Kingdom of Heaven Film Review: An Imaginary Rendition of Real Events

The movie Kingdom of Heaven, released in 2005 and directed by Ridley Scott, features Balian of Ibelin and his defense of Jerusalem and the events that led up to the Third Crusade. Within this movie there are many historical errors and it is more focused on drama for the sake of entertainment than historical accuracy. The movie begins with Balian as a recently widowed blacksmith in a sleepy French village. He is approached by his father Godfrey the Baron of Ibelin who asks Balian to come with him back to the Holy Land. Balian initially refuses but has a change of heart after killing a priest who desecrated the body of Balian's deceased wife. However before they can leave the region they are attacked by the men of the local lord who obviously wants justice for the priest that was killed. Godfrey, his men, and Balian are able to fight the lords men off but not before Godfrey takes a mortal wound.

The party travel to Italy where Godfrey dies but not before having Balian knighted and proclaimed the Baron of Ibelin. On the perilous ship ride over the Mediterranean to the Holy Land Balian is shipwrecked and has to make his way to Jerusalem on foot but not before he slays what he believes to be an Muslim noble and frees the man's slave after he reaches Jerusalem. Upon arriving in Jerusalem Balian is identified as Godfrey's son and after making introductions with some of the nobility in the city like the leper King of Jerusalem, the King's sister Sybilla, and the noble Tiberius, Balian departs for Ibelin. Upon reaching Ibelin our hero swiftly attempts to improve it with public works and agricultural improvements and before long he begins an affair with the King's married sister Sybilla who was visiting Ibelin.

This idyllic time is smashed however by news that Saladin is marching upon the castle Kerak as its Lord, Raynald of Châtillon, had been raiding Muslim convoys. Balian attacks the cavalry vanguard of Saladin's army and his outnumbered knights are defeated. Upon being captured Balian realizes that the slave whose master he killed after he was shipwrecked was actually the noble all this time and the leader of the troops Balian fought. The King of Jerusalem arrives at this moment with his army and manages to make a peace with Saladin and Raynald of Châtillon is imprisoned. The effort of traveling with his army is too taxing for the frail leper King however and before long he dies from the effort. At this point Sybilla's husband, Guy  Guy de Lusignan becomes king and he attempts to have Balian killed. Guy is an associate of Raynald of  Châtillon and also desires war. Guy, against Balian's advise marches against Saladin and is utterly defeated. At this point it is up to our hero Balian to defend the city of Jerusalem from Saladin's army.

At this point Balian is shown fighting heroically upon the walls and battlements of Jerusalem as Saladin throws waves and waves of his men at the city. Upon seeing the indecisiveness of the battle, Saladin and Balian agree to terms for the surrender of Jerusalem in which the entirety of its population will be allowed safe conduct to Christian lands. At this point Balian returns with Sybilla to the French village from which he originally came and he refuses an offer from King Richard the Lionheart to embark on the Third Crusade, instead deciding that he would rather live a simple life as a blacksmith with Sybilla in the village.      

This movie paints the capture of Jerusalem and the events preceding it in a very different light than the contemporaries of this event would have likely seen it. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is portrayed as cosmopolitan, diverse, and a place where different faiths live in harmony and this open mindedness is all the work of the crusaders who rule Holy Land. This differs from the stated aims of taking Jerusalem and the Holy Land back from the Muslims for the Christians. This film introduces concepts into the time period that seem distinctly modern and western. Ibelin is also depicted as a religiously diverse utopia and its portrayal is relatively hard to believe. The film does however explore the idea that the crusades could serve the purpose of wiping away one's sins and perhaps those of people they are close too as this is a primary motivator for Balian as he tries to cleanse his own sins for killing the priest and the sins of his wife, namely her suicide. Although this whole story line is made up and not historically accurate.

The movie presents the antagonist, Saladin, in a measured and favorable way. He is shown as pragmatic and initially resistant to the calls of war from people on his side of the conflict. He is depicted as a clever military campaigner and respectful to the Frankish crusaders who he defeats. He is also seen as quite religiously tolerant and by respecting a cross after the capture of Jerusalem and treats the defeated crusaders much better than the defeated Muslims were after the capture of Jerusalem in the first crusade when the crusaders captured the city. Overall the movie entertains and tries to capture some of the ideological themes that were occurring at the time but it fails in its accuracy and presents events completely contrived for drama that did not occur and creates an imaginary set of events over historical fact.

References

 

Alberth, John. "Reviewed Work: Kingdom of Heaven" reviewed work Kingdom of Heaven, directed by Ridley Scott, The American Historical Review, October 2005, pp, 1235-1236. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/ahr.110.4.1235  

 

French, Phillip. "Saladin days" reviewed work Kingdom of Heaven directed by Ridley Scott, The Guardian, 7 May 2005. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/may/08/philipfrench

 

Scott, Ridley, director. Kingdom of Heaven. Performances by Orlando Bloom and Eva Green, 20th Century Fox, 2005.