Kingdom of Heaven is a
2005 epic film,
directed by
Ridley Scott and written by
William Monahan. It stars
Orlando Bloom,
Eva
Green,
Jeremy Irons,
David Thewlis,
Marton
Csokas,
Brendan Gleeson,
Kevin McKidd,
Alexander Siddig,
Ghassan Massoud,
Edward Norton,
Jon
Finch,
Michael Sheen and
Liam Neeson.
The story is set during the
Crusades of the
12th century.
A French village blacksmith goes to aid the
city of Jerusalem
in its defense against the Muslim and Kurdish leader
Saladin, who is battling to reclaim the city
from the Christians. The film
script is a heavily fictionalized portrayal of
Balian of Ibelin.
Hamid Dabashi, a professor who
specializes in a number of fields including Iranian and Islamic
Studies as well as Comparative Literature at
Columbia University, was the film's
chief academic consultant regarding the Crusades.
Most
filming took place in Ouarzazate
in Morocco
, where Scott
had filmed Gladiator and
Black Hawk
Down. A replica of the ancient city of Jerusalem
was constructed in the
desert.
Filming also took
place in Spain, at the Loarre Castle
, Segovia
, Ávila
, Palma del Río
and Casa de Pilatos in Sevilla
.
Plot
In a remote village in France, Balian (
Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith, is haunted by
his wife's (
Nathalie Cox) recent
suicide, following the stillbirth of their child. A group of
Crusaders arrive at the small village and
one of them approaches Balian, introducing himself as his
out-of-wedlock father, Baron Godfrey of
Ibelin (
Liam Neeson).
Godfrey,
having learned of Balian's recent losses, attempts to persuade
Balian to join him as they travel to Jerusalem, in the hope he will eventually take his place as
Godfrey's heir. Balian quickly refuses and, after
resupplying and resting, the Crusaders ride on. Shortly afterwards,
the corrupt town priest (Balian's half-brother) reveals that his
wife's body was beheaded before burial (a customary practice in
those times for people who committed suicide) and he has taken the
crucifix she wore. Enraged at these insults, Balian lights the
priest on fire, slays him with the sword he is working on, and
takes the crucifix necklace his dead wife once wore. Balian quickly
decides to follow his father after all, in the hope of gaining
redemption and forgiveness for both his wife and himself. Shortly
after he catches up to his father, soldiers led by Godfrey's nephew
arrive, ostensibly to arrest Balian (The actual reason being the
assassination of both Balian and Godfrey under the appearance of a
bandit attack, so the nephew would inherit Godfrey's lands around
Jerusalem). Godfrey refuses to hand him over and, though they win
the ensuing fight, most of Godfrey's band is killed. Godfrey
himself is wounded by an arrow and, though he is not killed
outright, it becomes clear as their journey continues that he will
soon die.
In
Messina
, Godfrey, on the brink of death, knights Balian and
orders him to serve the King of
Jerusalem and protect the helpless. He ultimately shares
with him his vision of "a kingdom of conscience, morality, and
righteousness in the
Holy Land", where
Muslims and Christians can peacefully coexist, before finally
succumbing to his injuries. On Balian's subsequent journey to
Jerusalem, his ship is hit by a storm, leaving Balian and a horse
as the sole survivors of the wreck. However, the horse then runs
away as Balian attempts to mount it. Tracking the horse into the
desert, Balian soon finds himself confronting a Muslim cavalier,
and his servant, over possession of the horse. Balian slays the
horseman in single combat, but spares the servant, asking him to
guide him to Jerusalem. Upon their arrival in Jerusalem, Balian
releases his prisoner who then tells him his slain master was an
important knight amongst the Saracens, and Balian says that he will
pray for his soul. As his prisoner departs, he remarks, "Your
qualities will be known among your enemies before ever you meet
them". Balian goes to
Golgotha, where
Christ was crucified hoping to hear what God wishes of him. After a
night of waiting Balian buries his wife's necklace. After being
accepted as the new Lord of Ibelin, Balian soon becomes acquainted
with the main players in Jerusalem's political arena: King
Baldwin IV, stricken by
leprosy yet nevertheless a wise and most sensible
ruler,
Tiberias, the noble
but cynical Marshall of Jerusalem, Princess
Sibylla, King Baldwin IV's sister, and
Guy de Lusignan, Sibylla's scheming,
bloodthirsty, and intolerant husband, who supports the anti-Muslim
activities of brutal factions like the
Knights Templar. Despite the respect Baldwin
engenders from the combined Christian and Muslim population of
Jerusalem, Guy, who is determined to rule after Baldwin's
inevitable early death, seeks to precipitate a war that will allow
him to dispose of the Muslims and claim the Kingdom for Christians
alone. He is also threatened by Balian, who he sees as a rival who
is having an affair with Sybilla.
Guy and his co-conspirator
Raynald of Châtillon massacre a
Muslim trade caravan with the aid of the Templars.
Saladin, leader of the Muslim forces seeking to
retake Jerusalem, attacks
Kerak,
Raynald's castle, to bring him to account for his crime. Balian
decides to defend Kerak Castle from Saladin's cavalry, in order to
protect the innocent villagers surrounding the castle. Though
outnumbered, Balian and his knights charge Saladin's cavalry,
allowing the villagers time to flee to the castle; Balian's cavalry
is soon routed resulting in the capture of him and his men. In
captivity, Balian encounters the 'servant' he freed,
Imad ad-Din, learning he is actually one of
Saladin's Generals, who then returns the favor, freeing Balian to
Kerak as Saladin arrives with his infantry to besiege Kerak. King
Baldwin IV then arrives with his main army, successfully negotiates
a Muslim retreat with Saladin and averts a potential bloodbath. At
Saladin's camp, several of his Generals are angry that he made a
truce, but Saladin dismisses these complaints as a foolhardy rush
to war; he will only launch an attack against Jerusalem after ample
preparation, when he feels he is strategically strong enough.
Baldwin beats Raynald and orders his arrest, but the stress of the
events causes him to collapse, and his physicians discover he will
die shortly.
Baldwin asks Balian to marry Sybilla (
Eva
Green), knowing that the pair have affection for each other,
but Balian does not accept as he refuses to be associated with the
necessary murder of Guy; such political intrigue being counter to
Balian's morality. After Baldwin finally dies, Sibylla's son
Baldwin V a child of six years becomes
King of Jerusalem. Guy goes to Raynald for advice and realizes that
even though Balian is not King, he can still become the General of
the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Aware of this threat, and infuriated by
the knowledge of his wife's affair with Balian, Guy sends several
Templars to murder him, but they fail, with Balian narrowly
managing to defeat the assassins. It is soon realized that Baldwin
is stricken like his uncle with leprosy; crushed by the knowledge
of this, Sibylla euthanizes her son, preventing him from suffering.
Sibylla succeeds her son and therefore names Guy as her King
Consort of Jerusalem. Guy, now free to do as he pleases, releases
Raynald, and has Raynald and his Templar lackeys provoke Saladin to
war by murdering innocent Saracens, among them Saladin's sister.
When Saladin sends an emissary to demand the return of his sister's
body, the heads of those responsible, and the surrender of
Jerusalem, Guy answers by cutting the emissary's throat, nearly
causing a fight between Tiberias's knights, the
Knights Hospitaler, and the Knights
Templar. As the emissary's body is towed away, Guy arrogantly
whispers "I am Jerusalem" and orders Jerusalem's army to be
assembled for war.
Subsequently, in their arrogance, they march to the desert without
adequate food and water to fight Saladin, leaving Jerusalem
unguarded except for Balian, his personal knights, and the
townspeople.
Saladin's army ambushes Guy and Raynald, and
the Crusader
army is annihilated
. Guy
and Raynald themselves are captured; Saladin executes Raynald, and
then marches on Jerusalem, sparing Guy out of tradition but stating
that he is not worthy of this. Balian prepares the defences,
challenging the Patriarch's advice to flee, and then makes a
symbolic gesture by knighting a number of men-at-arms to raise
morale, even knighting the man who buried his wife in France.
Balian insists that their goal is to defend Jerusalem's population,
not the city itself. Knowing full well they cannot defeat the
Saracens, the defenders' only hope is to delay their enemies long
enough for them to negotiate.
Saladin's forces besiege the walls of
Jerusalem.
Saladin's siege of Jerusalem is three days of battle wherein Balian
demonstrates tactical skill in knocking down
siege towers, before inspiring the defenders to
hold the line when a section of city wall is opened. Having proven
their resolve, Saladin offers terms: Balian surrenders Jerusalem to
Saladin when Saladin offers the inhabitants safe passage to
Christian lands. Balian points out that when the Crusaders
conquered Jerusalem a hundred years previously, they massacred the
Muslim inhabitants, but Saladin assures him that he is a man of
honor, and, keeping his word, allows Balian and his people to
leave: Balian also asks Saladin what Jerusalem means to him, to
which he replies "Nothing. Everything". Balian encounters a freed
Guy who fights Balian but loses. Facing a defeated Guy, Balian
tells him "When you rise again, if you rise again, rise a
knight."
In the marching column of citizens, he finds Sibylla, and convinces
her to come with him. Saladin's forces destroy many of the
Christian books and make the church into a mosque. Privately,
Saladin picks up a cross that was thrown off and puts it back on
the table as well as refusing to step on the stones carved with
crucifixes.
Later, Balian has returned to his village in France. A column of
English knights rides through, led by King
Richard I of England, who tells Balian
that they are commencing a new Crusade to retake Jerusalem from
Saladin. King Richard states that he is looking for Balian, who, in
essence, says that his time in the Holy Land is finished, and
refuses to go with them. Having been rebuffed, Richard and his
knights ride off. Balian is met by Sybilla, and after a brief stop
at the grave of Balian's wife, they ride off into the sunset.
An epilogue states that King Richard failed in his Crusade,
negotiated an uneasy truce with Saladin after three years of war,
and that "nearly a thousand years later, peace in the Kingdom of
Heaven remains elusive."
Randi kay bachay
why would someone edit out such a looong plot???
Cast and characters
Many of the characters in the movie are fictionalized versions of
historical figures:
Critical response
Upon its release, the film was met with mixed opinions. Critics
such as
Roger Ebert, however, found the
film's message to be deeper than Scott's previous
Gladiator.
Several actors/actresses were praised for their performances. The
unanimously praised performance was that of actor
Edward Norton, who played the leper king of
Jerusalem,
Baldwin IV. Critics have
described his acting as near "phenomenal", "eerie", and "so far
removed from anything that he has ever done that we see the true
complexities of his talent". The Syrian actor
Ghassan Massoud was also praised for his
portrayal of Saladin, described by
The New York Times as "cool as a
tall glass of water". Also commended were
Eva
Green, who plays
Princess
Sibylla, "with a measure of cool that defies her surroundings",
and
Jeremy Irons.
However, lead actor
Orlando Bloom's
performance generally elicited a lukewarm reception from American
critics, with the
Boston Globe
stating Bloom was "not
actively bad as Balian of Ibelin",
but nevertheless "seems like a man holding the fort for a genuine
star who never arrives". Although the medieval character of Balian
of Ibelin is not well known to U.S. culture, many critics had
strong notions of how Balian should be acted, as an "epic hero"
with a strong presence. One critic conceded that Balian was more of
a "brave and principled thinker-warrior" rather than a large,
strong commander, and Balian used brains-over-brawn to gain
advantage in battle.
Bloom had gained 20 pounds for the part, and the Extended
Director's Cut (detailed below) of
Kingdom of Heaven
reveals even more complex facets of Bloom's role, involving
connections with unknown relatives. Despite the criticism, Bloom
won two awards for his performance.
Online, general criticism has been also divided, but leaning
towards the positive. As of early 2006, the
Yahoo! Movies
rating for
Kingdom of Heaven was a "B" from the critics
(based on 15 Reviews). This rating equates to "good" according to
Yahoo! Movie's rating system. On
Rotten
Tomatoes, only 39 percent of critics gave the film a positive
review; however, the aggregate review site
Metacritic scored the movie as a 63, which means
the film received "generally favorable reviews" according to the
website's weighted average system.
Academic criticism has focused on the supposed peaceful
relationship between Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem and other
cities depicted. Crusader historians such as
Jonathan Riley-Smith, quoted by
The Daily Telegraph,
called the film "dangerous to Arab relations", claiming the movie
was
Osama bin Laden's version of the
Crusades and would "fuel the
Islamic fundamentalists". Riley-Smith
further commented against the historical accuracy stating "nonsense
like this will only reinforce existing myths," arguing that the
film "relied on the romanticized view of the Crusades propagated by
Sir Walter Scott in his book
The Talisman,
published in 1825 and now discredited by academics." Fellow Crusade
historian Jonathan Phillips also spoke against the film. Paul
Halsall defended Scott, claiming that "historians can't criticize
filmmakers for having to make the decisions they have to make...
[Scott is] not writing a history textbook".
Thomas F. Madden, Director of Saint Louis
University
's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
commented against the film's presentation of the
Crusades:
Given events in the modern world it is lamentable that
there is so large a gulf between what professional historians know
about the Crusades and what the general population
believes.
This movie only widens that gulf.
The shame of it is that dozens of distinguished
historians across the globe would have been only too happy to help
Scott and Monahan get it right.
Scott himself defended this depiction of the Muslim-Christian
relationship in footage on the
DVD version of
the movie's extra features. Scott sees this portrayal as being a
contemporary look at the history. He argued that peace and
brutality are concepts relative to one's own experience, and since
our society today is so far removed from the brutal times in which
the movie takes place, he told the story in a way that he felt was
true to the source material yet was more accessible to a modern
audience. In other words, the "peace" that existed was exaggerated
to fit our ideas of what such a peace would be. At the time, it was
merely a lull in Muslim-Christian violence compared to the
standards of the period. The recurring use of "Assalamu Alaikum",
the traditional Arabic greeting meaning "Peace be with you", is
spoken both in
Arabic and English
several times.
The "Director's Cut" of the film is a four-disc set, two of which
are dedicated to a feature-length documentary called "The Path to
Redemption." This feature contains an additional featurette on
historical accuracy called "Creative Accuracy: The Scholars Speak",
where a number of academics support the film's contemporary
relevance and historical accuracy. Among these historians is Dr.
Nancy Caciola, who said that despite the various inaccuracies and
fictionalized/dramatized details considered the film a "responsible
depiction of the period."
Screenwriter
William Monahan, who is
a long-term enthusiast of the period, has said "If it isn't in, it
doesn't mean we didn't know it... What you use, in drama, is what
plays.
Shakespeare did the same."
Caciola agreed with the fictionalization of characters on the
grounds that "crafting a character who is someone the audience can
identify with" is necessary in a film. She said that "I, as a
professional, have spent much time with
medieval people, so to speak, in the texts that I
read; and quite honestly there are very few of them that if I met
in the flesh I feel that I would be very fond of." This appears to
echo the sentiments of Scott himself. However, the DVD does not
feature historians expressing more negative reactions.
The historical content and the religious and political messages
present have received praise and condemnation, sentiments and
perceptions. John Harlow of the
Times
Online wrote that Christianity is portrayed in an
unfavorable light and the value of Christian belief is diminished,
especially in the portrayal of
Patriarch Heraclius of
Jerusalem.
In several screenings in Beirut
, Robert Fisk reported that Muslim audiences rose
to their feet and applauded wildly during a scene in the film in
which Saladin respectfully places a fallen
cross back on top of a table after
it had fallen during the three-day siege of the city.
The movie was a
box office flop in the
U.S. and Canada, earning $47 million against a budget of around
$130 million, but was successful in Europe and the rest of the
world, with the worldwide box office earnings totaling at
$211,643,158.
It was also a big success in Arabic-speaking countries, especially Egypt
, mainly
because of the Egyptian actor Khaled El Nabawy. Scott
insinuated that the U.S. disaster of the film was the result of bad
advertising, which presented the film as an adventure with a love
story rather than as an examination of religious conflict. It's
also been noted that the film was altered from its original version
to be shorter and follow a simpler plot line. This "less
sophisticated" version is what hit theaters, although Scott and
some of his crew felt it was watered down, explaining that by
editing, "You've gone in there and taken little bits from
everything".
Like some other Scott films,
Kingdom of Heaven found
success on DVD in the U.S., and the release of the Director's Cut
has reinvigorated interest in the film. Nearly all reviews of the
2006 Director's Cut have been positive , including a four-star
review in Britain's
Total Film
magazine (five star being the publication's highest rating) and a
perfect ten out of ten from IGN DVD.
Awards
European Film
Awards:
- Audience Award - Best Actor (Orlando Bloom)
Satellite Awards:
- Outstanding Original Score (Harry Gregson-Williams)
VES Awards:
- Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture (Wes
Sewell, Victoria Alonso, Tom Wood, Gary Brozenich)
Nominations
Satellite Awards:
- Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama (Edward
Norton)
- Outstanding Art Direction & Production Design (Arthur
Max)
- Outstanding Costume Design (Janty Yates)
- Outstanding Visual Effects (Tom Wood)
Teen Choice
Awards:
- Choice Movie: Action/Adventure
- Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure/Thriller (Orlando
Bloom)
- Choice Movie Liplock (Eva Green and Orlando Bloom)
- Choice Movie Love Scene (Eva Green and Orlando Bloom - Balian
and Sibylla kiss)
Historical accuracy
King
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who reigned
from 1174 to 1185, was a
leper, and his sister
Sibylla did marry
Guy of Lusignan.
Also, Baldwin IV had a falling out with Guy before his death, and
so Guy did not succeed Baldwin IV immediately. Baldwin crowned
Sibylla's son from her previous marriage to
William of
Montferrat, five-year-old
Baldwin V
co-king in his own lifetime, in 1183. The little boy reigned as
sole king for one year, dying in 1186 at nine years of age. After
her son's death, Sibylla and Guy (to whom she was devoted)
garrisoned the city, and she claimed the throne. The coronation
scene in the movie was, in real life, more of a shock: Sibylla had
been forced to promise to divorce Guy before becoming queen, with
the assurance that she would be permitted to pick her own consort.
After being crowned by
Patriarch Heraclius of
Jerusalem (who is unnamed in the movie), she chose to crown Guy
as her consort. Raymond III of Tripoli, the film's Tiberias, was
not present, but was in Nablus attempting a coup, with Balian of
Ibelin, to raise her half-sister (Balian's stepdaughter), princess
Isabella of Jerusalem, to the
throne; however, Isabella's husband,
Humphrey IV of Toron, betrayed them by
swearing allegiance to Guy.
Raymond of Tripoli was a cousin of
Amalric I of Jerusalem, and one of
the Kingdom's most powerful nobles, as well as sometime regent. He
had a claim to the throne himself, but, being childless, instead
tried to advance his allies the Ibelin family. He was often in
conflict with Guy and Raynald, who had risen to their positions by
marrying wealthy heiresses and through the king's favor. Guy and
Raynald did harass Saladin's caravans, and the claim that Raynald
captured Saladin's sister is based on the account given in the
Old French Continuation of William of Tyre. This claim is
not supported by any other accounts, and is generally believed to
be false. In actuality, after Raynald's attack on one caravan,
Saladin made sure that the next one, in which his sister was
traveling, was properly guarded: the lady came to no harm.
The discord between the rival factions in the kingdom gave Saladin
the opportunity to pursue his long-term goal of conquering it. The
kingdom's army was defeated at the Battle of Hattin, partly due to
the conflict between Guy and Raymond. As already stated, the battle
itself is not shown in the movie, but its aftermath is depicted.
The Muslims captured Guy and Raynald, and according to al-Safadi in
al-Wafi bi'l-wafayat, executed Raynald after he drank from
the goblet offered to Guy, as the sultan had once made a promise
never to give anything to Raynald. Guy was imprisoned, but later
freed. He attempted to retain the kingship even after the deaths of
Sibylla and their daughters during his siege of Acre in 1190, but
lost in an election to
Conrad of
Montferrat in 1192. Richard I of England, his only supporter,
sold him the lordship of Cyprus, where he died c. 1194.
There was a
Haute Cour, a
"high court", a sort of medieval parliament, in which Jeremy Irons'
character Tiberias is seen arguing with Guy for or against war, in
front of Baldwin IV as the final judge.
The movie alludes to the
Battle of
Montgisard in 1177, in which 16-year-old Baldwin IV defeated
Saladin, with Saladin narrowly escaping.
The
Knights Hospitaller and
Knights Templar were the most
enthusiastic about fighting Saladin and the Muslims. They were
monastic military orders, committed to celibacy. Neither Guy nor
Raynald was a Templar, as the movie implies by costuming them both
in Templar surcoats: they were secular nobles with wives and
families, simply supported by the Templars.
During one scene in the movie, shortly before Hattin, three
soldiers referred to as "Templars" attack Balian; however, they
clearly wear the white surcoats with black crosses of
Teutonic Knights, rather than the white and
red of the Knights Templar.
The historical origin of Orlando Bloom's character, Balian of
Ibelin, was a close ally of Raymond; however, he was a mature
gentleman, just a year or two younger than Raymond, and one of the
most important nobles in the kingdom, not a French blacksmith. His
father Barisan (which was originally his own name, modified into
French as 'Balian') founded the Ibelin family in the east, and
probably came from Italy. Balian and Sibylla were indeed united in
the defense of Jerusalem; however, no romantic relationship existed
between the two. Balian married Sibylla's stepmother
Maria Comnena,
Dowager Queen of Jerusalem and Lady of Nablus. The
Old French
Continuation of
William of Tyre
(the so-called Chronicle of
Ernoul) claimed
that Sibylla had been infatuated with Balian's older brother
Baldwin of Ibelin, a widower over
twice her age, but this is doubtful; instead, it seems that Raymond
of Tripoli attempted a coup to marry her off to him to strengthen
the position of his faction; however, this legend seems to have
been behind the film's creation of a love-relationship between
Sibylla and a member of the Ibelin family.
The events of the siege of Jerusalem are based on the
Old
French Continuation of
William of
Tyre, a favorable account partly written by Ernoul, one of
Balian's officers, and other contemporary documents. Saladin did
besiege Jerusalem for almost a month, and was able to knock down a
portion of the wall. In the film Balian knighted everyone who could
carry a sword, but historical accounts say he only knighted some
burgesses. The exact number varies in different accounts, but it is
probably less than one hundred in a city which had tens of
thousands of male inhabitants and refugees. Balian personally
negotiated the surrender of the city with Saladin, after
threatening to destroy every building and kill the 3000-5000 Muslim
inhabitants of the city. Saladin allowed Balian and his family to
leave in peace, along with everyone else who could arrange to pay a
ransom.
The "uneasy truce" referred to in the closing scene refers to the
Treaty of Ramla, negotiated, with
Balian's help, at the end of the
Third
Crusade. The Third Crusade is alluded to at the end of the
movie, when Richard I of England visits Balian in France. Balian,
of course, was not from France and did not return there with
Sibylla; she and her two daughters died of fever in camp during the
siege of Acre.
Conrad of Montferrat
had denied her and Guy entry to the remaining stronghold of
Tyre
, and thus
Guy was attempting to take another city for himself.
Balian's relations with Richard were far from amicable, because he
supported Conrad against Richard's vassal Guy. He and his wife
Maria arranged her daughter Isabella's forcible divorce from
Humphrey of Toron so she could marry Conrad.
Ambroise, who wrote a poetic account of the
crusade, called Balian "more false than a goblin" and said he
"should be hunted with dogs". The anonymous author of the
Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi wrote that
Balian was a member of a "council of consummate iniquity", and
described him as cruel, fickle, and faithless, and accused him of
taking bribes from Conrad.
The young Balian of the movie thus did not exist in reality. The
historical Balian had descendants by Maria Comnena. Thanks to their
close relationship to Sibylla's half-sister and successor, Maria's
daughter Queen Isabella (not shown in the movie), the Ibelins
became the most powerful noble family in the rump Kingdom of
Jerusalem as well as in Cyprus in the thirteenth century. Most
notably, Maria and Balian's son
John, the Lord of
Beirut, was a dominant force in the politics of Outremer for
the first third of the thirteenth century.
Near the end of the film and after Saladin has entered the city; he
is seen watching as a crescent ornament is being raised on top of a
building presumably a mosque. This is historically incorrect as at
that time mosques did not bear any kind of symbols on the minarets.
The crescent was introduced many centuries later when the Turkish
Ottoman empire invaded eastern Europe and adopted the crescent as
an Islamic symbol from traditional Greek symbols which was widely
used in the city of Byzantium.
An episode of
The History
Channel's series
History
vs. Hollywood analyzed the historical accuracy of the
film. This program and a
Movie Real (a series by
A&E Network) episode about
Kingdom
of Heaven were both included on the DVD version of the
movie.
Extended director's cut
An extended director's cut of the movie was released on December
23, 2005, at the Laemmle Fairfax Theatre in Los Angeles,
unsupported by advertising from 20th Century Fox. This version has
been universally praised and is what Ridley Scott originally wanted
released to theaters, and is approximately 45 minutes longer than
the original theatrical cut. The DVD of the extended Director's Cut
was released on May 23, 2006. It is a four-disc box set with a
runtime of 194 minutes, and is shown as a road show presentation
with an overture, intermission and entr'acte. (The Blu-ray version
omits the roadshow elements and runs for 189 minutes). Ridley Scott
gave an interview to
STV on the occasion of the
Director's Cut's UK release, when he discussed the motives and
thinking behind the new version.
After the pitching of this film, studio marketing executives took
it to be an action-adventure hybrid rather than what Ridley Scott
and William Monahan intended it to be: a historical epic examining
religious conflict. 20th Century Fox promoted the film as an action
movie with heavy elements of romance, and in their advertising
campaign, they made much of the "From the Director of Gladiator"
slogan. When Scott presented the 194 minute version of the film to
the studio, they balked at the length. Studio head Tom Rothman
ordered the film to be trimmed down to only two hours, as he did
not believe that a modern audience would go to see a three hour and
fifteen minute movie. Ultimately, Rothman's decision backfired as
the film gained mixed reviews (with many commenting that the film
seemed "incomplete") and severely under-performed at the US box
office.
The Director's Cut (DC) has received a distinctly more positive
reception from film critics than the theatrical release , with many
reviews suggesting that it offers a much greater insight into the
motivations of individual characters. Scott and his crew have all
stated that they consider the Director's Cut to be the true version
of the film and the theatrical cut more of an action movie trailer
for the real film. Reviewers have described it as the most
substantial Director's Cut of all time and a title to equal any of
Scott's other works.
It should be noted that
Alexander
Siddig in particular agitated for the release of a new cut to
show more of the original plot.
The new director's cut provides information that may change how
some interpret several characters and the story arc:
- The village priest who taunts Balian and is killed by him is
revealed to be his half-brother (his mother's son by her lawful
husband). The animosity between them is shown as originating from
the priest's coveting of the firstborn Balian's meager
inheritance.
- Godfrey is not only the father of Balian but the younger
brother of the village lord who believes that Godfrey is looking
for his own son to be Godfrey's heir in Ibelin. It is this lord's
son and heir who organizes the attack on Godfrey's party in the
forest and is subsequently killed.
- Both subplots above hinge on the firstborn son's right to
exclusive inheritance: this is what apparently drove Godfrey to the
Holy Land and the priest to his scheming against Balian.
- Baldwin IV is shown refusing the last sacrament from Patriarch
Heraclius.
- Another major change is the re-insertion of the character of
Baldwin V (who was shown in
some of the trailers), the son of Sibylla by her first husband
(William of
Montferrat, not named in the film). The boy is crowned King
after Baldwin IV's death, but is then discovered to have leprosy, like his uncle. His death is depicted as an
act of euthanasia by his mother, dropping
poison in his ear. Only then is Sibylla crowned queen and has Guy
crowned, as in the theatrical version.
- Balian fights a climactic duel with Guy near the end of the
film, after Jerusalem is surrendered and Guy has been released by
Saladin (an act intended to humiliate Guy in the eyes of his former
subjects). Guy is humiliated furthermore by challenging Balian to a
duel, being defeated, and then spared by Balian.
- More violence, blood and gore are re-inserted.
- A scene with Balian discussing his situation with the
Hospitaller in the desert, which included the line "I go to pray"
(featured in most trailers) is re-inserted.
- It is made clear that Guy de Lusignan knows that Sibylla is
having an affair with Balian; however, he is interested in her only
for political reasons.
- It is revealed that Balian has fought in several battles in the
past, is skilled at strategic fighting and is well known for
building siege engines.
- Saladin decapitates Raynald de Chatillon instead of only
cutting his throat; this is generally believed to be more
historically accurate.
- Sibylla is portrayed much more as a corrupt princess and
unpredictable as she herself stated.
Notes
- Cinemareview.com "Kingdom of Heaven- Production Notes" web:
http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=2960
- Roger Ebert, "Kingdom of Heaven" reviews for the
Chicago
Sun Times
- Jack Moore, Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut DVD
Review
- Manolha Dargis, New York Times review of Kingdom
of Heaven
- Stephanie Zacharek, "Kingdom of Heaven - Salon" (review), May
6, 2005, Salon.com, web: Salon-KoH: noted "Cinematographer John
Mathieson gives us lots of great, sweeping landscapes."
- James Berardinelli,
http://www.reelviews.net/movies/k/kingdom_heaven.html
- Ty Burr, "Kingdom of Heaven Movie Review: Historically and
heroically challenged 'Kingdom' fails to conquer"
- Charlotte Edwardes, " Ridley Scott's new Crusades film 'panders
to Osama bin Laden'" The Daily Telegraph January 17,
2004
- CNN "Kingdom of Heaven" Transcript web: CNN.com
- John Harlow, "Christian right goes to war with Ridley’s
crusaders"
web:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article384742.ece
- Robert Fisk, "Kingdom of Heaven:Why Ridley Scott's Story Of The
Crusades Struck Such A Chord In A Lebanese Cinema" web: Zmag.org
- "Kingdom of Heaven- Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast
Information" web: The-Numbers.com
- Hicelebs.com: "Kingdom of Heaven Trivia"
web:http://www.hicelebs.com/movies/kingdom_of_heaven/trivia.html
- Garth Franklin, "Interview: Ridley Scott's Kingdom of
Heaven" web: DarkHorizons.com
- http://dvd.ign.com/articles/711/711469p2.html
- Depicted in the director's cut.
- " Making the Crusades Relevant in KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN" by Cathy Schultz
- Ridley Scott interview
References
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