Review: A Knight's Tale

A Knight’s Tale is truly an underdog story. It follows a working-class lad called William Thatcher who beats the nobles at their own game. He believes that a man can change his stars and sets out to become a professional in the jousting tournaments, with a little help from Geoffrey Chaucer, who forges his patents of nobility so that he can enter. It’s an optimistic tale of a man who achieves his dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem.

Heath Ledger’s first major lead role shows his star potential. The actor’s untimely death in January 2008 robbed us of the chance to see many more wonderful performances. He doesn’t steal the limelight but instead shares it with the rest of the cast who all fit their roles brilliantly. Rufus Sewell is always enjoyable as a bad guy and here he is clearly relishing his role. Paul Bettany is funny and impressive as the eloquent and talkative Chaucer. His improvised hyperbolic preambles to William’s jousts are a joy. Suffering for his craft, Bettany developed laryngitis while filming due to his constant yelling.

It’s a highly original approach, with writer/director Brian Helgeland setting events in Medieval England but filling the film with anachronisms including the costumes, dialect, music and little touches like the blacksmith etching a Nike symbol into her armour. A historically set film using music from the likes of Queen, David Bowie and Thin Lizzy is not to everyone’s tastes though. Some have claimed that it works neither as an exuberant rock ‘n’ roll picture nor as a heroic fable but I think they are clearly missing the point that it isn’t trying to fit into a predefined category or genre, instead opting for something new and original.

The film has been criticised for using classic rock songs to try to attract a young audience. However, other films set in the past don’t get criticised for using orchestral score that wouldn’t have been around at that time. Is there really much of a difference? Helgeland said he felt the use of modern music would show what people at that time felt about their music. When true Renaissance music is used it fails to convey the emotional response so he tried to elicit a response akin to what they felt.

My favourite line in the film is “You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting”, which is similar to a Biblical idiom from the book of Daniel and is a portent of doom or misfortune. Originally spoken by Adhemar, who sees William as an unworthy and weak opponent, it is repeated back to the Count at the end, by the group. This shows that the tables have turned and it is Adhemar who has inevitably lost.

A Knight’s Tale is cheerfully mischievous, unafraid to flout the standard laws and have a bit of fun with the medium of film. It has a charm and an innocence that is appealing and a likeable cast of characters all having a good time. Those who take their historical films seriously probably won’t appreciate its blatant disregard for accuracy in favour of humour and excitement. But those who want an enjoyable experience, watching an original piece of cinema, will find it hard not to raise a smile.

Review: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Terry Gilliam's film is a visual feast, as wondrous and eclectic as its title suggests. It is a tale about a group of theatrical players who travel around the deep, dark corners of London. They transport their unsuspecting audiences through a mirror into the magical Imaginarium - a world where their imaginations come alive but also a place with a hidden threat. The group's wise, old (and recently often quite drunk) leader Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is troubled by a deal he made with a sinister fellow (Tom Waits) that could result in him losing his daughter Valentina (played by model-turned-actress Lily Cole).

Tragically the star of the show, Heath Ledger (playing Tony - an amnesiac with a shady past who joins the group and could either help or hinder Parnassus' plan to save his daughter) died aged just 28 part-way through filming, leaving the director thinking the film was over and that it would have to be shut down. But the cast and crew convinced him to rethink and because anything can happen inside the Imaginarium, he came up with the idea that it could alter people's appearances once they stepped inside. After that, it was just a matter of casting three actors for each time Tony entered the Imaginarium. Gilliam turned to three of Ledger's friends; Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who all do an admirable job of extending the character in different directions. All three donated their fee for the film to Heath's daughter Matilda. They each look very similar to Heath's Tony (helped by magic or make-up), especially Depp, who made me do a double-take before I realised who it was.

Gilliam's Imaginarium harks back to his earlier films, although not quite reaching the dizzy heights of Brazil. It makes sense when you learn that he explored his archive of unused ideas for inspiration when he first started work on it. There are also moments in the film where the visuals are very Python-esque, particularly the stunning world inside the Imaginarium (with some of the sets looking like real creations of his 2D animations) and most notably the singing and dancing policemen wearing skirts and stockings.

Overall, the film is as fantastical and surreal as has come to be expected from Terry Gilliam. The cast all give strong eye-catching performances and although the story gets a bit tangled, it ends in refreshingly non-Hollywood fashion. The cast and crew have done their friend Heath Ledger proud by finishing his final film and creating a fitting tribute and a thoroughly enjoyable cinematic treat.