Friday, December 02, 2005

Kingdom of Heaven

Last night I watched Kingdom of Heaven (2005). Great movie! I love reading historical fiction and I'm always thrilled to find good movie adapations of that genre.

First off, I could really identify with the main character, Balian (played by Orlando Bloom), in his search for God. He starts the movie having lost everything dear to him and in the end I'm not sure that he believes he has found God. He tells one character in the movie "God does not speak to me..... I am outside God's grace..... It seems I have lost my religion".

One things I find fascinating about the crusades is what drove these men to do what they did. I'm sure some were driven by true love for God and believing that what they were doing was right. Others were driven by greed and money. I think Balian was depicted in this movie as being driven by the desire to find God and figure Him out.

Another great quote from the movie was from the Princess of Jerusalem, Sybilla:
There'll be a day when you will wish you had done a little evil to do a greater good

She says this to Balian upon learning that he has refused the crown of the King of Jerusalem because it would mean killing Sybilla's husband. I like that foray into the question of black & white; good & evil. Life is rarely ever either or. There is always a grey area. Is it better to kill one man in the natural order of things or allow hundreds of thousands to die in a senseless war?

The battle scenes in this movie are as you would expect: a little epic and gory. But the music is wonderful and the scenery is breathtaking. I'm looking forward to more movies from newcomer Eva Green who played Sybilla.

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