It would seem larger than life if it wasn’t so intimate. The swing of a sword and the slice of a knife - all the fighting in “Medieval” is thrillingly violent.
Those forests are dense and layered, the characters within them filthy and worn. Predator”) seems unusually eager to complicate Žižka’s wholly satisfying heroic journey, but when he worries less about citing historical events and more about making an action movie, “Medieval” is impressive.Ĭinematographer Jesper Tøffner does an exceptional job of making battles seem epic, even when they’re just brutal bludgeonings in a forest. Writer-director Petr Jákl (best known in the US as an actor in films like “Alien vs.
#Most violent medieval movies movie#
‘The Offer': Matthew Goode on Getting Movie Mogul Bob Evans During ‘Godfather’ Era RightĪll you really need to know to follow “Medieval” is that Jan Žižka is a noble mercenary who takes an ignoble job for what he thinks are noble reasons, but gradually realizes he’s made a horrible mistake and has to right his wrongs. Rosenberg turns to Sigismund for assistance, Sigismund turns to his own mercenary Torak (Roland Møller, “Blood Red Sky”) to steal her from Žižka, and before you know it, Torak has killed Žižka’s nephew and sent our hero and his band of loyal soldiers on the run into the forests and caves of Bohemia. After a daring heist in the middle of a cathedral, the plan goes south almost immediately.
Žižka’s story finally picks up with he’s ordered to kidnap Lady Catherine, in order to force Lord Rosenberg to support King Wenceslas. There’s a lot of historical information to keep track of - there are two popes these days, one in France and one in Rome, who are terribly important even though we never see them, and that’s just to start with - and it all gets in the way of telling a story about Žižka, who is a far more striking figure and interesting character than any of the talking heads in the castle. “Medieval” starts out with a riveting action sequence filled with violence and viscera, but as soon as the noblemen start speaking, the film derails into talky tedium. How Ben Foster Transformed Into Boxer and Holocaust Survivor Harry Haft for HBO’s ‘The Survivor’ The film takes place in Žižka’s relatively early days, when he was working as a mercenary for Lord Boreš (Michael Caine), who is trying to secure the throne of the Holy Roman Emperor for King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia (Karl Roden, “The Racer”), who is, in turn, trying to fend off the machinations of his scheming brother King Sigismund (Matthew Goode), who wants to steal the throne for himself with the support of Lord Rosenberg (Til Schweiger), who is about to marry Lady Catherine (Sophie Lowe, “Blow the Man Down”), who seems rather nice actually. Ben Foster stars as real-life soldier and strategist Jan Žižka, a Czech national hero who is said to have never lost a battle. “Medieval” struggles as a work of historical fiction, but when the action mounts, it’s immersive and exciting. But to be one of the Foley artists working on a film with this many brutal battles - clanking on armor, scraping on chain mail, rustling through fresh leaves - that sounds like a delightful time. No, you wouldn’t want to be a character in the movie, that’s for sure they live lives of constant violence, exploitation and conspiracy. One can’t watch a film like “Medieval” without imagining yourself in a fantastic position.
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