The Kingdom of Heaven

My wife, Tamara, and I saw the crusades epic “The Kingdom of Heaven” yesterday.

The first thing I realized is that I now no longer need to develop my own Crusade era script. This one is pretty good. True, it does seem to miss some of the heart of the religious conflict (Christian extremist are painted in appropriately harsh one dimension) but does for the most part provide a decent portrayal of what life, war and reality was like for many in that time.

There are a few missteps in the film, especially in regards to the politics. While most of the historical points may hold up under examination some of the choices don’t make any sense. And while extremists do what they do for God knows why, the hero, Bloom’s character Balian, makes an equally daft choice at the end of the second act. I still don’t understand why he rejects the dying King’s offer (it’ll make more and less sense when you see the film). Maybe on a second viewing it will bring some clarity, but honestly when it is this big of a decision you’ve got to foreshadow and make us all understand clearly why someone chooses such a course of action.

In Chariots of Fire we understand why Eric Liddell refuses to run. In Braveheart we understand why William Wallace won’t cry for mercy. In this film we don’t understand Balian’s motivation and therefore don’t empathize with the fall out from that the decision.

Aside from these two points, the film is a good history. The acting, action and settings are epic and stunning.

Even the handling of the religious issues is sensitive and appropriate. As one reviewer put it, only extremists (Christian and Muslim) will be offended. And that is a good thing. The rest of us should be able to watch it and hopefully avoid any future needless crusades / jihads against other peoples and religions.

Ultimately the film is a humanist film that appeals to the audience to feel for and want the peace of humans. A noble concept to be sure, and one that I, as a Christian, can agree with wholeheartedly.

However, and this will seem like I’m equivocating, The Kingdom of Heaven (as described in the Bible) does have as much to do with this earthly realm (especially Jerusalem and the Promise Land) as it does to peace, faith, hope and love. Finding a balanced and nuanced portrayal of why so many religious people will sell out the latter for the former is a concept worth exploring. It seems like selling out the former for the latter is more rational (Mr. Scott’s message), but whoever said people are rational? Maybe I’ll write that Crusade script anyway.