Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A Knight's Tale (2001)



“My pride is the only thing that they can't take from me.”

            The first and last time I watched A Knight’s Tale I was in my Honors English class sophomore year of high school… which for me was eight years ago. I remember I liked it because at the time we were reading King Arthur and the Canterbury Tales. I loved reading about King Arthur the stories are so fascinating (well that and I was and still am a HUGE Anglophile haha). The one thing I remembered the most about the movie was the first time the audience is introduced to Chaucer he is naked! And that the movie was about jousting.
            William (Heath Ledger) was not born a nobleman but he pretends to be so he can joust. His pretending all started when his lord died from his wounds from jousting. He and his friends Roland and Wat needed money desperately and the only way they got money was through their lord when he won a tournament. William wins the tournament and they get their money.
            The three men decide to pass William off as a nobleman named Ulrich von Lichtenstein. On their way to the next tournament they meet a man walking naked down a road. He is the author Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany). Among his other talents he can create seals of nobility.
            At the next tournament William sees the beautiful Lady Jocelyn. He thinks she is the greatest creature he has ever laid eyes on and she is very taken with how he fights. Throughout the different tournaments they get to know each other and of course fall in love.
            And what would a love story be without another man getting in the way? A count named Adhemar is also in love with Jocelyn and he does not like seeing her so in love with William. Of course he finds out William is not Ulrich von Lichtenstein but a poor thatcher’s son from England.
            I enjoyed watching A Knight’s Tale just as much I remember enjoying it the first time eight years ago (god that seems like yesterday. Now I am applying to graduate school! Where did the time go?). Heath Ledger was fabulous he was such a good actor. I have to admit I put this movie on again after so many years because at the moment I have a gigantic girl crush on Berenice Bejo. Once I read she was in this movie I had to watch it so I could hear her speak English in one of her roles. She was not in the film very much she played Jocelyn’s maid Christiana but the scenes she was in I just gushed over how adorable she is. Rest of the cast is perfect they were all fantastic characters excellently performed.
            A Knight’s Tale is one of those movies I have good memories attached to. I did have a bit of a rough time in Honors English that year but the stories/novels I read were all very good and memorable (some I never want to hear the titles of again and others I still love to read. Damn Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby!!!!). A Knight’s Tale is a very entertaining movie to watch the story is fun and the characters are all well written and played. 

No comments:

Post a Comment