If you're going to make a movie about one of the Christian Crusades to defend the holy city of Jerusalem from the armies of a Muslim leader, there's only one way to go: big. And to say that Ridley Scott went big on 2005's Kingdom of Heaven would be an understatement as vast as the movie itself. Starring Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons, Eva Green, Edward Norton, Liam Neeson and Alexander Siddig, at a total running time of almost three hours, telling one chapter in a long and bloody conflict, this is the ultimate swords-and-sandals movie after 1958's Ben-Hur.
Calling All Crusaders
Back in the good old days of 1184, Balian (Bloom) leaves his unhappy life in France to join his father, Baron Godfrey of Ibelin (Neeson), who is headed to Jerusalem. Having only just met, the union is an uneasy one, and does not last long as Godfrey is killed and dies in Messina. Inheriting his father's title, knighthood and quest, to serve the King of Jerusalem (Norton).
On the way there, Balian (of Ibelin, now) makes a surprising Muslim ally (Siddig) before reaching Jerusalem and becoming a member of the inner court. On one side are the peaceful and moderate King and his Marshall (Irons),with Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) and Raynald of Châtillion (Brenden Gleeson) on the other, who want to provoke the Muslim armies of Saladin (Ghassan Massoud) into a war for the capital city of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Making A History Lesson
The conflict in the Holy Land is almost as old as human history itself. Each chapter in that bitter and tragic story is worth a history course on its own, and Ridley Scott - a man who knows a thing or two about ambitious movies (Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Alien) - approaches the subject matter of Kingdom of Heaven with the right mindset. Precious little is dumbed down for the benefit of an audience who might be largely ignorant of Jerusalem's complex history, or indifferent (maybe even hostile) to the Abrahamic religions that are central to the struggle.
There are changes for dramatic license, of course: Balian of Ibelin was not a rags-to-warrior blacksmith, his father didn't make a surprising entrance into his life, and some of the more peripheral elements, characters and characteristics of history are altered or eliminated to fit the movie. That said, the revelations that a man like Guy de Lusignan was really the bastard he was in reality that he was in the movie do add a retrospective element of subtle authenticity to Scott's herculean effort.
Yet I can't shake the feeling that Kingdom of Heaven's sword is slightly dulled for mass consumption. Making Balian agnostic seems to thread the middle ground for the benefit of both religious and non-religious audiences, and Orlando Bloom's flat, dull performance does little to make the real-world character very interesting. Painting all the heroes of the story in a similarly agnostic vein (or simply making them Muslims), while the openly religious ones (only the Christians) are either hypocrites, or pariahs who denounce organized religion, seems to be pandering too much to the lowest common denominator, but that's what you get when you boil down impossibly convoluted and intricate history into three hours.
Popcorn History
The movie suffers from an overwhelming overload of history, stories, plot & character developments being catapulted at you for almost three hours, and some of those characters falling into Hollywood grooves - the brooding loner hero, the smug villain, the reasonable authority figures. It makes you very aware that Kingdom of Heaven is, in fact, just a movie, and not a history lesson brought to life.
Verdict: Not Guilty
Fortunately, the movie succeeds on more fronts than it struggles. Edward Norton spends the whole movie behind a mask, but watching him act through his eyes and voice elevates the movie over any of Bloom's soulful and mournful stares. Harry Gregson-Williams' score touches on all the right notes - mystical Middle Eastern ouds, Gregorian chants and thunderous orchestration for the battle scenes, and the incredible visual presentation - majestic landscapes and crushing battle scenes - make Kingdom of Heaven a cinematic experience well worth the long running time and occasionally safe storytelling.
4.5/5.0: A great return on investment for such an ambitious and challenging enterprise.
Michael Perera - The only rule in writing is honesty. If you're honest, the words will write themselves.
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