Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Version: Director’s Cut
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Orlando Bloom, Edward Norton, Liam Neeson, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Eva Green.

iMDB |  Rotten Tomatoes

Overlooked this film for 4 years now, and i finally decided to give it a try. I’m not a big fan of Ridley Scott, his other films: Gladiator, Body of Lies & American Gangster disappointed.

Casting for the film is simply amazing, Ridley Scott brought out all the big guns and gave them balanced scripts to cater for the film. I watched the Director’s Cut which is 189 mins long.

All of the films i’ll be watching will either be watched in theaters or a re-encoded BluRay. At the moment i despise watching the interlaced/progressive scanned DVDs, but i can’t afford a stand-alone bluray player. The median is to watch re-encoded blurays, which are compatible with my HTPC. For Kingdom of Heaven i watched a 720p BluRay re-encode by ESiR.

Now to the actual movie! I’m 90 minutes into the film and there is absolutely no substance. Balien’s quest for water was the highlight up until that point.

Leprosy is an interesting and recurring theme in the film. This film did force me to look it up, and it’s a pretty serious disease. King Baldwin played by Edward Norton was forced to wear a mask throughout the film.

But they eventually showed King Baldwin’s face and he looks like an orc from Lord of the Rings. It didn’t look as if they mutilated Edward Norton’s face. The film begins to get my attention when Baldwin’s nephew develops symptoms for Leprosy.

The film does cater epic battle scenes between the defenders of Jerusalem and the Muslim Army. What upsets me is the recurring theme of defiance and ego throughout this film. It’s as if the antagonists are completely and utterly close-minded till their death. The film does not change the hearts of any man or women within. But it may strengthen their ideals.

The Kingdom of Heaven a strong metaphor for Jerusalem. A place that to this day see’s warfare that is beyond those of bows and arrows. Balian de Ibelin shows character throughout the film, up-until the end. The end of the film showed that this film will follow a cyclical if not a gire-like continuum.

A long film that is cyclical in nature ends, where it begins. I wouldn’t mind revisiting this film, and it’s worth taking a brief look at. There is historical significance and truth to Ridley Scott’s epic. But narratively poor and rampant.