favorite medieval film?

[Kopta]

"Krzyżacy" polish film from 1960, by Aleksander Ford.

[Kopta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grunwald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE0u_JhuLfk

[Kopta]

one more trailer, this one with english subtitles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V57...eature=related

[Kopta]

One more polish classical film is "Potop. It's not medieval, but 17th century. There is a link to very nice battle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNl0poj5z90 . Poland vs Sweden, first you have charge of polish "steppe cavalry" - Crimean Tatars and after charge of polish heavy cavalry called "husaria"

[gollum]

Welcome to the org Kopta, enjoy your stay. Some of the films you bring us have been mentioned.

Originally posted by Axalon
Hell, I want to do that!

Where there is a will there is a way ;) :

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur...26&tx=57&ty=77

[caravel]

Interesting stuf, welcome to the .org and the Main Hall, Kopta.

[Kopta]

it;s not film, but gallery from staging Grunwald(Tannenberg) battle, http://www.grunwald1410.pl/index.php?art=10115

[Axalon]

Where there is a will there is a way ;)

Yeah, you might be on to something there.... :)
...

Anyway, I forgot about “Hollywoodorama” in my previous post so to remedy that…

Ivanhoe, the 50’s version, takes the price for me too… I like it – despite Robert Taylor’s American-English (it’s like when Kevin Costner does Robin Hood – it does not work). That final fight certainly is dramatic (and there is a cool castle-fight-siege too, right?). If I remember this right – there is a heavy use of SFX while little or no music in that final fight-scene – very dramatic.…

As for El-Cid, while everything looks fine on paper - I somehow could never appreciate it in the way I did with Ivanhoe, despite being all big and monster-sized it still lacks something. I can’t exactly pinpoint it as I write this - but something is missing. However, the “city-duel-scene” between champions is pretty good and dramatic. Besides, Heston belongs in Ben-Hur and not in Spain….


Diddeli-doo-done

- Cheers

[cogre]

i put el cid in the book thread, never saw the movie, book was good

[Myth]

First and foremost, every movie i've seen has historical inaccuracies. Some more so than others. Still my favorites are Braveheart, Kingdom of Heaven, Arn the Templar, The Lion in Winter, Joan of Arc (one of the newer ones), the most recent Robin Hood with Russel Crowe despite the nonsense in it, like a horse bringing down the reinforced wooden gate of a motte&bailey with it's front hooves.

[Cyprian2]

I regret not coming to this thread sooner, and I fear the discussion may have fizzled out, but I thought I'd put my two cents in, anyway :). First off, I want to wholeheartedly second Glenn's choice, The Last Valley. While not, technically, set in the "medieval" period, it is certainly medieval in tone. It's also unflinching in its portrayal of imperfect men (who are nonetheless heroic in stature) pursuing their own greedy inclinations, and the violence that results. Now, it's not a perfect film by any means, and it's rife with historical truth-bending, but definitely worth a watch.

Gollum, I was totally unaware of the Monicelli oeuvre, but I will take some time to discover it. The clips from youtube looked fascinatingly funny. I hope it's not too pedestrian of me to say that it reminded me, in spirit, of certain films by Fellini (most notably Amarcord, which obviously isn't a medieval film at all).

i would highly recommend them, although i have to underline that the archaic dialects of the Italian language and all their linguistic mannerisms Brancaleone and other characters speak are one of the highest pleasures of the film.

Does that mean you are fluent in old Italian? The mystery deepens.

Of the worthy films so far mentioned, I'd also like to second The Seventh Seal (true: no action of the swordplay variety, but death is very *active* nonetheless). Also, Excalibur was one of my favourite films as a kid. The Name of the Rose is solid, but the book's better. Oh, and Lion in the Winter is a brilliant little number, too. For those interested in Henry II, there's also Jean Anouilh's Becket, which features the incomparable O'Toole/Burton team. It is more dramatic than it is action-packed, but well-acted and captivating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becket_(film)

Finally, let me add another film to the pile. It's Icelandic, from 1984: Hrafninn Flygur (The Way the Raven Flies). It's about revenge and mixed loyalties and is eerie and brilliant. It's also very "gunslingeresque" (without, of course, having guns, because it's set in Viking era Iceland. So, yes, it falls, technically, within the Dark Ages, but I think it should still qualify by dint of its finely-honed medieval bleakness). I will say that the soundtrack is a bit cheesy at times, but provides some much-needed levity.

And has anyone seen Flesh and Blood (1985)? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesh_%26_Blood_(film) I wouldn't mention it, except the first thirty minutes or so are really fantastic (bloodthirsty 1500s Italy!). The rest of the film, however, is a full-on travesty.

Also, something that everyone should remember about Dreyer's (1928, silent) The Passion of Joan of Arc is that it uses the actual script (supposedly––as it was handed down) of her trial, and that is interesting enough in itself for the film to warrant inclusion in this list.

As for El Cid, well, it is what it is: a rousing piece of b-movie history. Who doesn't want to watch something like that from time to time? Kingdom of Heaven and Braveheart both function well in Cid's tradition. But Cid stands out, to my mind, as the best of the bunch. Who doesn't love the scene at the end with the shining dead-guy blinding all the Moors. (Oops. Hope I haven't spoiled it for anyone...)

[PershsNhpios]

Thank you for your hearty post, brother Cyprian, and I too am interested in brother Gollum's knowledge of archaic Italian.
I haven’t any other films from the mediaeval repertoire to recite and analyse, but I must ask, considering the interests which I find here, your opinion of this; my favourite movie and tale of all:

The Man Who Would Be King.

I would not dare spoil the story or the movie for any of you who have not seen it, but I can watch it over and over with my two favourite actors side by side, and never tire of that happy and dreadful tale.

[Cyprian2]

I haven’t any other films from the mediaeval repertoire to recite and analyse, but I must ask, considering the interests which I find here, your opinion of this; my favourite movie and tale of all:

The Man Who Would Be King.

I would not dare spoil the story or the movie for any of you who have not seen it, but I can watch it over and over with my two favourite actors side by side, and never tire of that happy and dreadful tale.

One of the best, Glenn, and utterly worth watching again and again. Very medieval in spirit, if not in setting. I fell in love with it some years ago. Nothing beats the sly repartee between Caine and Connery––ah, Peachy; ah, Dravot––as they set off on the adventure to end all adventures. A rare example of a film that far transcends the story on which it is based (though Kipling's story is not a bad read, either).

Once again, I must commend your good taste!

[Gilrandir]

Discussing films we might as well speak about documentaries. I mean the TV show called "Decisive battles" or something like that, which analyzes famous historical battles. It is true, most of them belong to Ancient History, i.e. Rome and Greece (although, there is a special show "Battles B.C."). But some of the episodes feature medieval battles IIRC. Anyway, it is absorbing in terms of narration (though, sometimes redundant) and picturesquein terms of graphics (the latter reminding MTW, in fact). Does anyone care about such "films"?

[drone]

Indeed, that movie is superb. It's a shame it doesn't get any replay here, it's a great story and the Caine/Connery pairing was an excellent casting choice.