CNS Movie Review: Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven

By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Western armies clashing with Islamic forces on a desert battlefield. Sound familiar? No, it's not a story on the nightly news. It is "Kingdom of Heaven" (20th Century Fox), a sweeping, if bloody and somewhat revisionist, historical drama set in the late 12th century between the second and third Crusades.

Given the current state of the world, some may consider such subject matter ill-timed. Cultural tensions notwithstanding, director Ridley Scott has crafted a piece of muscular filmmaking -- full of lavish pageantry, romance, palace intrigue, and savage swordplay-- which, much like the Crusaders themselves, is a mix of good and bad.

It must be stated right up front that the film conveys a subtle but pervasive wariness of organized religion and a not-so-subtle strain of anti-clericalism.

Orlando Bloom, best known from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, stars as Balian (loosely based on an actual historical figure), a disillusioned young blacksmith in rural France numbed by his wife's recent suicide after the loss of their child.

Liam Neeson plays Jerusalem-bound nobleman Godfrey of Ibelin, who stops at Balian's smithy while en route east with his men. Seeking forgiveness, Godfrey reveals that Balian is his illegitimate son and heir, whom he tries, unsuccessfully, to recruit for his pilgrimage.

Balian is later forced to reconsider the invitation when, in a rage, he kills a snide village priest, who told him that his wife was damned to hell for taking her own life. Godfrey is mortally wounded in an ambush, and dies soon after, but not before he makes Balian a knight, charging him to uphold the code of chivalry and keep alive his dream of a "kingdom of heaven" where Christian, Muslim and Jew can live in harmony.

Balian continues on to Palestine in search of redemption and to regain the faith which he lost with his wife's death.

Once there, he becomes embroiled in the power struggles between the tolerance-advocating Latin King of Jerusalem Baldwin IV (Edward Norton) -- a leper who keeps his disfigurement hidden behind a silver face mask and to whom Balian swears fealty -- and Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) a would-be usurper who threatens to disrupt the tenuous truce between the Christian and Muslim forces.

Rounding out the top-notch ensemble are Jeremy Irons as Tiberias, Baldwin's wise military adviser; Ghassan Massoud as legendary Muslim leader Saladin; Brendan Gleeson as Reynald of Chatillon, a bloodthirsty Templar; and David Thewlis as a Hospitaler knight-confessor. Eva Green plays the exotically beautiful Princess Sibylla, Baldwin's sister, who is trapped in a forced marriage to the boorish Guy and who becomes Balian's lover.

From a cinematic standpoint, "Kingdom of Heaven," is grand-scale moviemaking at its best, with epic battle sequences, including the climactic -- but drawn out -- siege of Jerusalem by the Saracen army.

Filmed in Spain and Morocco, the movie's eye-filling sets and costumes are impressive and the painstaking attention to period detail should pay dividends come Oscar time, as should the luscious palette caught by the lens which ranges from the slate-gray drabness of medieval Europe to vibrant David Lean-inspired desertscapes. The eclectic score is a medley of rousing chorales and sacred chants accented with Arabic-sounding motifs.

Making the transition from Middle Earth to the Middle East, Bloom adequately conveys the reluctant hero's idealism, but somewhat lacks the gravitas the role demands, a want most evident in the "Henry V"-like speech with which he rallies his vastly outnumbered band of brothers as they prepare to defend Jerusalem. (The improbability of a simple blacksmith becoming so adept at warfare is never explained.)

The film does take dramatic license with the historical facts (especially in its painting of certain characters in an overly righteous or villainous light, its injection of 21st-century sensibilities into a 12th-century milieu, and its truth-fudging resolution) but remains -- in its general outline -- mostly accurate.

As for the violence, of which there is much, it is graphic in its realism, but arguably it is there for a purpose and clearly illustrates the obscenity of war, as in a shot during the siege sequence offering a bird's-eye view of the carnage. The tableau resembles a kingdom of hell.

Another chink in the narrative's armor is that many of the characters are one-dimensional and much of the human drama is drowned out by the DeMille-style spectacle, which though visually stunning plays to diminishing returns.

Scott (who also directed "Gladiator") and screenwriter William Monahan manage to work in some thoughtful exchanges about following one's conscience and the primacy of right action in defining true holiness, but the message-heavy script's overall treatment of both Islam and Christianity is superficial.

Though the portrayal of both Christians and Muslims shows that neither side had a monopoly on vice, the scales of virtue are slightly tipped in favor of the Muslims (with the exception of one overzealous mullah). And while it is true that both cross and crescent were used to justify all sorts of hateful atrocities, here it is the Christians who come across as the primary aggressors.

Whereas Saladin is shown reverently picking up a fallen cross, priests send Christians off to war with the un-Christian assurance that "killing an infidel is not murder. It is the path to heaven."

While such toxic chauvinism no doubt existed and sowed the seeds of slaughter, the film subscribes to the skewed view that the Crusades were fueled purely by fanaticism and greed, and fails to convey that -- initially -- they were, rightly or wrongly, in the words of medieval scholar Thomas F. Madden "defensive wars ... an attempt to turn back or defend against Muslim conquests of Christian lands."

This is not to deny that Christians' actions often fell grievously short of Gospel ideals. But it is distressing when, in the movie, the Christian camp is comprised of mostly caricaturized clerics -- of the arrogant or cowardly variety -- and war-mongering brutes drunk with ambition, bloodlust and religious fervor. And the few "enlightened" Christian characters -- including Balian, the peace-loving Baldwin and Tiberias -- seem less motivated by firm faith, than by a vague humanism. Even Thewlis' sympathetic knight admits, "I put no stock in religion."

Though at times presenting an unflattering picture of religion, "Kingdom of Heaven" mainly takes issue with using it for divisive ends.

So too, Balian's threat to raze both traditions' holy sites and burn down "every last thing that drives men mad" suggests that, while private spirituality is of value, organized religion often does more harm than good.

Still, with its themes of peaceful coexistence, ecumenical kinship, the value of human life, and using one's heart and head to make the world a better place, as well as its strong condemnation of violence, ideological enmity and war, "Kingdom of Heaven" ultimately imparts a timely message for a world still sadly divided by religious conflicts.

The film contains recurring intense battlefield violence and associated gore, including decapitations, hacked limbs and flaming bodies, as well as a brief adulterous sexual encounter. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted.

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DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

END

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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