Ridley Scott directs a 'holey' crusade
By Nick Norman
Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" proves not to be the Holy Land for fans of historical epics and action films. While the film offers luscious scenery and exotic sights, the action disappoints.
Loosely based on the Second Crusade, the epic film follows a young knight, Balian (Orlando Bloom), on his journey to spiritual enlightenment. Beginning as a common blacksmith, he rises to ultimately defend the people of Jerusalem against the Muslim King Saladin.
Scott wisely chose an exotic locale for his film. Without the other-worldly medieval Middle East, tedious patches between battles leave the audience with nothing for amusement. Amongst such delights, Palm trees cast swaying shadows over camels in inviting oases. Piles of yellow saffron lined a crowded bazaar in downtown Jerusalem and ornate fountains spotted brightly tiled courtyards.
To the director's credit, the visual detail of the film is astounding: walls are decorated with Arabic graffiti, roman numerals mark the doorways on castle ramparts, vultures soar over the battlefield, and the Muslim armor is voluminously decorated, all of which never cease to amaze me.
He never shies away from breathtakingly wide shots of entire armies or whole cities in their medieval glory.
The best action of the film occurs in the beginning, but the following cinematography wanes.
Scott starts out using cause and effect in his action sequences. If a sword swings downward, the target and ensuing damage is shown. This way, the audience can follow the intensity of close combat. The director abandons the cause and effect method in later scenes. Instead, he reverts to the popular and frustrating method of montage sequences. Steven Spielberg reintroduced the merits of cause and effect in action films with the Omaha Beach landing scene in "Saving Private Ryan."
Scott finally saw the light when he made "Gladiator" in 2000. Sadly, however, his current film has neglected the cause and effect approach for the cheaper montage approach. There are flying arrows, explosions of dirt, men hitting the ground, bursts of red blood against a blue sky, but we never actually witness the cause and effect micro-battles of individual soldiers. Barraging the audience with quick cuts and non-sequitur transition, it is easy to passively absorb into the visual chaos. Luckily, Scott's singular opening action scene was enough to get me to sit through the plot's desert stretches.
In hopes of reaching an oasis of action, I contented myself to absorbing the richness of detailed sets and foreign locations. Despite a plot concerned with the lives of common people, the tedious pacing may make one hope for a battle and the ensuing deaths of soldiers.
Action films -- even historical epics -- require a bad guy. The audience needs a foe to root against. Scott jeopardizes the entire plot by examining the relationship between political leaders and the religious fanaticism of their followers. Scott may think we go to movies for metaphysical inspiration, but he's probably deceiving himself.
We go to see action and bloodshed. We go to see exotic locations and mind boggling special effects. We do not go to hear a sermon on religious tolerance and social inequity.
"Kingdom of Heaven" also stars Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson, and Ghassan Massoud. It is in theatres nationwide and is rated R. Grade: C+
* Contact Nick Norman at (408) 554-4546 or nnorman@scu.edu.