gent with ambition and, I'm guessing, to every girl out there who has the ability to swoon. His retinue of friends and "servants" are perfect, simply perfect: Mark Addy, the calm and sense in the maelstrom; Alan Tudyk, fiery tempered and eager to administer vicious fongings (to fong = to kick); Laura Fraser as the lovely and spunky Kate the farrier; and, of course, the golden-voiced Paul Bettany.
Shannyn Sossamon makes her promising big screen debut and is luminous as the moon, unveiling a hint of sass and more than a hint of the sexy. Her chemistry with Ledger is a smoldering thing. The sad thing for her career is that not in any of her following films has she been as good as she was here. Maybe that'll change. And what's an adventure movie without a good adversary? Rufus Sewell as Count Adhemar oozes priveleged arrogance, dark jealousy and sinister thoughts. Is there any doubt that the dastardly Count Adhemar wouldn't hesitate to get medieval on William's, er, backside (but not in the same way as in PULP FICTION)?
Do yourself a favor and also check out the juuuust a bit tongue-in-cheek audio commentary by director Brian Helgeland and Paul Bettany. They'll fill you in on trivia such as which actor was voted sexiest by the females of the cast and crew, how Bettany managed to not show the fella when in *that* scene, which actor is projected by the commentators to be the next James Bond, which actor's parties have become the stuff of legends during the filming, and who ended up purchasing Sir Ulrich's Kate-created armor.
I've seen A KNIGHT'S TALE a busload of times, and it's yet to wane in appeal and watchability. You wouldn't think that a collision of Queen and Chaucer (to quote Helgeland) would work. But it does, and tremendously, thanks to the actors who create and inhabit fully realized characters. The sheer exuberance of this film blows me away, and the underdog premise makes me root for William's motley crew time and again. If you haven't seen A KNIGHT'S TALE yet, well, frankly, I'm a bit envious. But what are you waiting for? A fonging?
A Knight's Tale [Blu-ray]
Date undefinedThe movie is FUNNY. The movie doesn't pretend to be historically accurate, so don't go there if that's what you want to see.
It's a fun movie, a funny movie. And I expect I'll sit down and watch it every now and then to enjoy a good laugh.
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