World Famous Comics: A Knight's Tale - Extended Cut
A Knight's Tale - Extended Cut
Starring: Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, Paul Bettany, Laura Fraser (II) Directed By: Brian Helgeland Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Sony Pictures Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 99 Release Date: September 27, 2005 Running Time: 144 minutes Theatrical Release Date: May 11, 2001
Description: After serving a number of years as a squire, an earnest young commoner poses as a knight and establishes himself in the jousting tournaments of Europe. He and a princess fall in love, but she is unaware of his deceit and common roots. The false knight is estranged from the princess once his true roots are revealed. He struggles to amend their relationship.
Amazon.com: There's no rule against rock anthems from the 1970s in the soundtrack for a movie about a medieval jousting champion, but if you're going to attempt such jarring anachronisms, you'd better establish acceptable ground rules. Writer-director Brian Helgeland does precisely that in A Knight's Tale and pulls off this trick with such giddy aplomb that you can't help but play along. (Upon witnessing a crowd of peasants at a jousting match, singing and clapping to the beat of Queen's "We Will Rock You," you're either going to love this movie or dismiss it altogether.) Other vintage rock hits will follow, but Helgeland--the Oscar®-winning cowriter of L.A. Confidential--handles this ploy with judicious goodwill, in what is an otherwise honest period piece about a peasant named William (Heath Ledger) who rises by grit and determination to the hallowed status of knighthood.
As if the soundtrack weren't audacious enough, Helgeland (recovering from the sour experience of his directorial debut, Payback) casts none other than Geoffrey Chaucer (wonderfully played by Paul Bettany) as William's cohort and match announcer, along with William's pals Roland (Mark Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk), and feisty blacksmith Kate (Laura Fraser). Of course there must be a fair maiden, and she is Jocelyn (newcomer Shannyn Sossamon), with whom William falls in love while battling the nefarious Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) on the European jousting circuit. Add to this an inspiring father-son reunion, Ledger's undeniable charisma, a perfect supporting cast, and enough joyful energy to rejuvenate the film's formulaic plot, and A Knight's Tale becomes that most pleasant of movie surprises--an unlikely winner that rises up, like its hero, to exceed all expectations. --Jeff Shannon
An IQ of 75? For very little kids, or young girls who want to look at Heath Ledger. He died but that didn't improve the film.
History is so boring. It needs to be jazzed up?
"No matter what, a man can change his stars!" Sometime in the early 1370s, six months in the life of English writer Geoffrey Chaucer went unaccounted. A KNIGHT'S TALE - an earnest, historical epic movie (okay, not really) - ventures a tongue-in-cheek answer to that mild conundrum. But, firstly, the film gravitates towards the young peasant squire, William Thatcher, who fears of wasting his life away as a humble nothing. When his knight is fatally injured during a joust, William seizes an opening for self-betterment. With the help of his reluctant fellow squires, he passes himself off as a nobleman, intending to compete in knightly tournaments. But William must first qualify by presenting patents of nobility, which list his noble lineage.
Which is where Geoffrey Chaucer comes in, naked in bodily form but not in spirits. Chaucer gets William, now callling himself Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland, that much closer to achieving his objective, being able to forge the necessary patents and acting as Sir Ulrich's herald. As tournament follows tournament, Sir Ulrich proves to be mighty in prowess and very popular with the masses. But he may have set too lofty a goal when he dares to fall in love with the nobleman's beautiful daughter, Lady Jocelyn. And, ultimately, Sir Ulrich's dreams of love and a better life may rest on his ability to best the grim and haughty Count Adhemar, who is a tournament champion and a rival for Jocelyn's fancy...
This film is definitely a far cry from one of those tired medieval epics. A KNIGHT'S TALE is a rousing, high spirited adventure, bolstered by a perfect cast, an immensely relatable underdog story, a sexy romance, and friggin' rock & roll music. As director Brian Helgeland confesses facetiously in his audio commentary with Paul Bettany, he was not aware that rock & roll did not exist back in the 1370s. But, believe or no, this anachronism serves the movie well. One of the early scenes involves the tournament crowd getting amped up with Queen's "We Will Rock You." This right away lends an amazing energy to the screen and gives notice to the movie audience that this one film isn't quite like any other. Other classic rock tunes pepper the film, with David Bowie's "Golden Years" being particularly effective in the dance sequence; there's a sense of exhilaration and sensuality to Jocelyn and Sir Ulrich getting jiggy on the floor. What the music does, other than setting a desired mood, is lend a refreshing contemporary feel to the film. I really dug those moments, historical inaccuracies be damned.
Speaking of historical inaccuracies, you don't really think this is where the Nike swooosh logo originated, do you? Or sports fan face painting?
"I give to you the seeker of serenity, the protector of Italian virginity, and the enforcer of Our Lord God, the one, the only - Sir Uuullrich von Lichtenstein!!" I have to admit that my favorite actor here is Paul Bettany, who plays Geoffrey Chaucer. From the moment Bettany makes his very startling onscreen appearance, he begins to steal scenes left and right. He's even more brilliant when he takes on the role of Sir Ulrich's herald and begins to rev up the tournament crowds with his ringing, bombastic introductions of his liege. I'm such a big fan of this dude.
Not to neglect the rest of the cast. The lead is the late, very much missed Heath Ledger and, at this stage in his career, he was well on his way to attaining bankable leading man status. His very engaging performance in A KNIGHT'S TALE definitely put him on that level. William Thatcher, handsome and bold, appeals to every gent with ambition and, I'm guessing, to every girl out there who has the ability to swoon. His retinue of friends and "servants" are perfect, simply perfect: Mark Addy, the calm and sense in the maelstrom; Alan Tudyk, fiery tempered and eager to administer vicious fongings (to fong = to kick); Laura Fraser as the lovely and spunky Kate the farrier; and, of course, the golden-voiced Paul Bettany.
Shannyn Sossamon makes her promising big screen debut and is luminous as the moon, unveiling a hint of sass and more than a hint of the sexy. Her chemistry with Ledger is a smoldering thing. The sad thing for her career is that not in any of her following films has she been as good as she was here. Maybe that'll change. And what's an adventure movie without a good adversary? Rufus Sewell as Count Adhemar oozes priveleged arrogance, dark jealousy and sinister thoughts. Is there any doubt that the dastardly Count Adhemar wouldn't hesitate to get medieval on William's, er, backside (but not in the same way as in PULP FICTION)?
Do yourself a favor and also check out the juuuust a bit tongue-in-cheek audio commentary by director Brian Helgeland and Paul Bettany. They'll fill you in on trivia such as which actor was voted sexiest by the females of the cast and crew, how Bettany managed to not show the fella when in *that* scene, which actor is projected by the commentators to be the next James Bond, which actor's parties have become the stuff of legends during the filming, and who ended up purchasing Sir Ulrich's Kate-created armor.
I've seen A KNIGHT'S TALE a busload of times, and it's yet to wane in appeal and watchability. You wouldn't think that a collision of Queen and Chaucer (to quote Helgeland) would work. But it does, and tremendously, thanks to the actors who create and inhabit fully realized characters. The sheer exuberance of this film blows me away, and the underdog premise makes me root for William's motley crew time and again. If you haven't seen A KNIGHT'S TALE yet, well, frankly, I'm a bit envious. But what are you waiting for? A fonging?
I laughed so much. The movie is FUNNY. The movie doesn't pretend to be historically accurate, so don't go there if that's what you want to see. It's a fun movie, a funny movie. And I expect I'll sit down and watch it every now and then to enjoy a good laugh.
A Knight's Tale I collected all Heath Ledger's movies after his unexpected and untimely death, this one was the BEST! This movie is very clever and done quite well! It has some modern things mixed with the days of old medeval times. GREAT MOVIE!!
My lords, my Ladies, and everybody else here ... not sitting on a cushion! ...
Well ... a good seven years has now passed since this film was in the theatres and it holds up just as fine as it did the very first time I saw it.
The Reception ...
The first and most striking aspect of this film was the amount of antipathy that was generated by Carter Burwell's insightful use of modern music in a period comedy /drama. Unfortunately this created so much backlash, and so much hatred amongst the viewers that hordes of haters flocked to the internet to post hundreds of pages of comments on IMDb, and post an unflattering number of continuous negative reviews on Amazon for years to come with a long sea of comments regarding the `egregiousness' of what this film did to the period. None of the `paid, real-life' Reviewers were any kinder to writer / director Brian Helgeland as well and just about every reviewer couldn't tolerate the opening of peasants drumming away and singing `We Will Rock You' or Heath Ledger practicing his technique to War's `Lowrider'. So many viewers would have a better understanding and greater perspective on stuff like this if they would just acquaint themselves with the work of Tom Stoppard. His work in the field of Victorian and Middle-age shenanigans has made absurdist theatre what it is today and has shaped a lot of modern film.
"It's called a lance, hello ..."
The Controversy ...
Some people may remember that the negative reviews were so many, that some bright spark over at Sony Pictures decided to start fabricating positive reviews and using quotes for those fake reviews to advertise the film. Well, someone noticed and caught them with their proverbial hand in the cookie jar. Yes, there was a lawsuit and someone got paid. Whoever that was, is beyond me because I never saw a dime of that money and I saw it twice in the theatre and I've purchased both versions available on DVD.
For almost five years, someone also hosted a phony website that was made to emulate an Anchorage area High School up in Alaska, which regarded a supposed Musical adaptation of `A Knights Tale', replete with fake newspaper reviews, fake still photographs and other phony productions also complete with posters, banners and photographs. The website was taken down in 2006 after it was finally discovered by Sony Pictures and they didn't find the joke very funny at all.
The Writer / Director and Shannyn Sossamon ...
A lot of people, who were in charge of production and had financially backed the picture were ecstatic to be working with prolific Writer / Director Brian Helgeland, who had previously had much success with the magnificent film L.A. Confidential. Whether one likes that movie or not, it surely is a screenplay to rival all others in scope and skill. No dailies were made available during filming as principal photography took place in the Czech Republic, but nobody seemed to mind as they were all fully behind Helgeland's "period epic" that would be a sort-of screen adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. There must have been an incredible silence during the first few screenings when they finally got to see the finished product. The problem was that even though the marketing campaign for the film was vast and appropriate, too much negative banter behind the scenes got the ball rolling on all the bad reviews. But in truth, it still did pretty good in the theatres and very well once released on DVD, both times. To this day, a lot of people adore this film and it's quickly becoming a real cult-classic and not the kind of cult-classic that Studios likes to advertise their poorly made films like Superbad as. A Knights Tale really is a cult-classic, that status is not something placed upon it by the Studios, but attributed to it by the fans and the continued viewership.
Unfortunately though for Helgeland, his career as a director hasn't ever really improved, has it? He's seemingly stuck forever with his Cirque du Freak vampire movie that no one has yet seen a frame of. His writing though hasn't suffered as he's penned numerous hits that have been critically acclaimed such as Mystic River, and Man on Fire. He was also a guest commentator on the recent DVD re-release of The Omen alongside Richard Donner. Note to reader: the Omen commentary is well worth listening to and will give you a deeper respect for Richard Donner after hearing it.
And then there was Shannyn Sossamon. A nice young girl who went out for general auditions for this film, and who at the time was working as a (gasp!) Stripper in a Los Angeles area all-nude Strip Club. I promise you this ... I never met her. In the commentary, Helgeland makes mention of this and jokes that he intentionally put her name in the opening credits superimposed over a young-girl dancing because of that fact. It was a bit harsh, I thought and I couldn't help but detect some jilted emotion in his voice as well. She also shows up as the object of the writer's affection in the movie The Order, with a few other members of this cast in a story that is just overwrought with the pangs of deprized love and has a serious undercurrent of a Sossamon infatuation.
So I guess, Helgeland truly has been weighed, measured and found wanting as a director. The future is all his though. Hopefully, whatever he does next will be openly accepted, even if it is another A Knight's Tale.
Heath Ledger ...
For years on Amazon, the bulk of recent reviews for A Knights Tale were all negative as I stated before, and there was a lot of conversation about the historical accuracy. Now that Heath has passed, I guess it's only appropriate that all that is now in the past and people now post reviews saying how much they loved him and what an impact as an actor he made on film and their lives. It's fine and probably well-deserved. He was taken too early through working himself into an exhaustion and getting caught in a spiraling set of circumstances that went out of control.
I probably owe Heath a debt of gratitude as for a period of time, I was often mistaken for him in public. Being a Los Angeles area resident, it did get me a few girls during the late night outings. But trust me, no one ever believed fully that I was him. The timing was good too, as it was a dark period for me and I needed everything I could get back then just to keep going. So, posthumously ... thanks, Heath. I owe ya one, mate.
His performance in this film quite good, and full of life and hopefully this is how people will remember him as I feel it was one of his most enjoyable roles in film. The Joker will probably be seen as equally good even though the polar opposite in emotion and intensity.
Alan Tudyk and the rest of cast ...
It was this film that introduced me to the American Actor Alan Tudyk. A native of Plano, Texas whose acting is so good, could get himself cast in a film with a fake accent and do a more than passable job as an Englishman named Wot Falhurst. Great name, by the way.
A story about `Geoff' Chaucer is intriguing enough by itself.
"I will eviscerate you in fiction. I was naked for a day, you will be naked for eternity."
A much-overlooked, but incredibly well-written piece of cinema. Anyone who could write something like that, does not need a lecture on historical accuracy. Lots of films and movies are made about historical figures, but the most shameful thing that is too-often done -- is the dialogue that is placed in their mouths. It is often out-of-place, inaccurate, buffoonish and abysmal. Helgeland wrote so many incredibly moving, witty and interesting lines for Geoffrey Chaucer that would make one think that he will one day revisit the character and give him the honor of a feature length film, or at least a screenplay. Paul Bettany's performance with the line ...
"Lillium Interspinus ... the Lilly among the thorns."
Is a fantastic piece of impromptu acting and a great introduction during the film.
As for Rufus Sewell, a lot of people used to associate him with the cult sci-fi masterpiece Dark City, now I can't look at him without thinking of his role as Adhemar of Anjou and that scowling cock-eyed look of his. You'd be cock-eyed too, if you boozed it up and partied as heavily and heartily as this guy did. My God, he was a Hollywood legend for years at after parties, wrap-parties, clubs, you name it. His reputation as an animal far outweighed his reputation as an actor.
A historical note ...
Yeah, too many other reviewers make mention of the dates, the Black Prince, the real Ulrich of Gelderland and on and on. A long list of accusations is still up for the reading over at IMDb if anyone is interested. If you're really interested in why a lot of this was done, then just listen to the commentary on the DVD with Paul Bettany and Brian Helgeland and you learn more about this film, and be the better for it.
We walk in the garden of his turpluence ... (hahaha .. just what does that mean, anyway?)
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