A Knight's Tale
Written and directed by Brian Hedgeland, A Knight's Tale
begins with an aged knight who unexpectedly drops dead while
preparing for a joust. Facing unemployment, the knight's young
squire, William (Heath Ledger), dons the armor and jousts in
his lord's place. Helmed (and therefore anonymous), no one realizes
that it is William who actually wins the tournament, so he decides
to make jousting his profession as a ticket to the upper classes.
William's prowess with the lance soon elevates him into the pantheon
of jousting knights. Along the way he wins the affection of a
young noblewoman, Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon), and the vengeful
ire of a rival knight, Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell).
As William, Heath Ledger is terrific, as are most of the other
cast. Unfortunately, the film is ruined by incessant silliness,
intentional yet pointless anachronisms, and a story which relies
on sports movie clichés instead of striving to be inventive.
The film does, however, raise the pertinent question "what
is nobility?" Treachery and malice are the mark of the gentry,
yet it is the commoner William who exhibits true nobility. But
the film misses the opportunity for William to display any great
act of courage or chivalry because the action (and therefore
William's character development) is restricted to the world of
jousting. (Would it not have been more dramatic for William to
be unexpectedly forced into an actual battle to defend Jocelyn
and his friends from hostile attackers? Would not William's adventure
be a far greater one were he to learn that being a real knight
means more than tournament games and personal glory?)
Another flaw is the vacuous leading lady, Jocelyn. Vain and aloof,
it is her untouchability that first attracts William, but he
remains pathetically blind to her manipulative selfishness. He
does anything she asks, and he even dishonors himself on the
field to suit her whim. Considering the close proximity of a
young and better-looking peasant girl, Laura Fraser, whom William
has befriended, the viewer is constantly rooting for him to fall
in love with her, instead. It also does not help that Shannyn
Sossamon (Jocelyn) is a noticeably inferior actress to the rest
of the cast, and her "Saks 5th Avenue"-style costumes
are completely anachronistic.
But worst of all is the music. I nearly walked out of the cinema
five minutes into the film when Queen's "We Will Rock You"
started playing. Alas, as a reviewer, I had to stay till the
end, during which the audience was assaulted several more times
by noisy pop and rock songs from decades past (the most embarrassing
example being the court dance scene where Jocelyn and William
gyrate like two hot and bothered kids at a freshman mixer). I
cannot fathom why the director thought this music was in any
way appropriate; if he wanted to help market the film to kids,
it seems odd he would use music their parents used to listen
to.
Numbering Geoffrey Chaucer among the characters is a mildly amusing
touch, though it is obvious early on that he would eventually
say, "I should write this all down" at the end of the
film. The jousting scenes themselves are magnificent, however,
and the stunt work, photography, and editing bring this high-speed
pastime into sharp relief. There are also some genuinely funny
moments. But ultimately, A Knight's Tale offers little
more than a run-of-the-mill sports movie plot placed in a medieval
setting.
Paul Andrew MacLean
© 2001
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LadyJanet@RenaissanceMagazine.com