Kingdom of Heaven (film)

This article is about the film. For the theological concept, see Kingdom of Heaven.

Kingdom of Heaven
Directed by	Ridley Scott
Written by	William Monahan
Produced by	Ridley Scott
Starring	Orlando Bloom Liam Neeson Eva Green Jeremy Irons Brendan Gleeson
Cinematography	John Mathieson
Edited by	Dody Dorn Chisako Yokoyama (director's cut)
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	May 6, 2005
Running time	145 min.
Language	English
Budget	$135 million

Kingdom of Heaven is a movie released on May 6, 2005, written by William Monahan, and directed and produced by Ridley Scott. It stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Alexander Siddig, Ghassan Massoud, Edward Norton, Jon Finch, Michael Sheen and Liam Neeson.

The story deals with the Crusades of the 12th century, and involves an Artificier and Enginer, serving as a village blacksmith who goes on to aid the city of Jerusalem in its defense against the great Islamic leader Saladin, who battles to reclaim the city from the Christians. The script is loosely based on the life of Balian of Ibelin. Professor Hamid Dabashi of Columbia University was the film's chief academic consultant.

Most filming took place in Ouarzazate in Morocco, where Scott had filmed Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. A replica of the ancient city of Jerusalem was constructed in the desert. It was also filmed in Spain, at the Loarre castle, Segovia, Valsaín, Ávila, Palma del Río and buildings in Seville.

It was reported that the Moroccan government sent hundreds of soldiers to protect the set and crew. However, the Moroccan cavalry were actually on hand as extras in the epic battle-scenes.

Cast/Characters

Many of the characters in the movie are fictionalized versions of historical figures:

• Orlando Bloom - Balian of Ibelin
• Eva Green - Sibylla
• Liam Neeson - Godfrey of Ibelin
• Jeremy Irons - Tiberias (the movie's name for the historical Raymond III of Tripoli, lord of Tiberias)
• David Thewlis - Hospitaller
• Brendan Gleeson - Reynald of Chatillon
• Marton Csokas - Guy of Lusignan
• Ghassan Massoud - Saladin
• Edward Norton - Baldwin IV
• Alexander Siddig - Nasir
• Jon Finch - Patriarch of Jerusalem
• Iain Glen - Richard I of England

Brief Outline of Plot

Template:Spoiler Kingdom of Heaven follows the story of an Enginer and Artificer making his way as a blacksmith in France, who, after finding out the existence of his out-of-wedlock father, Baron Godfrey of Ibelin (Neeson), and having to cope with his wife's suicide, goes to Jerusalem in hopes of redemption and forgiveness.

Balian (Bloom), heads off defend Kerak from Saladin's (Massoud) army. He also contends with the war- and power-hungry men, Guy de Lusignan (Csokas) and Raynald de Chatillon (Gleeson), who want nothing more than to attain personal glory in war against the armies of Saladin.

As the film progresses, King Baldwin dies from leprosy and is succeeded by his sister Sibylla, whose husband Guy becomes the King Consort. Guy, with Raynald's assistance, provokes Saladin to war and a great battle ensues, in which the Crusader army is annihilated (the Battle of Hattin, although the battle is neither named nor shown in the film; only the results are depicted). King Guy and Raynald are captured and the latter is killed by Saladin, who then marches upon Jerusalem and besieges it. After three days of intense siege battle, a section of Jerusalem's walls is knocked down, but the defenders are able to hold off Saladin's forces. Balian then surrenders to Saladin under the condition of safe passage for the inhabitants to the Christian Lands.

At the end of the film, Balian is seen back at his old home in France. A column of Knights rides by, led by King Richard I of England. Richard tells Balian that he is leading his forces on a new Crusade to retake Jerusalem from Saladin. King Richard seeks Balian, the Defender of Jerusalem, to join him, but Balian responds that he is only a blacksmith, and declines. We then see Sibylla, dressed in a rich travelling costume. She rides off and he follows her. The film ends with a placard summarizing that after many years of war Richard is unable to retake Jerusalem, and fighting over Jerusalem continues for years to come. "Even today, peace in the Kingdom of Heaven remains elusive ..." Template:Endspoiler

Historical Accuracy

It is true that Baldwin IV, King of Jerusalem from 1174-1185, was a leper, and that his sister Sibylla was married to Guy of Lusignan. Also, Baldwin IV had a falling out with Guy before his death, and so Guy did not succeed Baldwin IV immediately. Baldwin crowned Sibylla's son from her previous marriage to William of Montferrat, five-year-old Baldwin V co-king in his own lifetime, in 1183. The little boy reigned as sole king for one year, dying in 1186 in his ninth year. After her son's death, Sibylla and Guy (to whom she was devoted) garrisoned the city, and she claimed the throne. The coronation scene in the movie was, in real life, more of a shock: Sibylla had been forced to promise to divorce Guy before becoming queen, with the assurance that she would be permitted to pick her own consort. After being crowned by Patriarch Eraclius of Jerusalem (who is unnamed in the movie), she chose to crown Guy as her consort. At the same time, Raymond III of Tripoli, the film's 'Count of Tiberias', was attempting a coup, with Balian of Ibelin, to raise her half-sister (Balian's stepdaughter), princess Isabella of Jerusalem, to the throne, but Isabella's husband, Humphrey IV of Toron, betrayed them by swearing allegiance to Guy.

Raymond of Tripoli was a cousin of Amalric I of Jerusalem, and one of the Kingdom's most powerful nobles, as well as sometime regent. He had a claim to the throne himself, but, being childless, instead tried to advance his allies the Ibelin family. He was often in conflict with Guy and Reynald, who had risen to their positions by marrying wealthy heiresses and through the king's favour. Guy and Reynald did harass Saladin's caravans, although the claim that Reynald captured Saladin's sister is based on a confused conflation of two separate facts: after Reynald's attack on one caravan, Saladin made sure that the next one, in which his sister was travelling, was properly guarded: the lady came to no harm.

The discord between the rival factions in the kingdom gave Saladin the opportunity to pursue his long-term goal of conquering it. The kingdom's army was defeated at the Battle of Hattin, partly due to the conflict between Guy and Raymond/Tiberias. As already stated, the battle itself is not shown in the movie, but its aftermath is depicted. Guy and Reynald were captured, and according to al-Safadi in al-Wafi bi'l-wafayat, Reynald was executed after drinking from the goblet offered to Guy, as the sultan had once made a promise never to give anything to Reynald: this is probably the most accurately depicted scene in the film. Guy was imprisoned but later freed. He attempted to retain the kingship even after the deaths of Sibylla and their daughters during his siege of Acre in 1190, but was defeated by Conrad of Montferrat in an election in 1192. Richard I of England, his only supporter, sold him the lordship of Cyprus, where he died c. 1194.

There was a Haute Cour, a "high court", a sort of medieval parliament, in which Jeremy Irons's character Tiberias is seen arguing with Guy for or against war, in front of Baldwin IV as the final judge.

The movie alludes to the Battle of Montgisard in 1177, in which 16-year-old Baldwin IV defeated Saladin, with Saladin narrowly escaping.

The Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar were the most enthusiastic about fighting Saladin and the Muslims. They were monastic military orders, committed to celibacy. Neither Guy nor Raynald was a Templar, as the movie indirectily implies by costuming them both in Templar surcoats: they were secular nobles with wives and families.

During one scene in the movie, shortly before Hattin, Balian is attacked by three soldiers referred to as "Templars". However, they clearly wear the white surcoats with black crosses of Teutonic Knights, rather than the white and red of the Knights Templar. The Teutonic Knights were not founded until 1190, three years after Hattin.

The historical original of Orlando Bloom's character, Balian of Ibelin, was a close ally of Raymond/Tiberias. However, he was a mature gentleman, just a year or two younger than Raymond, and one of the most important nobles in the kingdom, not a French blacksmith. His father Barisan (which was originally his own name, modified into French as 'Balian') was the founder of the Ibelin family in the east, and probably came from Italy. Balian and Sibylla were indeed united in the defence of Jerusalem; however, there was no romantic relationship between the two. Balian was married to Sibylla's step-mother Maria Comnena, Dowager Queen of Jerusalem and Lady of Nablus. The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre (the so-called Chronicle of Ernoul) claimed that Sibylla had been infatuated with Balian's older brother Baldwin of Ibelin, a widower over twice her age, but this is doubtful: instead, it seems that Raymond of Tripoli attempted a coup to marry her off to him to strengthen the position of his faction. However, this legend seems to have been behind the film's creation of a love-relationship between Sibylla and a member of the Ibelin family.

The events of the siege of Jerusalem are based on the Old French Continuation of William of Tyre, a favourable account partly written by one of Balian's officers, and other contemporary documents. Saladin did besiege Jerusalem for almost a month, and was able to knock down a portion of the wall. In the film Balian knighted everyone who could carry a sword, but historical accounts say he only knighted some burgesses. The exact number varies in different accounts, but it is probably less than one hundred in a city which had tens of thousands of male inhabitants and refugees. Balian personally negotiated the surrender of the city with Saladin, after threatening to destroy every building and kill every Muslim who entered. The film, however, downgrades the roles of Sibylla and of Patriarch Eraclius in the siege, transforming Eraclius, particularly, into a coward. Saladin allowed Balian and his family to leave in peace, along with everyone who could arrange a ransom, but many of the poorer inhabitants who could not pay were sold into slavery.

The "uneasy truce" referred to in the closing scene actually refers to the peace negotiated, with Balian's help, at the end of the Third Crusade. The Third Crusade is alluded to at the end of the movie, when Richard I of England visits Balian in France. Balian, of course, was not from France and did not return there with Sibylla; she and her two daughters died of fever in camp during the siege of Acre. Conrad of Montferrat had denied her and Guy entry to the remaining stronghold of Tyre, Lebanon, and thus Guy was attempting to take another city for himself.

Balian's relations with Richard were far from amicable, because he supported Conrad against Richard's vassal Guy. He and his wife Maria arranged her daughter Isabella's forcible divorce from Humphrey of Toron so she could marry Conrad. Ambroise, who wrote a poetic account of the crusade, called Balian "more false than a goblin" and said he "should be hunted with dogs". The anonymous author of the Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi wrote that Balian was a member of a "council of consummate iniquity," and described him as cruel, fickle, and faithless, and accused him of taking bribes from Conrad.

The young Balian of the movie thus did not exist in reality. The historical Balian had descendants by Maria Comnena. Thanks to their close relationship to Sibylla's half-sister and successor, Maria's daughter Queen Isabella (not shown in the movie), the Ibelins became the most powerful noble family in the rump Kingdom of Jerusalem as well as in Cyprus in the 13th century. Most notably, Maria and Balian's son John, the Lord of Beirut, was to be a dominant force in the politics of Outremer for the first third of the 13th century.

The historical accuracy of the film was analysed in an episode of The History Channel's series History vs. Hollywood. This and a Movie Real (a series by A&E Network) episode about Kingdom of Heaven, were both included on the DVD version of the movie.

Criticism

Note: criticisms apply to the studio-truncated "theatrical version" only; nearly all reviews of the 2006 Director's Cut have been overwhelmingly positive. One noted reviewer concludes:

This, at long last, is Kingdom of Heaven as it was meant to be seen. It is finally a great film - the film Ridley Scott fans wanted and hoped it would be when they first saw it in theaters. It's worthy of inclusion among the director's best works (Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down) and it's well worth your time . . . even at 191 minutes (ESPECIALLY at 191 minutes). Forget the mixed reviews of critics - those all pertained to the other version, which you should just pretend doesn't exist. Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut is a feast for your mind as well as your eyes and ears. . . . Very highly recommended. [1]

The general criticism has been either clearly negative or clearly positive. Critics such as Roger Ebert found the film to be deeper and perhaps more emotionally engaging than Scott's previous Gladiator. The unanimously praised performance was that of Edward Norton who played the leper king of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV. Critics have described his acting as near "phenomenal", "eerie," and "so far removed from anything that he has ever done that we see the true complexities of his talent." (Jack Moore, Movie Insider). Many viewers are surprised to learn that Baldwin is played by Norton, for he is behind a mask for most of his screen time. The Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud was also praised for his portrayal of Saladin, described by The New York Times as "cool as a tall glass of water."

However lead actor Orlando Bloom's performance as Balian was widely criticized in America. Some critics have noted his acceptable performance in light of the far more difficult role that this film required over his previous famous, but light parts. It is also arguable that Orlando Bloom is suffering the same fate as many "sex icon" actors such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and other actors who are often more publically known for their status as "heart throbs" than for their actual work. It is common for such actors to receive a greater amount of criticism, particularly from male critics and viewers, when playing roles such as this. This is similar to Pitt's criticism in Troy and Cruise's criticism in The Last Samurai. Bloom's former roles tended to be soft characters, and thus viewers may be more likely to look more critically at his performance in Kingdom of Heaven. The fact that Bloom has received much harsher criticism in the U.S. and comparitively very good reviews in Europe help to support this view. Bloom won a Teen Choice Award, and a European Film Award (audience award) for his performance.

Online, general criticism has been divided, but leaning towards the positive. As of early 2006, the Yahoo! Movies rating for Kingdom of Heaven is a "B" from the critics (based on 15 Reviews) and a "B" from Yahoo! users (based on 18,099 ratings). Both of these ratings equate to "good" according to Yahoo! Movie's rating system. Similarly, the current (as of February 2006) rating on the Internet Movie Database is a 7.0 out of 10 (based on 24,284 votes). This rating falls below Gladiator (8.1), but well above some recent entries to its genre; for example Oliver Stone's Alexander (2004) (based on the life of Alexander the Great) received a 5.5, while Troy (2004) received an equivalent 7.0. Finally, the popular website Rotten Tomatoes currently finds 68% of its users liking the film, though its survey of critics is a distinct 39%. This would seem to imply that despite failure in the box office, the general reception by those who saw the movie was fairly good, with a majority of the public expressing approval.

Academic criticism has focused on the supposed peaceful relationship between Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem and other cities depicted. Historians such as Jonathan Riley-Smith called the film "rubbish," "ridiculous," "complete fiction" and "dangerous to Arab relations." Fellow crusade historians Jonathan Phillips and Amin Maalouf also spoke against the film. Riley-Smith had not seen the film or read the script when his quote was solicited by a reporter for The Daily Telegraph. He had been provided with an incorrect synopsis, as had other persons quoted by the Telegraph.

Scott himself defended this depiction of the Muslim-Christian relationship in footage on the DVD version of the movie's extra features. Scott sees this portrayal as being a contemporary look at the history. He argued that peace and brutality are concepts relative to one's own experience, and since our society today is so far removed from the brutal times in which the movie takes place, he told the story in a way that he felt was true to the source material yet was more accessible to a modern audience. In other words that the "peace" that existed was exaggerated to fit our ideas of what such a peace would be, because in the time it was a relative lull in Muslim-Christian violence during this period compared to the standards of the day.

The new Director's Cut of the film is a 4-disc set, 2 of which are dedicated to a feature-length documentary called "The Pilgrim's Path." This feature contains an additional featurette on historical accuracy called "The Scholars Speak", where a number of academics support the film's contemporary relevance and historical accuracy. Among these historians is Dr. Nancy Caciola, who said that despite the various inaccuracies and fictionalized/dramatised details:

I think that these sorts of decisions are ones that are warranted in these kinds of circumstances. Surely, there are some historians that will look at this [film] and point out some inaccuracies. But I would suggest that it is, really for the most part, a responsible depiction of the period.

William Monahan, an expert in the period, has said "If it isn't in, it doesn't mean we didn't know it...What you use, in drama, is what plays. Shakespeare did the same."

Caciola agreed with the fictionalization of characters to reflect greater truth in a sense that is relative to contexts (as Scott argued), considering that "crafting a character who is someone the audience can identify with" is necessary in a film. She said that "I, as a professional, have spent much time with medieval people, so to speak, in the texts that I read; and quite honestly there are quite few of them that if I met in the flesh I feel that I would be very fond of." This appears to echo the sentiments of Scott himself. However, for commercial reasons, it is inevitable that the DVD does not feature historians expressing more negative reactions.

The historical content and the political messages present have received both heavy praise and heavy condemnation, sentiments and perceptions. In Lebanon journalist Robert Fisk reported widespread appreciation for the film among Muslim audiences. In several screenings in Beirut, Muslim audiences leapt to their feet and applauded wildly during a scene in the film in which Saladin respectfully places a fallen crucifix back on top of a table after it had fallen during the 3 day siege of the city.[2] Some of the varied reactions and interpretations, especially in the US, as to the film's accuracy probably reflect the film's controversial subject matter and messages in relation to current world events. Whether one sees the film as "full of fabrications and lies" or whether one sees it as "an artistic dramatisation which stays true to the period, while also fictionalizing certain elements of the story to tell a greater and more relevant truth" may depend on that viewer's own world view and politics. For viewers strongly interested in the history of the period, however, the chief objection is that the film was a missed opportunity to tell the real story, and that its pursuit of contemporary relevance led to jarring anachronisms.

The movie was a relative box-office failure in the US and Canada, earning $47 million against a budget of around $130 million, but was hugely successful in Europe and the rest of the world. While American audiences were relatively uninterested in seeing it, international audiences seemed to respond very well, with the Worldwide Box Office earnings totaling at around $208 million. It was also a big success in Arabic speaking countries especially Egypt. For comparison, Braveheart (the 1995 hit epic that is many times used as a benchmark for other entries into the genre) only earned $204 million. Director Ridley Scott blamed the US failure of the film on bad advertising which, he said, presented the film as an adventure with a great love story rather than as an examination of religious conflict. It's also been noted that the film was altered from its original version to be shorter and follow a more simple plotline. This "less sophisticated" version is what hit theaters, while most of the crew that worked on the movie felt it was watered down. The failure could also be partly due to its release at the same time as the highly anticipated conclusion to the Star Wars prequel trilogy: Revenge of the Sith. Kingdom of Heaven did became a hit on DVD in the U.S. however, and the release of the Director's Cut has reinvigorated interest in the film, and gained substantial praise as the version that should have been released in theaters.

Extended version

Around 40 to 60 minutes from the original version were cut for the theatrical version. The motive for this may have been the box-office and critical failure of Oliver Stone's Alexander.

An extended director's cut of the movie was released on December 23, 2005, at the Laemmle Fairfax Theatre in Los Angeles, unsupported by advertising from 20th Century Fox. This cut is approximately 45 minutes longer than the original theatrical cut. The DVD of the extended Director's Cut was released on May 23, 2006. It includes a four-disc box set with a runtime of 191 minutes, adding 46 minutes back into the film. The reviews of the Director's Cut have almost universally called the film a masterpiece on the order of Lawrence of Arabia and one of Ridley Scott's best films.

Template:SpoilerThe new director's cut provides information that may change how some interpret several characters and the story arc:

• The village priest who taunts Balian and is killed by him is revealed to be his half-brother (his mother's son by her lawful husband) - hence the animosity between them.
• Baldwin IV is shown refusing the last sacrament from Patriarch Eraclius.
• Another major change is the re-insertion of the character of Baldwin V (who was shown in some of the trailers), here depicted as the son of Sibylla by her first husband (William of Montferrat, not named in the film). Baldwin V is portrayed as suffering from leprosy, like his uncle. His death is depicted as an act of euthanasia by his mother, using poison.
• Balian also fights a climactic duel with Guy.

Details of Director's Cut DVD release: Feature Presentation:

• 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English DD5.1 & DTS 5.1 Surround
• Spanish Dolby Surround
• French and Spanish subtitles

Disc 1: Director’s Cut Part One

• Introduction by Sir Ridley Scott
• Audio Commentaries: Director Ridley Scott, Writer William Monahan, and Orlando Bloom. Additional commentaries by Executive Producer Lisa Ellzey, film editor Dody Dorn, visual effects supervisor Wes Sewell and first assistant director Adam Somner
• The Engineer’s Guide: Story Notes (Text & Images)

Disc 2: Director’s Cut Part Two

• Audio Commentaries (Continued): Director Ridley Scott, Writer William Monahan and Orlando Bloom. Additional commentaries by Executive Producer Lisa Ellzey, film editor Dody Dorn, visual effects supervisor Wes Sewell and first assistant director Adam Somner
• The Engineer’s Guide (Continued): Story Notes (Text & Images)

Disc 3: The Path To Redemption Documentary – Part 1

• Development:

         o Part I: Good Intentions (Featurette)
         o "Tripoli" Overview & Gallery (Text & Images)
         o First Draft Screenplay by William Monahan (Text)
         o Story Notes (Text & Images)
         o Location Scout Gallery (Images)

• Pre-Production:

         o Part II: Faith and Courage (Featurette)
         o Screen Tests (Video and Commentary)
         o Cast Rehearsals (Video)
         o Costume & Weapon Design Featurette (Video)
         o Production Design / Conceptual Art / Costume Galleries (Text & Images)

• Production: Spain

         o Part III: The Pilgrimage Begins (Featurette)
         o Creative Accuracy: The Scholars Speak (Video)
         o Storyboard Comparisons (Multi-Angle Video & Images)
         o Photo Galleries (Text & Images)

Disc 4: The Path To Redemption Documentary – Part 2

• Production: Morocco

         o Part IV: Into The Promised Land (Featurette)
         o Unholy War: Mounting The Siege (Video)
         o Storyboard Comparisons (Multi-Angle Video & Images)
         o Photo Galleries (Text & Images)

• Post-Production:

         o Part V: The Burning Bush (Featurette)
         o Deleted & Alternate Scenes (Video & Commentary)
         o Sound Design Suite (Video & Audio)
         o Visual Effects Breakdowns (Video & Commentary)

• Release:

         o Part VI: Sins and Absolution (Featurette)
         o Trailers & TV Spots (Video & Commentary)
         o ShoWest Presentation (Video)
         o Press Junket Walkthrough (Video)
         o Japanese & London Premieres (Video)
         o Poster Explorations: Domestic & International (Images)
         o The Director's Cut & DVD Campaign (Video & Images)

Awards

Won (3)

European Film Awards:

• Audience Award - Best Actor (Orlando Bloom)

Satellite Awards:

• Outstanding Original Score (Harry Gregson-Williams)

VES Awards:

• Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture (Wes Sewell, Victoria Alonso, Tom Wood, Gary Brozenich)

Nominations (8)

Satellite Awards:

• Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama (Edward Norton)
• Outstanding Art Direction & Production Design (Arthur Max)
• Outstanding Costume Design (Janty Yates)
• Outstanding Visual Effects (Tom Wood)

Teen Choice Awards:

• Choice Movie: Action/Adventure
• Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure/Thriller (Orlando Bloom)
• Choice Movie Liplock (Eva Green and Orlando Bloom)
• Choice Movie Love Scene (Eva Green and Orlando Bloom - Balian and Sibylla kiss)

See also

• Vide Cor Meum - the aria song from the soundtrack

External links

• Kingdom of Heaven (2005) at IMDb
• Kingdom of Heaven (2005) at Yahoo! Movies
• Interview with Historians at Christianity Today
• Daily Telegraph article (reprinted by the Washington Times), with criticism from Riley-Smith and others
• In the Agora review
• MID Foundation provided cultural consultancy and dialect coaching for this production.
• Kingdom of heaven the real story, in french'