Director Report Card: Ridley Scott (2005)

15. Kingdom of Heaven

The success of “Gladiator” did not just spurn on a new wave of sword-and-sandal flicks, fantasies and dramas explicitly concerned with ancient Greece or Rome. It also gave the entire “historical heroes” genre a boost. Quite a few elegiac epics about long-since passed combat from all around the world would follow in Maximus' footsteps. Movies like “The Last Samurai,” “King Arthur,” and “ The Alamo” were fairly blatant imitators. Ridley Scott himself would contribute to this new wave of films hoping to ride “Gladiator's” success to box office glory and multiple award season wins. “Kingdom of Heaven” would bring this approach to the medieval story of the Crusades, specifically covering the events leading up to and directly following the 1187 Siege of Jerusalem.  

in 1184, the wife of French blacksmith Balian kills herself. Overcome with grief, he murders a priest who insults her memory. Seeking redemption for himself and his wife's damned soul, he joins the Crusades. The son of the Baron of Ibelin, Balian is knighted shortly before his father's death. He uses his noble position to befriend numerous royal figures in and around Jerusalem. Such as leper king Baldwin IV – who upholds an unsteady piece with Muslim sultan Saladin – and his sister, Princess Sibylla, who Balian begins to romance. The Templar Knights, led by prospective king of Jerusalem Guy de Lusignan, wants war with the Islamic forces. Guy engineers a conspiracy to get exactly that, orchestrating a series of massacres and attacks that spurn on Saladin's armies. Soon, Balian of Ibelin is reluctantly designated with defending the Holy City from Saladin's siege.

Once again, before we discuss a Ridley Scott movie, we have to specify about which version of the movie we're discussing. Two versions of "Kingdom of Heaven" exist: The 144 minute theatrical cut and the 194 minute "extended director's cut." The theatrical cut is a truncated version Scott put together at the insistence of 20th Century Fox, who didn't see much commercial potential in a three-hour-and-fourteen-minute long movie. The majority of the subplots were removed and the violence was softened. From my understanding, the extended cut was always Scott's intended vision. The difference is such that the theatrical cut is more-or-less completely disregarded these days. The director's cut is "Kingdom of Heaven" and that's what I watched. 

“Kingdom of Heaven” approaches the topics of the Crusades from an especially agnostic direction. Never once does the movie portray one faith as being more correct than the other. The religious motivations for the Crusades are rarely touched upon. Faith and belief is portrayed here as almost a burden, people more concerned with what damns their souls to Hell than with how these beliefs should guide their lives. Balian is largely frustrated and angry with his God, seemingly growing increasingly doubtful of his existence throughout. By the end, he's ready to burn Jerusalem to the ground. Not to save it from the Muslims but because he's tired of everyone fighting over it. When he throws a stone, causing a stray spark that sets a bush ablaze, it seems to be the movie stating directly that God has no role to play in these events.

Ridley Scott has said "Kingdom of Heaven" is about religious conflict but it's more accurately about imperialism. King Baldwin IV insists that Jerusalem remain a neutral ground for all faiths. Yet forces around him, the Templars most of all, are eager to undermine that. They want to displace the local population, steal their land and resources, and are willing to slaughter innocents for it. A supporting character even outright admits that this was never about faith but was always about glory and land. This story creates parallels with pretty much every era of history, America's more recent actions in the Middle East most of all.

Shortly after arriving in the Middle East, via ship wrecks, Balian encounters a local noble who wants his horse. After the man insists on attacking him, Balian kills him... But he spares the man's servant and sets him free. This act of mercy pays off later, when Balian is captured by Saladin's forces, discovers the servant was a nobleman himself, and is freed. Acts of mercy like this contrast with later acts of senseless violence, such as when Guy decapitates a messenger from the Sultan. Many of the battles in the film are acts of retaliation, a chain reaction of violence started by deliberate acts of cruelty. This further draws attention to the European invaders as aggressors and the Muslim natives as reactive, with mercy being presented as the obvious solution to this conflict.

"Kingdom of Heaven" is a true cinematic epic. In its full length version, there's even an overture and an intermission. Ridley Scott was clearly eager to expand upon the already huge scope he utilized in "Gladiator." There are multiple sweeping shots of the desert stretching out in all directions, of castles and cities reaching up to the sky. (Making scenery look even bigger and broader with CGI, another trick from "Gladiator," shows up again here.) Battle sequences feel truly grand, as hundreds of men are shown marching and riding. Scott and his team were clearly determined to make this film as grand as possible.

Even with its epic scope, "Kingdom of Heaven" does not portray a sanitized version of the past. There aren't too many scenes were dirt and grime isn't caked to one surface or another. Many scenes are shot with a blue tint, creating an overcast and gloomy atmosphere. Disease is also repeatedly emphasized. King Baldwin is a leper, the audience only given fleeting looks at his discolored, sore-covered hands before his mask is finally removed after his death. His nephew is eventually afflicted with the disease too. "Kingdom of Heaven" isn't quite mudpunk but its depiction of medieval times are far from sanitized. 

After taking it easy with "Matchstick Men," this film also sees Scott returning to the blood soaked battle sequences that increasingly defined his films in the new millennium. The violence in "Kingdom of Heaven" is intense. A body is cleaved down the middle. Heads and limbs are chopped off with abandon. Arrows and spears stick bodies, remaining stuck there. Swords and flails and bludgeons end lives in all sorts of ways. Frequently, bright red blood spurts into the air and splatters onto faces. Once again, it feels a little over-the-top at times. Gory spectacle worked for "Gladiator" and "Hannibal" but feels out-of-place in a more grounded film like this.

Despite a sometimes evident preoccupation with arterial spray, "Kingdom of Heaven" mostly makes its point with its battle scenes. Scott directs many of the sword fights with his typical frenzied intensity. The final battle for Jerusalem is a massive sequence. Enormous siege towers roll towards huge walls. Catapults launch fireballs into the air, raining down on the battlements. One shot displays hundreds of men tussling and fighting against each other... Yet this shot dissolves to the same area filled with nothing but dead bodies afterwards. The statement is clear: Those that seek glory in combat are only going to find death and destruction.

Orlando Bloom would star in "Kingdom of Heaven" right after appearing in "Troy." This was also after his appearances in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and the first "Pirates of the Caribbean." This certainly seem to prove that, if you were making a movie involving sword fights in the 2000s, Bloom was your guy. As actor, he was also frequently criticized for being bland or coasting on his pretty boy looks. While that's obviously a matter of opinion, he does give a rather stoic performance in "Kingdom of Heaven." There are times when a real emotional ferocity rises through Bloom’s stolid exterior. He even gives a couple of impassioned speeches at a few key moments, which certainly works in the movie's favor. Yet there are times when Bloom plays it a little too close to his chest. Some more vulnerability would've been nice.

Beyond his familiarity with period garb and swashbuckling, another reason I suspect Bloom was cast is because he was successful romantic lead as well. The dude is handsome, you can't deny that. The romance between Balian and Princess Sibylla ends up being a fairly small part of "Kingdom of Heaven." Yet it is a part of the movie that works pretty well. Eva Green plays the princess. She is charming with Bloom and the romantic scenes between the characters are among the movie's more light-hearted moments. Green, of course, brings a smoldering intensity to the role. Steely-willed vehemence is what you hire Eva Green for and she delivers here. 

For such a high-profile release, Scott was naturally able to pull together an A-list supporting cast. Liam Neeson appears, in another wise mentor role, as Balkan's father. Even if the part is short-lived, Neeson knows exactly how to make these types of characters memorable. Edward Norton, his face behind a mask, plays King Baldwin with an equal balance of royal wisdom and fragility, owing to the king's failing health. Jeremy Irons is especially raspy and grave as Tiberias, the count of Tripoli. Marton Csokas is fittingly sleazy and treacherous, a perfectly hatable villain, as Guy Lusignan. Brendan Gleason is even more unhinged as Reynald, Guy's primary enforcer. 

The theatrical cut of "Kingdom of Heaven" did disappointing business at the American box office, though it did better overseas. Reviews were mediocre at the time, with more than one critic suggesting the film felt unfinished... Which was basically true and the director's cut was much better received, with some even going so far as to call it one of Scott's best films. "Kingdom of Heaven" is very good, a bold and intriguing epic in the truest sense. Its massive run time allows for a thorough exploration of intriguing ideas that are paired with an impressively wide scope. [Grade: B]