Details
Movie Description
Director Ridley Scott confronts hundreds of years of religious conflict in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. An epic film set in Europe and the Middle East, the story follows one man's struggle to better himself and the world around him. Orlando Bloom stars as Balian, a French blacksmith who is mourning the deaths of his wife and baby when his estranged nobleman father (Liam Neeson) arrives and asks him to join the Crusades in Jerusalem. Mindful that conducting the Lord's work will help him atone for his sins, Balian agrees, and embarks on the perilous journey. Along the way, he reveals his gifts of inherent goodness and fair treatment of all human beings. Upon reaching Jerusalem, a city where his meager beginnings no longer matter, Balian earns respect and fealty, while the evil Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) looks down his aristocratic nose at the former laborer.
As he did in GLADIATOR, Scott explores the theme of a man who chooses his fate, instead of accepting the fate given to him at birth. Balian comes to life in Jerusalem, protecting the weak and defenseless as his father told him he must, and catching the eye of the beautiful Princess Sibylla (Eva Green), unhappily married to de Lusignan. Scott paints a stirring portrait of the struggle over Jerusalem among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. In doing so, he also shows the passionate fight for religious freedom. KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ably handles these delicate issues, effectively treating characters from all factions as individuals and not as stereotypes. By placing a virtuous man at the center of this conflict, Scott creates a powerful, universal story.
Industry Reviews
"Mr. Scott is a virtuoso of movie violence and he does not disappoint on that count here....Filled with scene after scene of choreographed mayhem."
New York Times - Manohla Dargis (05/06/2005)
"Working from a strong script by William Monahan and making full use of that solid cast and his own impeccable skill with imagery, Scott has fashioned an impressive film that resonates with lessons..."
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (05/06/2005)
"Scott delivers rousing entertainment layered with provocation."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (05/19/2005)
"It's all very teeming and hordelike and impressive."
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman (05/13/2005)
"[The film] stirs up powerful half-buried aesthetic energies simply by venturing into the chosen terrain....Best of all perhaps is Orlando Bloom's first glimpse of Jerusalem, an instant of digitized splendor that reawakens the occult dream that cinema can somehow literally transport us into the past."
Film Comment - Geoffrey O'Brien (05/01/2005)
"Where Scott scores is in the cinematography and set-pieces, with vast armies surging across sun-baked sand in almost Kurosawa-like ballets of light and colour."
Uncut - Adam Sweeting (07/01/2005)
"There's a wealth of charisma among the supporting cast..."
Sight and Sound - Kate Stables (12/01/2005)
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