Total Film, June 2001
Trailers: A Knight's Tale
From teen amour to tons of armour, Heath Ledger gets medieval on yer
ass . . .
UK Release 31 August, Cert TBC
Distributor Columbia Tristar
Director Brian Helgeland
Starring Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Paul Bettany, Laura Fraser,
Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon.
Producers Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Tim Van Rellim.
Screenplay Brian Helgeland
Web Site http://www.spe.sony.com/movies/aknightstale
The plot: France, sometime during the 14th century. A young squire named William (Heath Ledger) has a problem: his master has just met an untimely and very violent end. But instead of heading down to ye olde dole office, he decides to do what any heroic lead character would - he suits up and starts a crusade to become a knight. He finds that he's pretty good at the whole jousting lark and with the help of an unknown writer named Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany) - think about it - creates a new identity as fake noble Sir Ulrich Von Lichtenstein. But with his rise comes the attentions of loads of lance-wielding evil-doers. Gentlemen, saddle up and let battle commence . . .
The background: With Gladiator's battle cry still resonating around the Hollywood arena, every historical and semi-historical project with even a whiff of fighting in it was greenlit at breakneck speed. Thankfully, this one has a little more pedigree grooming than most. Brian Helgeland may have written Conspiracy Theory and directed Payback, but he also scribbled the screenplay for a certain little movie called LA Confidential. And of course he has solid support from Heath Ledger, who proved himself as a romantic lead in 10 Things I Hate About You, not to mention demonstrating more than a little skill with period weaponry in The Patriot.
The buzz: Given that A Knight's Tale owes its title to
Canterbury Tales author Geoffrey Chaucer and spins much of its
plot around a fictional tale of the writer's early life, it's hardly
surprising that comparisons are already being drawn with
Shakespeare In Love. Yet we can expect this movie to involve far
more steel-on-steel action, if the teaser shown during the US
Superbowl (itself a good sign that Columbia has faith in the project)
is anything to go by.
Of course, 30-seconds' worth of jousting action can't tell you much.
But, dodgy Queen soundtrack aside ("We Will Rock You" of all things -
give us a break), it looked promising, with swift battle scenes, some
full-on jousting mayhem (complete with knight's helmet being flung
into the crowd at high speed) and plenty of hack 'n' slash swordplay
to keep the Gladiator crowd happy. Here's hoping Helgeland's
latest is more of a Knight's dream than a Knightmare . . .
