Replies

Balian makes a dramatic speech before the final battle where he tells the assembled throng that the Muslim army, which is about to attack and kill all of them, has just as much right to rule as its Christian counterpart does. Rather than a call to arms, Balian gives his troops a call to multiculturalism.

One of the great joys of writing reviews apparently is writing clever reviews trashing a big blockbustter. But I think a lot of what this reviewer has to say is unfair. For instance, Balian does say in his "big speech" that the Muslims has just as much right to the city as the Christians ... but what he ultimately goes on to say to his followers is that they are not fighting for the stones of the city, however holy, but for the lives of their families who are living within the city, and that if the defenders fall, their families will die. Dunno about you, tovarisch, but that would motivate me!

I nearly did not go to see KOH after reading the wretched reviews, but finally did drag my husband to see it with me -- and both of us, picky viewers that we are, enjoyed it very much. We agreed it was miles better than "Alexander" but not as good as the final movie of LOTR. The cinematography was outstanding, as were the sets and the set dressing (though as for costumes, I was amused to note that Orlando looks very "seventies" in some of his dashiki shirts, or whatever they are -- very trendy fashionwise!). The opening sequence was particularly evocative, with lovely use of weather to set a mood.

We did not go to this movie to learn the history of the Crusades. I assumed it was only loosely based on history (if that), so finding out that it is not accurate is not a big problem for me. People who go to the movies to learn history probably thought "JFK" was factual too.

I did think that the Muslims were let off lightly, though I did not think that the Christians were unduly censored. A distinction was drawn between the Crusaders and the Knights Templar, with the KT vilified (rightly or wrongly, I don't know). And to say that the character of Balian is irreligious is just wrong, IMHO. He is drawn instead as someone who wants to believe, but has run up against some big stumbling blocks. (No one who is an arrogant atheist sits around all night on Golgotha freezing his butt for the sake of enlightenment!)

My biggest quibble was twofold: they showed Balian, the blacksmith, as being both literate and an excellent swordsman, without explaining either property. In that time period, the *village blacksmith* would have probably been a pretty burly guy, but not much of a swordsman (though he might have been handy with a pike or an axe). And it is improbable in the extreme that he would have been literate.

But ... Orlando Bloom is a fine young actor, and definite eye candy. I give KOH a thumbs-up.