A Knight’s Tale

PLOT:

Set in late Medieval Europe in the 1370s, the story begins with the protagonists and squires, William (Heath Ledger), Roland (Mark Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk), discovering their master, Sir Ector (Nick Brimble), dead of his wounds in the middle of a jousting tournament. He was ahead “three lances to none” and merely had to finish the final round to win the tournament. William Thatcher takes the armour, importantly the helm, of Sir Ector, and poses as the noble to finish the match. William’s inexperience is evident, as he receives a lance blow to the face mask, but regardless wins the tournament due to Ector’s previous lead. This gives William the idea that, with proper training, he, and his companions, could make a living in jousting.

Along the way to his first tournament in Rouen, William and his friends come upon Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), ‘trudging’ down a road with no clothes or money. William persuades the writer to forge his patents of nobility, as it is illegal for peasants to joust, and joins the jousting circuit, under the pseudonym of Sir Ulrich von Liechtensteinfrom Gelderland. Chaucer is then discovered to have a terrible gambling problem, which William saves him from, by paying his debtors with his tournament winnings, and therefore gains Geoffrey’s true loyalty. Along with his two fellow squires, Wat and Roland, he begins to win match after match. When his armour, still the same suit taken from Sir Ector, becomes loose and damaged, he gains an addition to his fellowship, Kate the Farrier (Laura Fraser), who makes him revolutionary armour and travels with them. He soon meets and falls in love with a noble lady Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon), who has already been noticed by the evil yet powerful Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell). A rivalry begins between the two of them for the affection of Jocelyn and the accolades of the tournaments, but Adhemar defeats William in his first tournament.

In the following tournament, Adhemar withdraws after refusing to joust against Prince Edward, who is under the secret guise of Sir Thomas Coalville (James Purefoy). However, William’s competitiveness overcomes his need to withdraw and jousts with Edward, to his surprise and pleasure, and wins the tournament, along with Edward’s respect. Will’s companions, Wat, Roland, Kate and Geoff, then gamble all of their share of the money, that William will win the French tournament in Paris. Coincidentally, and simultaneously, Jocelyn tells William that he must lose the tournament to prove his love to her. After openly accepting defeat after defeat, she changes her mind, that is, he must now win to prove his love. He does win the tournament, which is followed by their having sex.

The group travels to London for the World Championship, and an important ‘flashback’ of William’s childhood is shown. His father, wanting the best for his son, reluctantly gives him over for squire services to Sir Ector, so that someday, he can realize his dream of becoming a knight and ‘change his stars’ to live a better life than his father. Returning to the present, William, assumes that his father had long passed away, visits his childhood neighborhood, and inquires with a young girl with whether or not she remembers his father. She informs him that he is in fact still alive and well, albeit blind. William visits his father, concealing himself at first using his alias Ulrich, until he tells his father that his son William had ‘changed his stars’ after all. His father, overcome with joyous emotion, realizes it is actually his son, and they embrace.

Although everything appears well, as Adhemar was previously absent, fighting in the Battle of Poitiers, he returns, and discovers William’s humble origins. He alerts the authorities to his secret and William is arrested and sent to prison. Adhemar visits him in prison and gloats that he will marry Jocelyn, whilst beating a defenseless William. When in the stocks, William’s companions all rise to defend him, though accidentally cause the crowd to raise up against them, and about to attack. However, Prince Edward emerges from the mob, and tells the crowd that his historians have discovered that William is descendant from an “ancient royal line.” He then dubs him ‘Sir William,’ and he goes on to resume his place in the tournament and compete against Adhemar.

Adhemar proceeds to wield himself with an illegal lance, having a sharp point on the tip, which stabs into William’s shoulder during the first round. William, unable to grip his lance, or breath properly due to his injury, has his armour removed, lance strapped to his hand and competes in the final round wearing his mere cloth clothing. The two adversaries charge for the final bout, with William’s life in the balance, he shouts his finally accepted true name “WILLIAM”, and knocks Adhemar from his horse, winning the tournament. Chaucer states that he should write this whole story down, in reference to The Knight’s Tale of the Canterbury Tales. Jocelyn runs out ecstatically to meet William and they embrace in a long kiss.

REVIEW:

The first time I heard about this film, I thought it was going to be the first film based on The Canterbury Tales. I was mistaken, though, as the on;y thing this film has to with said tales is the name and Chaucer is a character in the film.

This is one of my favorite Heath Ledger films, second only to 10 Things I Hate About You. Throughout the film, you begin to see Ledger’s acting chops really shine, especially near the end. On top of that, he goes toe to toe with Rufus Sewell.

Rufus Sewell makes an excellent villain. His character isn’t psychotic, but rather refined and cruel, which makes him that much more despicable. This is not mention his jealousy, of course.

Shannyn Sossamon is not a household name, but she is a true beauty. To me, she looks like a mix between Angelina Jolie and Rosario Dawson. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have their acting chops, but she does try.

One of the best things about this film is that it makes the jousting tournament seem like modern sporting events. Especially when the crowd starts clapping “We Will Rock You.” The first time I saw this, I thought it was going to be like THe Flintstones,set in a different time, but with modern advances. That was not the case, but it would have been interesting to see.

The idea of including the character of Geoffrey Chaucer in this film and making him a pompous herald was a sheer stroke of genius. It really added to the experience, not to mention, the film’s title was no doubt inspired by Chaucer’s works.

Let me take a moment to say that this is one of Heath Ledger’s best performances. It truly is a shame we lost such a great talent this past year. Regardless what you think of the film, Ledger’s performance, as in The Dark Knight, is enough to justify seeing this film.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars