Ridley Scott's movies should be taught in film schools, not because they are great movies -- none of them are -- but because they provide such a useful study in contrasts. You can see so easily what went wrong, and the many ways they fell short of greatness. "Kingdom of Heaven" was released in cinemas as a bloated historical action movie about bickering Crusaders, and while Scott's later edits turned it into a longer, more considerable epic, it's one that still bears his trademark faults.
First the casting, good and bad. Scott recruited an excellent supporting cast, starting with Liam Neeson and Eva Green, and including Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, Alexander Siddig, and Ghassan Massoud. All of them bring their best efforts to the film; you can read their life stories in their faces. Neeson plays a knight hoping to atone for a youthful indiscretion; Green is the princess of Jerusalem, sister to a dying king and mother of the boy who will inherit the throne. Gleeson, with bright red hair, clearly relishes his role as a bloodthirsty Crusader lord, while Irons plays a weary nobleman trying to keep the peace. Siddig and Massoud represent the film's Muslims, with Massoud an especially strong presence as Saladin. All of these actors have depth and gravitas, and anchor the story in its historical setting. But above them all there's Orlando Bloom, a movie star known more for his perfect cheekbones than for his acting skills. He's almost impassive in his role as Balian of Ibelin, a blacksmith who becomes a knight, then rallies the defense of Jerusalem against Saladin's army. There doesn't seem to be much going on behind his eyes. Any other actor might have filled the spaces the script leaves for him, but Bloom is little more than a facade.
Which brings us to the script. The writer, William Monahan, takes pains to lay out the historical backdrop for us. Christians and Muslims both claim Jerusalem, but some want to maintain the unstable peace while others want to upset it and start a war. Political and religious forces on all sides vie for domination. Meanwhile, other characters struggle to reconcile their actions with their beliefs, and find salvation where they can. From start to finish the movie confronts us with the hypocrisy of holy war, and of religious leaders who promise to absolve their followers' sins if they kill in God's name. But the movie makes the mistake of centering this conflict on Balian, a heavily fictionalized version of a real person, whose very emptiness renders him as a sort of blank slate for everyone else to act upon. The script feels unfinished, as if it was rushed into production before Monahan could produce a final draft. Maybe a different actor could have brought Balian to life in a more meaningful way, and communicated his internal conflicts to us with a expression or a gesture; but the script doesn't provide much for Bloom to work with, and instead we get a lot of sullen silences and brooding looks.
The sets and costumes are beautiful, so long as the camera stays still long enough for you to see them. This is not the sort of dingy, muddy medieval movie we've gotten used to seeing in the past couple decades; instead, the clothes are colorful and richly textured, and the sunlit streets and palaces of Jerusalem just as vibrant. John Mathieson's cinematography shows us a Middle Ages much closer to the vivid and lively illuminated manuscripts than anything Hollywood has done before or since; it feels tactile and real in a way that most historical films don't. But Ridley Scott's direction is strangely impatient and jittery, with frequent recourse to slow-motion and other gimmicks. His style and pacing is at odds with the script's more contemplative needs. The story is meant to span three years, from 1184 to the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187, but Scott doesn't allow it any room to breathe. He's a music video director, worried that too much stillness will bore his audience.
But those criticisms could easily be applied to any other Ridley Scott movie. A miscast protagonist, an unpolished screenplay, a visual style in conflict with itself. The result is a frustrating and clumsy film that never quite makes the points it so clearly wants to make. That's why it's so fascinating to watch: if only Monahan had put in a few more late nights honing his script; if only the casting director had searched a little harder for a leading man; if only Scott had calmed down his usual visual clamor, this could have been a truly great movie. There's an alternate universe where "Kingdom of Heaven" was directed by David Lean and starred Peter O'Toole, but in this universe we will have to tolerate the flawed version we have.
First the casting, good and bad. Scott recruited an excellent supporting cast, starting with Liam Neeson and Eva Green, and including Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, Alexander Siddig, and Ghassan Massoud. All of them bring their best efforts to the film; you can read their life stories in their faces. Neeson plays a knight hoping to atone for a youthful indiscretion; Green is the princess of Jerusalem, sister to a dying king and mother of the boy who will inherit the throne. Gleeson, with bright red hair, clearly relishes his role as a bloodthirsty Crusader lord, while Irons plays a weary nobleman trying to keep the peace. Siddig and Massoud represent the film's Muslims, with Massoud an especially strong presence as Saladin. All of these actors have depth and gravitas, and anchor the story in its historical setting. But above them all there's Orlando Bloom, a movie star known more for his perfect cheekbones than for his acting skills. He's almost impassive in his role as Balian of Ibelin, a blacksmith who becomes a knight, then rallies the defense of Jerusalem against Saladin's army. There doesn't seem to be much going on behind his eyes. Any other actor might have filled the spaces the script leaves for him, but Bloom is little more than a facade.
Which brings us to the script. The writer, William Monahan, takes pains to lay out the historical backdrop for us. Christians and Muslims both claim Jerusalem, but some want to maintain the unstable peace while others want to upset it and start a war. Political and religious forces on all sides vie for domination. Meanwhile, other characters struggle to reconcile their actions with their beliefs, and find salvation where they can. From start to finish the movie confronts us with the hypocrisy of holy war, and of religious leaders who promise to absolve their followers' sins if they kill in God's name. But the movie makes the mistake of centering this conflict on Balian, a heavily fictionalized version of a real person, whose very emptiness renders him as a sort of blank slate for everyone else to act upon. The script feels unfinished, as if it was rushed into production before Monahan could produce a final draft. Maybe a different actor could have brought Balian to life in a more meaningful way, and communicated his internal conflicts to us with a expression or a gesture; but the script doesn't provide much for Bloom to work with, and instead we get a lot of sullen silences and brooding looks.
The sets and costumes are beautiful, so long as the camera stays still long enough for you to see them. This is not the sort of dingy, muddy medieval movie we've gotten used to seeing in the past couple decades; instead, the clothes are colorful and richly textured, and the sunlit streets and palaces of Jerusalem just as vibrant. John Mathieson's cinematography shows us a Middle Ages much closer to the vivid and lively illuminated manuscripts than anything Hollywood has done before or since; it feels tactile and real in a way that most historical films don't. But Ridley Scott's direction is strangely impatient and jittery, with frequent recourse to slow-motion and other gimmicks. His style and pacing is at odds with the script's more contemplative needs. The story is meant to span three years, from 1184 to the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187, but Scott doesn't allow it any room to breathe. He's a music video director, worried that too much stillness will bore his audience.
But those criticisms could easily be applied to any other Ridley Scott movie. A miscast protagonist, an unpolished screenplay, a visual style in conflict with itself. The result is a frustrating and clumsy film that never quite makes the points it so clearly wants to make. That's why it's so fascinating to watch: if only Monahan had put in a few more late nights honing his script; if only the casting director had searched a little harder for a leading man; if only Scott had calmed down his usual visual clamor, this could have been a truly great movie. There's an alternate universe where "Kingdom of Heaven" was directed by David Lean and starred Peter O'Toole, but in this universe we will have to tolerate the flawed version we have.