Kingdom Of Heaven

[poliphilo]

There seems to be a lot of animosity towards Orlando Bloom. I think it's unfair.  He's like Terence Stamp or Keanu Reeves; when a guy is as beautiful as these guys are he doesn't need to act. It's the Garbo thing. She couldn't act either but she's beautiful and stately and the camera reads this as a rich inner life.  Somehow we can accept that in a woman but not in a man.

Actually we accept it in a man too or Bloom wouldn't be all rich and famous. It's just that we have to make a big fuss about it and pretend we don't.  I put it down to male film critics wanting to prove they're not gay. "Hey look at that girly-boy- lets kick his head in!"

Bloom's character in Kingdom of Heaven is called Balian but is really Sir Galahad- and gazing soulfully into the middle distance will do just fine- because soul is what it's all about.  This character isn't a character at all; he's a figure in a stained glass window by Burne-Jones. 

And if you want colourful acting you've got a whole lot of (mainly British and Irish) thesps giving great value for money in supporting roles- Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McKidd (who I'm always mistaking for Daniel Craig), Michael Sheen, Alexander Siddig, Jon Finch.

I liked the movie better than I thought I would. Watching anything by Ridley Scott is like leafing through a glossy magazine- glorious set-up after glorious set-up (love the swirling snow in the opening sequence!)- and sometimes the highly decorated style suits the story and sometimes it doesn't. Here it's a pretty good match.  There are better (more deeply committed) visions of the Middle Ages- the Seventh Seal, Marketa Lazarova, Chimes at Midnight, El Cid, Monty Python and the Holy Grail- but Scott's will do. It has grandeur.  His battle scenes are similar to but better than those in The Two Towers and Return of the King- with more discretion in the use of CGI. And there's a terrific  "I am Spartacus" moment where- the city having run out of knights to defend it- Bloom ennobles all the servants and altar boys.

Did the medieval city of Jerusalem really boast such sky-scraping minarets? Were siege weapons really that huge? Could they really lob missiles that far? Did the leper king of Jerusalem really wear a silver face-mask? Were the Templars really so moustachio-twirlingly wicked? Oh, what the hell; think Burne-Jones and enjoy!

Comments

Were siege weapons really that huge?

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

I won't comment on your other questions, but I've just finished crawling through a 10th century treatise on siege warfare and those mutha's was really big. I haven't seen the movie in question so I don't know if they were THAT BIG, but...........

Re: Were siege weapons really that huge?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I'd love to believe they had siege towers as big as downtown office blocks and trebuchets that could throw rocks half a mile- and perhaps they could....

Re: Were siege weapons really that huge?

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

Yes, they were. I used to be a medieval weaponry geek. The history of the development of armory and weaponry is fascinating, as well.

Re: Were siege weapons really that huge?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well I never! I figured the movie had to be exaggerating.

[wolfshift.livejournal.com]

I don't like Orlando Bloom precisely because he's so famous even though he can't act. There are plenty of less "pretty" film stars who are just as inept, and I don't like their movies either. (Actually, I think Bloom is a better actor than Reeves, who I don't find attractive in the least.)

It seems to me that the main reason these people keep getting big roles is that they've had big roles in the past.

I think my distaste for these people is that I believe fame and the big bucks that go with it ought to be earned by merit. Of course it's not entirely their fault, since they're only taking advantage of a messed up industry and a movie-viewing public whose standards are... Well, what standards, come to think of it?

Also, I'm just becoming less and less tolerant of the utter crap produced by the TV and film industries, and by extension with anyone who perpetuates it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't go see a movie on the strength of Bloom being in it, but on the principle of horses for courses I think he's perfectly adequate in this movie.

As for Reeves- no, he's not a great actor- but his spaced-out, undemonstrative persona is inspired casting for the role of Neo in The Matrix.

Being a film star isn't necessarily about being talented, it's about the camera falling in love with you.

[bodhibird.livejournal.com]

Reeves plays the young Siddhartha in the charming movie Little Buddha, which I definitely recommend, and you know, it works. He's got the right physical look, handsome and slightly exotic, he's a Buddhist himself, so he approaches the role with a good spirit, and he looks really good sitting and meditating. (And he doesn't have to carry the whole movie--the story of Siddhartha is told in flashback segments.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've seen that- and enjoyed it.

Reeves may not have much range as an actor but the way he looks makes him perfect casting for "spiritual" and "unworldly" young men.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Love that movie!

[bodhibird.livejournal.com]

I really felt like it captured the spirit of Tibetan Buddhism from the inside. I watched it and Scorsese's Kundun around the same time, and while the latter is a very beautiful movie, it feels more like an outsider's perspective. All those smiling lamas in Little Buddha are so charming!

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Me, too, and I completely agree.

[(Anonymous)]

"(Actually, I think Bloom is a better actor than Reeves, who I don't find attractive in the least.)"

Maybe you should take a closer look at Reeves. He IS beautiful, it's not even a matter of taste. And the acting thing is a cheap shot. People say "Keanu Reeves can't act" so often, they don't even feel the need to justify it any longer, even though a justification is badly needed. And then there will always be someone who jumps in with the requisite dismissive "Perfect for Neo" crap.

Maybe once you get over Bloom you'll realize who's been around a lot longer.

Lame journal, lame people.

[patrick roberts (from livejournal.com)]

Kingdom of Heaven is a pretty high quality movie overall... plus it says a lot about religion and what drives men to use it for their own ends

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ridley Scott's a very uneven director, but this is one of his better ones I think. Besides, I'm an absolute sucker for anything set in the Middle Ages.