After being paralyzed in an altercation with his abusive father, Ondrej is sent to live under the oppressive climate of a medieval Christian monastery-an environment that turns out to be as abusive toward him as his family was. Valley of the Bees tells the story of a young boy named Ondrej, who loves bees and bats. Released in Czechoslovakia as Údolí vcel, this film is by director František Vláčil, whose 1967 movie, Marketa Lazaroví¡, is also set in the 1200s and is considered the greatest Czech film of all time. Paste magazine writes, “Amid black plagues, witch hunts, passion plays and bawdy songs, the knight (and Bergman himself) digs deep into such dark ages and finds a kernel of affirmation.” The Valley of the Bees (1968) A Czechoslovakian film of suffering and redemption set during the Crusades. As the two square off on the chessboard, misery and suffering surround them. When Death-yes, that’s actually a character in the film, although it’s merely actor Bengt Ekerot wearing a hooded robe-approaches Antonius and tells him that his time has come, Antonius challenges Death to a chess match in which Antonius is allowed to survive if he wins. A Swedish Knight named Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) returns from fighting in the Crusades to find that his countrymen are all perishing. Widely considered to be Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece, The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet) is set in medieval Sweden just as the Black Plague begins devastating Europe. And he did that extremely slowly, but this way it’s easier to get to know the characters and care for them.” The Seventh Seal (1957) A meditation on life and death as the Black Plague ravages Europe. A Film a Day writes, “With a very simple, straightforward story, Kurosawa beautifully portrayed two cultures of Japan, farmers and samurai, which are very different one from the other, and that eventually come together to defend the values of their nation, a Japan deeply torn apart by civil wars. But tensions between the villagers and the samurai erupt when the latter feel that they aren’t being rewarded or appreciated by the villagers. Filmmakers actually spent months of research building the characters from actual historical samurai. The villagers decide to employ the skills of seven samurai to protect them. Set in feudal Japan in the 1500s, the movie tells the tale of a small, impoverished village being subjected to ceaseless attacks from roving bandits. Considered by many to be the first action movie, it was the direct inspiration for the 1960 American Western thriller The Magnificent Seven. We require no Freudian subtext, no revisionist analysis it is enough that Robin wants to rob the rich, pay the poor and defend the Saxons not against all Normans, only the bad ones: ‘It’s injustice I hate, not the Normans.’” Seven Samurai (1954) A group of warriors is chosen to protect a small Japanese village.Īlthough widely ignored and panned in its native country upon its release, Akira Kurosawa’s legendary Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) was voted in 2000 by a group of critics as the greatest Japanese film of all time. Roger Ebert writes, “In these cynical days when swashbucklers cannot be presented without an ironic subtext, this great 1938 film exists in an eternal summer of bravery and romance. Fun trivia fact: The sound of Robin’s arrow sailing through the wind has been used in all of the Star Wars films. An early example of a Technicolor film, The Adventures of Robin Hood’s producers used all 11 Technicolor cameras in existence to film it. Olivia de Havilland plays his love interest, the beautiful Maid Marian. Legendarily dashing Hollywood leading man Errol Flynn plays the title role as the leader of renegades who fight oppression by dwelling in Sherwood Forest. This film is set in the year 1191, after England’s King Richard the Lionhearted has been captured by the Austrian king, leaving British peasants under the ruthless dominion of Richard’s brother, King John. Best Medieval Movies The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Errol Flynn (right) stars as the legendary proto-socialist.Īlthough it’s uncertain whether Robin Hood ever even existed, the legend that emerged around a renegade archer who steals from the rich and gives to the poor is a cornerstone of British folklore. Here are some quintessential medieval movies. They are notable for their grittiness and their focus on emotional resilience and brute force to overcome titanically grueling periods such as the Black Death, which killed an estimated third to half of Europe’s entire population in the span of only four years-1347-1351.Īlthough times change and the world can’t help but get more modern, filmmakers continue to return to the Middle Ages because it was a time rich in both magic and misery. Medieval movies are period dramas set during this thousand years of darkness.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |