"It has always fallen to a few to sacrifice for the greater good."
Hello everyone!
And BOY, do I have some goodies for this month!
... also for the start of September, because Netflix just told me that's what's going to happen.
Now.
A little while ago, I had this 'history' run here on the blog wherein I was watching and reviewing some of the better historic adaptations of stories that we all know and love. For some reason, however, I apparently never got around to reviewing the ONE actual historical movie that even experts agree is probably, to this date, the most accurate when it comes to the story it's telling!
And it's a shame because I FREAKING LOVE THIS MOVIE.
Without further ado, here it is then: better get that sword from the stone to fight, because King Arthur will absolutely need you.
Links to previous connected work, movies and books included, can be found at the bottom of the page, as usual.
Now, the 2004 King Arthur is a piece that, for some reason, most people dismiss as utter fiction, probably because it doesn't adhere to the romantic, medieval version of a knightly Arthur and the rest (First Knight does that job for us). However, experts agree that Arthur, as a person, probably DID exist - but much, much earlier, debatable if in the era called the Dark Ages, and that he had Roman roots, but also fought to save Britain from Saxon invasions.
This is that story, with a couple of twists.
See, Rome's been expanding, and in its expansions, it conquered armies that had a significant, strong cavalry unit, so the Sarmatian Knights became incorporated into the Empire, and had to always send their firstborn sons to serve forever after,
This is where Arthur's 'knights' come from, knights he is then shown to have been leading for the past 15 years, and now all they need is their letter of release to return home - without it, they'll be branded deserters and killed on sight (though granted, I'd LOVE for someone to try because ... well it would be hilarious as that someone would be hopelessly outmached).
Delivering these letters is one Bishop Germanus, but the convoy is attacked by Merlin's people - living north of Hadrian's wall and the original inhabitants of the isles (Picts, most probably).
Arthur (Owen) and his knights intervene and deliver the bishop safely to the fortress south of the wall, where they get a little bit of a shock: no, they can't actually retire yet. Rome - more importantly, the bishop - needs them for one last dirty job, to go BEYOND HADRIAN'S WALL and retrieve a boy and his family. Alecto (the boy) has apparently been singled out for life in Rome and has potential for the papal seat (the Pope, if I remember, is his godfather or something).
Anyway, the knights are furious - and so is Arthur, because he, too, had been counting on releasing his men and then travelling to Rome. But nothing doing, he has his oaths, and so he draws the knights with him (against their better judgement, but there are at least a few that point out HE isn't to be blamed, he's just as trapped as the rest of them).
This is where we first observe Lancelot (Gruffud) being a little bit of a brat, poking and prodding at Arthur, though it looks like this doesn't affect their friendship all that much.
So, north of the wall they go, end up in Pict hands, get released because Merlin has, at this time, received word of Saxons landing, and he decides that he's going to need Arthur, because the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that jazz.
Arthur, meanwhile, reaches that ridiculous villa that I have no idea HOW it survived that far north, and realizes he can't leave with just the family so, much to the chagrin of his knights, he insists the entire village will be going with them ... except for the priests torturing captives beneath the villa, whom he walls up (the hilarious part of this is that the Saxons free them to get information, then wall them right back again).
Among the captains is fair Guinevere (Knightley), who immediately forms a strong attachment to Arthur after he resets her fingers, though she also challenges him about the things he believes and why he doesn't seem to love the land he's lived in all his life. She also works on Lancelot, but not in any kind of romantic way, it's fairly noticeable in the movie, the romance is reserved for Arthur while she views Lancelot as a sort of brother with a similar story to her own.
Not only that, but even as the Saxons under Stellan Skarsgard (running joke for me is that he wants his daughter-in-law back, damnit!) draw closer, Arthur's world is shattered when he learns from Alecto that Germanus had Pellagius killed, the man who was basically his father figure and biggest influence.
Basically, the Rome he's been fighting for, the Rome he wanted to remove to? It doesn't exist.
What DOES exist is Alecto's father being a douche and ending up shot for his efforts (I maintain that Dagobert would have taken them all on his own either way because he A BEAST), but the Saxons catch up to our knights on an iced-over lake after Arthur sends the villagers and Alecto ahead.
Their bows being stronger than Saxon ones, they make a number of hits, but it isn't until Dagobert takes his axe to the ice that the entire thing breaks and swallows most of the vanguard - but it takes Dagobert's life, too, pierced by too many arrows.
Dispirited, the remaining knights return to a gleeful Germanus, who doesn't get why they're not happier, because people like him view soldiers of any kind as tools, and not humans, not to mention Arthur snarls at him that he knows what happened to Pellagius, which doesn't make things better, but it DOES take some of the wind out of this idiot's sails, at least.
Besides, by this point, Arthur's mind is wavering dramatically - see, during the trek south, he actually has a little meeting with Merlin, who explains that the Saxons are a much bigger problem than either one of them wants to admit.
Also, that Merlin always had a problem with ROME, not Arthur personally, which goes to show the old man's intelligent and wise enough to understand the difference between oppressor and cogs in the machine. Between him and Guinevere, they remind Arthur that even his father seemed to love the land he was serving, because he married a native woman, though unfortunately Arthur's mother died in a Pict raid on the fortress and village they lived in.
This was a consequence Merlin never wanted, and he says as much, so that this gives Arthur food for thought all the way home, and then at the actual fortress, after they bury their fallen comrade, Guinevere commiserates with him over his father's grave, then comes to him at night because, well, life's short! Better get the groove on, and SHE better be the one doing it seeing as his knightly arse isn't going to.
But Viking Bootstrap has marched hard and interrupts them by parking himself outside the fortress, forcing Arthur into a decision: he's going to stay and lead the people in this fight, especially as Merlin also offers his own fighters, who simply need a strong leader.
He sends his knights away as free men, but their horses are much smarter than they are and, hearing echoes of the Saxon drums from afar balk, refusing to ride further as they're keen to head to battle. Which means the knights return to Arthur and take up the fight with him, much to his pleasure and all the warm, fuzzy feelings.
Turns out, Arthur's got a plan to slowly chip away at the massive army by luring them into the fortress section by section, which eventually becomes just one great battle, with Merlin commanding siege engines and Guinevere (who at this point dons a torc, an IMPORTANT BIT OF INFORMATION as thus far we only thought her to be a rando chick from north of the wall, but it turns out she's probably Merlin's daughter OR daughter of a chieftain at least) commanding the fighters.
Viking Bootstrap takes out Tristan, one of the knights, before Arthur gets to him for a duel of duels which he manages to end, but unfortunately, Lancelot also doesn't survive, fighting the Saxon leader's son and losing the battle.
Arthur is beside himself with grief, but nothing can be done other than to bury the fallen (or burn them, in Lancelot's case), after which Arthur and Guinevere are married to join their people, and Arthur declares that, since Rome has abandoned Britain, it's up to them to defend it from any invader who thinks they can just swoop in and take control (and looks like they manage beautifully until 1066).
The movie goes on to end with a voice-over from Lancelot, imposed over an image of galloping horses that used to belong to the fallen knights, as he explains that mourning them makes no sense, as they continue to live on: in the legends of King Arthur, and his Knights of the Round Table.
Fin!
MAN but I LOVE this movie!
Gritty, action-packed, and incredibly dark, it nevertheless delivers an image of a stoic, honourable and intelligent Arthur who will do anything for the people he loves. It also touches on that ridiculous love triangle but doesn't expand on it, rather making sure there's a clear distinction between who Guinevere actually wants, and who she considers family.
The scenes and visuals are breathtaking, and the cast is literally star-studded, between Owen and Knightley, to Skarsgard and then to Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, Til Schweiger, etc.
There's definitely a lot of blood and gore which probably won't appeal to people romanticizing the story, but truth be told I personally preferred this retelling because it feels much more real than anything out of the Medieval period.
But there's just something timeless about Arthur as a rule, as many further adaptations have shown - so let's just hope that, if he ever existed, then wherever he is, he likes what we've cooked up for him.
10/10 recommend!
xx
*images and video not mine
Every Dog Has His Day - One Dark and Stormy Knight - A Knight on the Town
A Knight to Remember - Her Wedding Knight - 'Twas the Knight Before Christmas
A Knight to Remember - Her Wedding Knight - 'Twas the Knight Before Christmas
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