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June 24th, 2010
09:59 pm - Just a scratch
I decided, no I'm not going to stay in, bask in the mild evening and watch football, I'm going to the cinema, because I haven't been for ages. I went to see Black Death, starring Sean Bean. I can't exactly say it was a bad film, but it was very depressing. I wish I'd watched the football instead.
Like The Seventh Seal it is set during the plague years, in the 14th century. It's a gruesome, nihilistic film directed and written by creators of previous low-budget Euro horrors such as Severance and Wilderness.
The plot is that Sean Bean and some Christian mercenaries, plus a young monk, go to find a village deep in the marshes which has not been affected by the plague, and where they are not Christian. Either they are just a luckily isolated settlement, or they are in league with Satan. The answer to that is the resolution to the film so I won't say.
My sympathies, and I suspect this was the intention, tended to be with the villagers, and in this respect it's a bit like The Wicker Man, but without quite the heft of that film. It's a competently told story, with good production and acting, and it didn't lose its way or crap out. It seemed a little futile and bloody to me. It's got a lot of murdering and torturing in it, and everyone is grubby all the time like in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
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Hm, I'm tempted to see it, just to judge it for myself. My favourite 'Medieval' film is The Name of the Rose (though the book is far superior, of course). Have you ever seen Anazapta? It promised so much, but for me, delivered little. It's not as civilised as The Name of the Rose. I hadn't heard of Anazapta, but looking at it on IMDB, it sounds quite similar in premise. It's very bloodthirsty, and everyone tortures everyone else. I don't think Black Death will play around here, but I'll probably see it when it's out on DVD. Anazapta's worth a look, but it has some godawful acting and terrible props. Jason Flemyng is good, though (I like him). :) ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/7197269/1311413) | | From: |  sjkasabi |
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| Date: | June 25th, 2010 08:08 am (UTC) |
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| | No shit | (Link) |
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Grubby peasants are one of Monty Python's lasting cinematic legacies, I think. They also have a load of flagellators lashing themselves which put me in mind of those guys hitting themselves on the head with boards |
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