![]() ![]() Along their journey Osmund discovers a group of villagers about to burn a woman up for supposedly practising witchcraft. When death comes they smile, as if a reward for their loyal service. Within the shaky faith of Osmund, even he can’t condone what these men are doing. Meanwhile, those knights whose faith drives them aren’t exactly pious. For instance the picture above – a group of flagellants crossing through the river, carrying a cross and brandishing the straps with which they whip themselves religiously (pun intended). We see various measures of faith, as well. Everything gets intense when he’s up against men who are so sure of their faith they will kill to honour its tenets. We discover he’s conflicted between the vow of chastity and a woman with whom he’s fallen in love, deeply. Eddie Redmayne’s monk Osmund is unsure of his own at the start. There’s a large juxtaposition of faith in Black Death. So where does it end? Nobody knew then, and nobody knows now, either. Still, one group runs around with fundamentalism in their heart to a deadly extent and the other condemns them with an equally heavy, morally ambiguous hand. ![]() But it’s also refreshingly modern, as Smith brings into question whether anything has changed after so many centuries. Shooting in the most perfect locations with a grainy sort of aesthetic, his directing makes this feel like something you could have seen 20 years ago. The best of what Smith does is give us a savage, genuine reflection of the times, allowing for maximum nastiness and a few excitingly bloody moments. Even Monty Python in their infinite comedic wisdom gave us “‘Tis but a scratch!” ![]() Any medieval film has to at least touch on the brutality of the time. I feel like it’s close to being a perfect bit of horror cinema, with some history (not all entirely accurate) and action to make it all the more intriguing. To mad result.īeing a fan of all things medieval, having studied a great deal of medieval literature, Smith’s film is highly entertaining. In England, religious superstition runs high when a small village in the marshes is rumoured to be untouched by the black death, so a group of knights, cobbled together with fundamentalists and psychopaths alike – plus one monk whose love for a woman tests his own faith – are sent to investigate. We see that break through widest with his 2010 film Black Death a horror-mystery set in 1348 as the bubonic plague ripped its way through Europe. All of which have their strengths, weaknesses. I’m a big fan of Christopher Smith’s work from his eerie 2004 flick Creep to Severance and Triangle a few years later. Egoli Tossell Film/HanWay Films/Zephyr Films. Starring Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Carice van Houten, John Lynch, Tim McInnerny, Kimberley Nixon, Andy Nyman, David Warner, Johnny Harris, Emun Elliott, Tygo Gernandt, Jamie Ballard, & Tobias Kasimirowicz. ![]()
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