Kingdom of Heaven
Assessing both cuts of Ridley Scott's 2005 epic
I’m a self-confessed Kingdom of Heaven lover—at least as far as the Director’s Cut is concerned. Hot off the success of Gladiator, Scott got the greenlight to visit the Crusades in what was thought to be a star-making turn for Orlando Bloom. But problems ensued, mostly notably with the studio, which forced him to turn in a theatrical cut of the film that eliminated much of its nuance. What most people saw was a watered down version that didn’t hit the mark. Word of mouth never spread, and Kingdom of Heaven went to Hollywood purgatory.
I think this is a stunningly beautiful film to watch. It is scored by Harry Gregson-Williams in an effort that is second to none. And Scott works diligently to tell multiple perspectives of the conflict.
That’s not to say it’s not without its problems, especially when viewed as a historian (which tends to ruin everything). It too suffers from a bit of a white man savior complex, and Orlando Bloom—the star of the film—has a hard time batting in the same lineup as Liam Neeson, Eva Green, Martin Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, David Thewlis, Jeremy Irons, Ghassan Massoud, and others.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the film. It’s a movie. Take what you like, roll your eyes when necessary, and roast away. And that’s exactly what this episode of Historians At The Movies Podcast does. I invited four HATM veterans—David Perry, Matthew Gabriele, John Wyatt Greenlee, and Thomas Lecaque—back to the show to talk about this movie. These guys made for a great show for a few reasons: they’re all friends of mine, we all love/loathe it, and they’re also the only medieval scholars I know personally. We had a blast.
Among the things we talked about were representations on film, decisions to cut the movie, privileges taken with Orlando Bloom’s character, routes through the Mediterranean, and exactly which animals could fight Liam Neeson. I hope you like the pod.
Apple Podcasts can be a bit wonky to embed so you can find that here.
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