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Director Ridley Scott and screenwriter William Monahan take us back to the Crusades, during a time of fragile peace between Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem. Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) stars as Balian, a French blacksmith and engineer mourning the death of his wife and unborn child. He’s soon visited by the father he never knew, a Crusader named Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), who brings him to Jerusalem where he hopes to receive God’s forgiveness for his sins. Balian quickly falls into the good graces of his uncle, King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), a frail, silver-masked leader suffering from leprosy who is trying to arrange continued peace in Jerusalem after his imminent death. Baldwin asks Balian to marry his sister Sibylla (Eva Green), but Balian — sworn to the high moral code of knighthood — will not wed her if it means the death of her current husband, Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas). Meanwhile, Guy schemes with others to end an era of peace by instigating a climactic war with the Muslim leader Saladin (Ghassan Massoud).
Kingdom of Heaven is a dense, complicated story that can be hard to follow at times. The story itself is an interesting one, showcasing the potential for sustained peace in an area of the world that has been forever in turmoil. The film paints Christians and Muslims both as reasonable people caught in a ridiculous eternal combat. If you consider the ending to this film at all a happy one (I do), it is only for the mercy of Saladin and the humbleness of Balian, and the mutual respect between these two characters. To this end, Kingdom of Heaven is a remarkably moral film, and a pursuit in noble filmmaking.
If there is one critical weakness in the film, it is the casting of Orlando Bloom in the lead role. Bloom is simply not skilled enough to carry the film. His reactions are dull and lifeless, lacking any implication or interpretation on our part. He simply does not draw us into the story at all, and I’d argue this singlehandedly keeps Kingdom of Heaven from being a great film.
The entire supporting cast dance circles around Bloom. Norton is beguiling as the doomed, sympathetic Baldwin IV, even though we never see the actor’s face. Eva Green is another of the film’s most valuable players. She begins as a queen-in-waiting who flirts with Balian, while at the same time respecting his boundaries and beliefs. The film puts her to the test when her young son, the future king, shows sings of leprosy. She ends up taking her son’s life in a mercy killing and renouncing her title. She is perhaps the most relatable character for the audience, and the film gains most of its emotional weight from her. Other great supporting players include Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, David Thewlis, Michael Sheen, and Alexander Siddig.
Even though Bloom fails as our window into the story, Kingdom of Heaven is still a beautifully made film with a worthy message. Despite Ridley Scott’s involvement, one should not go into it expecting Gladiator. It’s more of a straight period drama than an action film. It also succeeds in transporting us to a fascinating time and place, with the kind of sumptuous production design and lush cinematography we’ve come to expect from Scott’s work.
Note: This is a review of the 194-minute director’s cut, which is widely regarded as superior to the much shorter theatrical version.