Review: Kingdom Of Heaven

Director : Ridley Scott
Main Cast : Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons, Eva Green

I was a wee bit – no, make that much – apprehensive when I first found out that this film was in production some time ago. To those who know, The Crusades were a sensitive and controversial part of history for both Muslims and Christians, and I couldn’t imagine how a film can be done without aggravating at least one faction in one way or the other. More so considering the current political climate in that part of the world. I also genuinely doubted its release here in Malaysia knowing the “open-mindedness” of the local censors, so imagine my surprise when it did actually open at the local TGV/GSC.

Since Gladiator came out a few years ago, a few films were released to take advantage of the revival of the sword-and-sandal epic. However, they failed miserably to even coming close to reaching the mighty heights of Gladiator, most notably last year’s butt-cramping snorefest that was Alexander. So who best to give a shot of adrenaline to the genre’s heart than the director of Gladiator himself, Ridley Scott. Indeed, there are hints and traces of Gladiator throughout, from the bleak overcast skies, to the fast-edit technique used in the bloody and really graphic fight sequences. Some screen time too was given to the development of the characters and plot, providing a nice balance to the spectacular action scenes. However the film’s last act is all action, with Bloom defending the high-walled Jerusalem from the massive Muslim army with hardly any soldiers at all. Helm’s Deep from Lord Of The Rings, anyone? It even includes a scene where he knights peasants and children who take up arms to defend the city.


Lord Of The Rings has been both a boon and a bane for Bloom. Since bursting into the scene as the main pulling-power of teenage girls to the otherwise guy-friendly Lord Of The Rings trilogy, he has been somewhat pigeonholed, landing roles in similar sword-wielding period-set films such as the unsatisfactory Troy, delightful Pirates Of The Caribbean, and Kingdom Of Heaven. However, the significance of Kingdom Of Heaven is that it’s the first time that Bloom has to carry the burden of a big-budget blockbuster solely on his (slender) shoulders. This he does surprisingly well, doing miles better than the Irish-speaking Alexander of Collin Farrell. He shows that he has certainly grown up from his previous boyish (and somewhat sissy) roles, sporting the same beard and grave “there’s-something-up-my-a$$” expression as Russell Crowe did in Gladiator. I expect great things from him in future years. Only thing against him is he has yet to prove himself in a more dramatic role set in contemporary settings, away from all the swords and action. Maybe a small-budget indie film, or even a romantic comedy. Sadly though it won’t be happening anytime soon, as he’s currently behind cameras with Johnny Depp for the two sequels of Pirates Of The Caribbean. Oh well.

So what about the controversy surrounding the film, then? Well, given the current unrest surrounding George Bush’s foreign policy, the film is unsurprisingly very PC and is filled with preaches on how people from different religions can indeed live in harmony. In fact, religion and faith is the underlying theme in the film, with numerous references to Christianity and Islam, both visually on the screen and on the haunting soundtrack. However the film is neither pro or anti-Islam, nor pro or anti-Christian. Neither party was portrayed as being the villain. I think that this is mainly due to the choice of period that the film relates to, a period of peace in between crusades, where Muslims, Christians and Jews live peacefully side-by-side in Jerusalem (thus Kingdom Of Peace), ruled by the leper king played by Ed Norton. Yes, the Ed Norton was the man behind the mask the whole time. Anyway, Arab critics have come out supporting the film, as can be read in a BBC report by clicking here.

Kingdom Of Heaven does indeed have great parallels to modern events, both in modern-day Jerusalem (part of Israel) and other places of the world. This point is strengthened at the very end of the film, with the following caption:

A thousand years later, we're still doing the same thing, still fighting one another over the same religious divides, and Jerusalem is still in conflict.

Maybe one day peace would triumph, bringing an end to the fighting and killing. We can only hope and pray.