Review of Arn: The Knight Templar

According to this recent, big budget production, Orlando Bloom did not save Jerusalem from the Saracens of Saladin, but the Knights Templar did, according to this Swedish alternative to the recent Ridley Scott epic, on the same topic. Maybe this film suffered in comparison with the more commercial Kingdom of Heaven, as this one came out just a couple of years after Scott's. Arn ( Nattervquist ) , is only a child when a local Swedish prince arrives to kill off a rival, ascend to the throne and send the rival's son ( Arn's friend the young prince Knut running to Norway to escape ). Young Arn then suffers a fall, and is given no chance of survival, so his mother in fear of his life, prays for him and offers his life in service to god. Miraculously he recovers, and so he is taken to the local monastery to become a monk. Here he is looked after by the two priests, ( Callow & Boulton ) they also provide him with an education. Boulton does more than that for the boy however, he is a former Knight Templar and sees the boy has skills with a bow and arrow, he also teaches the young boy how to use a sword. As the boy matures into a youth he also gives him a fine Arabian stallion. Young Arn then returns to his home village, where in quick succession he falls in love, deflowers a virgin, wins a duel against one of his family's enemies, helps his friend Knut kill and depose the king who had killed Knut's father, and finally is falsely accused of deflowering the sister of the woman he loves. For penance he is banned for 20 years and packed off to the crusades in the holy lands. The innocent girl is packed off to a convent. As it turns out, the convent is aligned to the side of the throne that is opposed to Arn's family, so the girl is treated harshly. Meanwhile Arn has a chance run in with Saladin, whom he rescues from bandits. Both men admire the other, for either their bravery, honour or both. Saladin is intent on conquering Jerusalem but Arn is sworn to defend it. My limited knowledge of the Templar Knights is that this portrayal of them is closer to what they would have been like, rather than the murderous Brendon Gleason version. The pious warrior Templar Knights are treated with much more sympathy in this film than the bloody thirsty bunch of cut throats in Kingdom of Heaven. One of their leaders however, Armand De Gascogne ( Wyndham ) is once again shown as a pompous oaf. After the siege is broken, Arn is given leave to return home. This is a lavish production in many ways, and those values shine through in many of the scenes. The acting is also of a high standard, with young Nattervquist and Helin given very good support from a strong supporting cast. The story takes time to develop and the multiple, complex tribal, political and religious alliances are examined in quite some detail. A very different style of film to Scott's as this one concentrates more on the individual drama of one man caught up in events, rather than concentrating on the rich visuals of Kingdom of Heaven.