A Knight's Tale

2001 - Dir: Brian Helgeland

Shown in FeckenOdeon 2 on May 21st, 2010

The medieval romance has been constantly with us ever since Herbert Beerbohm Tree filmed scenes from his stage production of Shakespeare's King John in 1899. There have been some serious, even solemn, examples of the genre - but most knightly films have been somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Douglas Fairbanks thought Charlie Chaplin was taking things a little too far when he asked if he could borrow the Nottingham Castle built for Fairbanks's 1922 Robin Hood (in its day the biggest set in Hollywood) so that the gigantic drawbridge could be lowered and Charlie's tramp emerge to put out the cat and take in the milk. Few have, with the notable exception of Monty Python, taken the Michael quite so much as “A Knight’s Tale”.Oh to have been a fly on the wall at the pitch meeting for this movie. Faced with a bunch of execs in suits, director Brian Helgeland says: "OK - so the whole thing is kind of Gladiator meets Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and it's set in the olden days with genuine medieval Tudorbethan beams and the hero is really just a squire so he gets Geoffrey Chaucer to forge his patents of nobility, and then he gets this babe who is also a blacksmith to make his armour.... and at his first joust, everyone is singing We Will Rock You by Queen." Was there ever a time when writer-producer-director Helgeland, an Oscar-winner for his LA Confidential screenplay, actually wanted a to make a screen version of Chaucer's Knight's Tale? Is this film based on a dream he had after eating far too much cheese? As a cinematic experience, it's about as nourishing as eating a pound and a half of candy floss. But it's undeniably fun in a summer silly season sort of way - and this is the start of our Summer Season after all. You have to be in the mood for a film partly based on Chaucer which has knights and ladies doing courtly dancing to the tune of David Bowie's Golden Years. It's not often a film comes along to meet that mood.... perhaps another trip to the bar before it starts might help you meet it half way??

• The film was shot entirely in Prague. Many of the extras were homeless people and very few of them spoke English... which accounts for the quizzical expressions.


• Heath Ledger knocked out one of director Brian Helgeland's front teeth with a broomstick when the two were demonstrating a jousting move. It was the only jousting injury on the shoot.


• Plenty of effort was expended creating lances that would splinter convincingly without injuring the stunt riders. The hollow tips were made of balsa wood and were filled with balsa chips and linguini to make convincing splinters.


• The film’s charismatic star, Heath Ledger, was an Australian actor who, after this film, seemed destined for great things. He won countless awards for his role in “Brokeback Mountain”, was exploring a new career in direction and had hit new heights in his portrayal of The Joker in “The Dark Knight”. He died in January 2008 through an accidental overdose of prescription drugs - sleeping pills, anti-depressants and antibiotics. He was 28 years old.