Deceit vs. valor, murder vs. mercy, courage vs. cowardice, faith vs. uncertainty. Throw in a horrendous case of leprosy, brutal sword fights, the cross of Christianity, and the crescent moon of Islam, and you have a glimpse into Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven–a 130-million-dollar epic about the Crusades.
Set in 1184, between the second and third of eight crusades, the film focuses on a time of uneasy truce in Jerusalem when Christians, Muslims, and Jews were able to worship and pray at their holy sites. Not intending to be a documentary, Kingdom of Heaven is an elegant drama drawn from real-life characters and historical events.
The story follows the remarkable ascent of Balian (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith who becomes a reluctant Crusader and valiant defender of Jerusalem. Through the gut-wrenching loss of his family, Balian set off to the Holy Land in search of forgiveness and redemption “to erase my sins and those of my wife,” he says.
According to historians, there were many reasons that men and women went on the Crusades. There were those who went for deeply devout reasons–forgiveness of sin, defending their brothers and sisters in the faith, and protecting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that was built where Christ is said to have been buried and then resurrected. “Remission of sins will be granted to those going,” Crusaders heard from their priests.
Famous Christian leaders of the time such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Catherine of Siena, and Thomas Aquinas were very supportive of the Crusades. Although he is most well known for writing On Loving God, Bernard was passionate about defending Jerusalem: “Evil men have begun to occupy this land of the new promise, and unless someone resists them, they will be feasting their eyes upon the sanctuary of our religion and will try to stain that very bed, on which for our sake slept our life in death; they will profane the Holy Places–the places, I say, purpled with the blood of the immaculate Lamb.”
There were other reasons that people traveled thousands of miles to face uncertainty and possible death in the Holy Land. Sometimes, the idle rich had nothing else to do. They went on a crusade like wealthy New Yorkers head to the Hamptons. The number-two son of a castle may go in order to prove his manhood. Others simply went in search of land, riches, and adventure.
But for our story, “Balian is on a spiritual journey to actually reinforce–or not–his doubts about the existence of God,” observes Ridley Scott. It does not appear that Balian is as uncertain of the existence of God as much as he is worried about his status with Him. “God, what is it that you want of me?” he asks. “I am outside God’s grace,” he says in a fit of desperation. “God does not know me,” he later confesses.
Balian discovers that it is nearly impossible to find a relationship with God on such a bloody sectarian battlefield. Instead, he finds a vast supply of pompous and bloodthirsty warriors (“I am what I am. Someone has to be,” says one), religious zealots (“To kill an infidel is not murder, it is the path to heaven,” says another), and underhanded political wrangling (“There will be a day when you will wish you had done a little evil to gain a greater good,” says yet another).
As if that were not enough, he is enticed by the charms and beauty of Princess Sibylla (Eva Green), King Baldwin’s sister. Of course, things become more complicated when he discovers that she was given away in marriage at a tender age to Baron Guy do Lusignan, an all-around despicable ignoramus.
Some may attempt to fault Ridley Scott and screenwriter William Monahan for portraying Muslim characters with distinct chivalry and humanity while portraying some of the more zealous Christian Crusaders (such as the Knights Templar) in a less favorable light. However, the balance of the story portrays power-grubbing imperialists and religious nutcases on both sides of the battlefield, as well as honorable and virtuous Muslims and Christians.
Viewers will be justifiably intrigued by Saladin, a Saracen (Crusader word for Muslim) general of considerable military ingenuity and uncommon civility–sometimes brutal, other times merciful. This role is masterfully portrayed by the Syrian actor and director Ghassan Massoud.
Whether you believe the Crusades were justified or not, the movie seems to promote the need for interfaith tolerance and respect, especially in a place like Jerusalem–namely that we should be able to agree that it is not God’s will for us to kill one another over “God’s will.”
“It celebrates goodness, the chivalry of human beings,” said French actress Eva Green about the film. “It’s about people finding love and understanding for one another, no matter what the race or the religion is. It is more about being tolerant and listening to each other….People use religion as an excuse for bad behavior.”
Regrettably, too often that is true. The film actually goes to great lengths to make a distinction between heart-felt faith and institutional religion. There are those who use Balian’s leadership skills to press forward with a political agenda and there are others who genuinely care for the welfare of his soul.
He has lost his wife and unborn son–a true dark night of the soul. “I know that anyone in that situation would ask, ‘Who is this God?’” observed Orlando Bloom. Balian actually climbs the hill of Golgotha in order to find peace. “God does not speak to me on the hill where Christ died,” he tells the Hospitaler (David Thewlis), a monastic military priest who cared for religious pilgrims, the sick, and needy.
“I haven’t heard that,” the Hospitaler replies. “I have seen rage and madness in the eyes of many men who are religious. Godliness is what is here [pointing to the head] and here [pointing to the heart]. It is about what you do each day to your fellow man.”
So much has changed and so much has stayed the same since that era. Nations still go to war over the region and tensions never seem to relax in the Holy Land. On another level, however, I was reminded how different things have become. The screening I attended of Kingdom of Heaven was shown on the night before the funeral for Pope John Paul II.
In May of 2001, he became the first leader of the Catholic Church to set foot inside a mosque. Although no one doubted his profound theological differences with Islam, the pope visited the Ummayad Mosque–one of the oldest mosques in the world–in Damascus, Syria. The site holds special significance to both Muslims and Christians because it is believed to contain the tomb of John the Baptist (Prophet Yahya to Muslims).
While in Damascus, Pope John Paul II said, “It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders will present our two great religious communities in respectful dialogue, never more as communities in conflict.” In some ways, that is the message of this movie.
With the current political-socio-religious tensions between the West and the Islamic world, making a film about killing one’s enemies in the name of God can be carelessly incendiary or politically correct mush. This movie fell into neither trap. Instead, Kingdom of Heaven is a majestic triumph in portraying the passionate fanaticism, religious zealotry, and uncommon chivalry that marked the dark and fascinating era of the Crusades.
–Steve Beard is the creator of www.Thunderstruck.org–a website devoted to faith and pop culture.