NationMaster - Encyclopedia: A Knight's Tale

A Knight's Tale is a 2001 action-adventure-comedy directed, produced, and written by Brian Helgeland. The film stars Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, and Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer. Brian Helgeland (born January 17, 1961 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a movie writer and director, who graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. ... Brian Helgeland (born January 17, 1961 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a movie writer and director, who graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. ... Brian Helgeland (born January 17, 1961 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a movie writer and director, who graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. ... Heath Andrew Ledger (born April 4, 1979) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor. ... Rufus Frederik Sewell (born October 29, 1967) is an English actor. ... Shannon Marie Sossamon (born October 3, 1978), better known as Shannyn Sossamon, is an American actress, musician and dancer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Carter Burwell (born November 18, 1955, in New York) is a composer of film soundtracks. ... The Columbia Pictures logo from 1993 to the present Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. ... Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. ... Related articles FOX Television Network Fox Searchlight Pictures Fox Entertainment Group List of Hollywood movie studios List of movies Variant of current 20th Century Fox logo External links 20th Century Fox Movies official site Twentieth Century Fox is also the punning title of a song by The Doors on their... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For the 1968 science-fiction film and novel, see 2001: A Space Odyssey The year 2001 in film involved some significant events. ... Look up Action film in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The quintessential adventure film. ... Comedy film is genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humor. ... Brian Helgeland (born January 17, 1961 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a movie writer and director, who graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. ... Heath Andrew Ledger (born April 4, 1979) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor. ... Rufus Frederik Sewell (born October 29, 1967) is an English actor. ... Shannon Marie Sossamon (born October 3, 1978), better known as Shannyn Sossamon, is an American actress, musician and dancer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Chaucer redirects here. ...

Plot

Set in late medieval Europe in the 1360s, the plot centers on a young peasant squire called William Thatcher (Heath Ledger), who, after the death of his knight, Sir Ector, joins the jousting circuit, an act forbidden to those not of noble birth. Thatcher travels around Europe under the pseudonym of Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein, along with two fellow squires, Wat and Roland (Alan Tudyk and Mark Addy); his well-spoken herald, Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany); and his armourer, Kate the Farrier (Laura Fraser). Along the way, he falls in love with a noble young lady, Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon), and develops a rivalry with Count Adhemar of Anjou (Rufus Sewell). The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Centuries: 13th century - 14th century - 15th century Decades: 1310s 1320s 1330s 1340s 1350s - 1360s - 1370s 1380s 1390s 1400s 1410s Years: 1360 1361 1362 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 Events and Trends William Langland writes Piers Plowman Categories: 1360s ... For other uses, see Squire (disambiguation). ... Heath Andrew Ledger (born April 4, 1979) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor. ... For other uses, see Knight (disambiguation) or Knights (disambiguation). ... Joust redirects here. ... For other uses, see Alias. ... Ulrich von Liechtenstein (1200-1278) was a medieval nobleman, knight, politician and minnesinger. ... Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16, 1971) is an American stage, film, and television actor. ... Mark Addy (born January 14, 1964 in York, England) is a British actor. ... Chaucer redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1976) is a Scottish actress. ... Shannon Marie Sossamon (born October 3, 1978), better known as Shannyn Sossamon, is an American actress, musician and dancer. ... Rufus Frederik Sewell (born October 29, 1967) is an English actor. ...

Cast

Heath Andrew Ledger (born April 4, 1979) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor. ... Rufus Frederik Sewell (born October 29, 1967) is an English actor. ... Shannon Marie Sossamon (born October 3, 1978), better known as Shannyn Sossamon, is an American actress, musician and dancer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Chaucer redirects here. ... Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1976) is a Scottish actress. ... Mark Addy (born January 14, 1964 in York, England) is a British actor. ... Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16, 1971) is an American stage, film, and television actor. ... James Purefoy (born June 3, 1964) is an English actor born in Taunton, Somerset. ... Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, KG (15 June 1330 â€“ 8 June 1376), popularly known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, and father to King Richard II of England. ... Olivia Haigh Williams (born July 26, 1968) is an English actress who has appeared in British and American films. ... Deleted scene is a commonly-used term in the entertainment industry, especially the film and television industry, which usually refers specifically to scenes removed from or replaced by another scene in the final cut, or version, of a film (including television serials). ...

Setting

It can be assumed the movie is set sometime between 1368 and 1376; Chaucer mentions having already written The Book of the Duchess, which was written no earlier than 1368, while Edward, the Black Prince (who appears in the movie) died in 1376. There is also a reference to a French pope which could either be Pope Urban V or Pope Gregory XI, because both reigned during that period and both of them were French. John of Gaunt Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster The Book of the Duchess is a dream vision narrative poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer. ... Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, KG (15 June 1330 â€“ 8 June 1376), popularly known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, and father to King Richard II of England. ... Blessed Urban V, nÃ© Guillaume Grimoard (1310 â€“ December 19, 1370), Pope from 1362 to 1370, was a native of Grizac in Languedoc (today part of the commune of Le Pont-de-Montvert, dÃ©partement of LozÃ¨re). ... Pope Gregory XI (c. ...

The time period can be further narrowed down to between 1369—when the Black Prince resumed his campaign in southern France—and 1371, when the campaign ended.^[1] However, the Battle Of Poitiers is shown as occurring during the course of the film, despite taking place in 1356. Additionally, Edward is depicted as a fairly young man, closer to the 26 suggested by Poitiers than the 39 to 41 suggested by his campaign in southern France. Combatants Kingdom of England Gascony France Commanders Edward, the Black Prince Captal de Buch John II of France Strength 9,000 12,000 Casualties Minimal 2,500 killed or wounded The Battle of Poitiers was fought between the Kingdom of England and France on September 19, 1356, resulting in the...

Even though the approximate setting of the film can be easily deduced, the costuming (especially the armor) is much more in late 15th century style than 14th. (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ...

In the film's actor/director DVD commentary, Brian Helgeland, co-commentating with Paul Bettany, states that the film was intended to have occurred sometime in the 1370s during a six-month period that Chaucer had apparently gone missing and show what he might have done during this time, which Helgeland says later on in the commentary inspired Chaucer to write his Canterbury Tales (the first Canterbury tale being The Knight's Tale). Helgeland also jokes in the commentary that he chose 1970s music and hairstyles for the movie because "the seventies are always the same", regardless of century. More seriously, Helgeland justifies his use of music by speculating that even during the 1370s, persons in the main characters' age group would've enjoyed newer, more contemporary music than something that had been around since their great grandparents were young, and opted to use music that would affect the audience the same way late 1300s music would've affected the youth of the 1370s. Thus, Helgeland attempted to stylize the movie in such a way as to bring the Middle Ages to the audience, rather than force the audience into the Middle Ages. Brian Helgeland (born January 17, 1961 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a movie writer and director, who graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. ... Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... 1308 - Avignon Papacy established, which splits and weakens the Roman Catholic Church Turku, the oldest city in Finland experiences rapid growth around the recently consecrated Cathedral of Turku Category: ...

Controversy

Newsweek revealed in June 2001 that print ads for at least four movies released by Columbia Pictures, including A Knight's Tale and The Animal (2001), contained glowing comments from a film reviewer who did not exist. The fake critic, David Manning, was created by a Columbia employee who worked in the advertising department. "Manning" was misrepresented as a reviewer for a newspaper in a small Connecticut town. The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ... The Columbia Pictures logo from 1993 to the present Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. ... The Animal is a 2001 comedy film, directed by Luke Greenfield. ... David Manning was a fictitious film critic, created by a marketing executive working for Sony Corporation around July 2000 to give consistently good reviews for releases from Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures. ... Official language(s) none (de facto English) Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport[2] Largest metro area Hartford Metro Area[3] Area Ranked 48th in the US - Total 5,543[4] sq mi (14,356 kmÂ²) - Width 70 miles (113 km) - Length 110 miles (177 km) - % water 12. ...

Production

The entire movie was filmed in Prague, Czech Republic. For other uses, see Prague (disambiguation). ...

The film includes a great deal of jousting footage. The initial scene of the two knights jousting is actually footage of Heath Ledger's stunt double in an accident. During filming of a later scene in the movie, the lance of the stunt double's opponent moved off target and hit him in the head. The double fell to the ground unconscious. In another incident, 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 several months before Helgeland's mouth had healed enough to repair the damage. Joust redirects here. ...

Plenty of effort was expended creating lances that would splinter convincingly without injuring the stunt riders as well. The body of each lance was scored so it would break easily, and the tips were made of balsa wood. Each was also hollowed out, and the hole filled with balsa chips and uncooked linguini and sawdust to make convincing splinters. The term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. ... Binomial name Ochroma lagopus Balsa (Ochroma lagopus, synonym ) is a large, fast-growing tree to 30 m tall, native from tropical South America north to southern Mexico. ... Linguine or linguini is a kind of pasta which is a flattened spaghetti originating from the Campania region of Italy. ...

Reception

Initially the reception for this film was mixed, with complaints about the anachronisms, the many jousting scenes and the supposedly thin plot. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 59%.

Music

The film combines action, comedy, and romance, and is notable for its deliberate use of anachronisms, such as the use of classic rock songs like Queen's "We Will Rock You," War's "Low Rider," David Bowie's "Golden Years," Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" and many others^[2] in the soundtrack of a film that notionally takes place during the Middle Ages. Look up Anachronism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1972 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... War was a multiracial, multicultural American funk band of the 1970s from Southern California, known for the hit songs Low Rider and Why Cant We Be Friends?. Formed in 1969, War was the first and most successful musical crossover, fusing elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin music, R&B... Low Rider is a song written by the band War and appearing on their album Why Cant We Be Friends?, released in 1975. ... David Bowie (pronounced ) (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, producer, arranger, and audio engineer. ... Golden Years is a song written by David Bowie in 1975. ... Thin Lizzy are a hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. ... The Boys Are Back in Town is a single from the hard rock/proto-metal band Thin Lizzy. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

References

^ The Encyclopedia of World History
^ Complete tracklist from Soundtrack:
1. We Will Rock You — Queen
2. Low Rider — War
3. Takin' Care Of Business — Bachman-Turner Overdrive
4. Golden Years — David Bowie
5. Crazy On You — Heart
6. Further On Up The Road — Eric Clapton
7. Get Ready — Rare Earth
8. I Want To Take you Higher — Sly & The Family Stone
9. The Boys Are Back In Town — Thin Lizzy
10. One Of Your Own — Carter Burwell
11. We Are The Champions — Robbie Williams & Queen
12. Pieces — Dan Powell
13. Eye Conqueror — Third Eye Blind
Sourced from: http://www.amazon.com/Knights-Tale-Various-Artists-Soundtracks/dp/B00005EBIL/ref=m_art_li_15

Note that IMDb list a different set, with the comment: "Please note that songs listed here (and in the movie credits) cannot always be found on CD soundtracks. Please check CD track details for confirmation." They list
1. "We Will Rock You" — Queen
2. "Low Rider" — War
3. "Takin' Care Of Business" — Bachman-Turner Overdrive
4. "Golden Years" — David Bowie
5. "Further On Up the Road" — Eric Clapton
6. "Get Ready" — Rare Earth
7. "I Want To Take You Higher" — Sly and the Family Stone
8. "The Boys Are Back In Town" — Thin Lizzy
9. "You Shook Me All Night Long" — AC/DC
10. "We Are the Champions" — Robbie Williams + Queen
11. "Eye Conqueror" — Third Eye Blind
Sourced from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183790/soundtrack

Contents

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