Black Death

"Black Death" is superficially about the Bubonic Plague that struck Europe in the 14th century. Going deeper than that it is about the God-fearing and the godless.

A warrior for the Church named Ulrich (Sean Bean) was in search of a small village where the plague hadn't touched. He was convinced that they were seeking the devil's protection and were aided by a necromancer. He used a young friar named Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) to help him and his band of men find the village. Once there they faced a people, led by a woman named Langiva (Clarice van Houten), who weren't ready to willingly give up their way of life.

"Black Death" was religious and you know what they say about politics and religion. It never made the men of religion sanctified. They were willing to torture in the name of Christianity and "Black Death" points that out. If seeing Christianity pitted against paganism bothers you then stay away.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to watch this movie. I knew Sean Bean was in it and that it was set in the middle ages during the plague, but that's about it.

It turned out to be a good suspense movie with some nice plot twists. The best part is how the suspense is slowly built up, until you think you might know what is really going on, and then later you understand its something completely different. No spoilers, but the way the story keeps you guessing and fools you is quite well done.

The acting is good too with all the minor characters doing believable performances. Carice van Houten is especially noteworthy and interesting as the village leader. She was entrancing and definitely the stand out in the movie. Sean Bean does a workmanlike job as a righteous knight, and as usual is a good presence in the film.

A note on the ending - yes, as other reviewers have said, the ending feels rushed and tacked on, and completely unnecessary. But I can overlook it because it's quite brief and can be shrugged off and doesn't detract from the rest of the movie to any degree in my opinion.

From the humble beginning to the violent end, this movie was solid gold. Particularly the ending, there are only a few movies out there that leave you questioning your own believe and this movie surely does that.

Obviously built on a tight budget but this movie sure can pack a lot of punch. And the acting performances are truly awesome! Sean Bean was amazing and the lead guy Eddie Redmayne was spot on.

This movie highlights the cruelty of the Black Plague in Europe and all the sinister twists that it took on the mind of the people. I don't usually enjoy period movies but the story is what really kept me hooked on.

The concept of the inquisition and witch hunt are present too. All in all, this movie was truly amazing.

Medieval scholars will probably find substantial problems with the film's depiction of the Middle Ages, but to a non-historian it certainly feels closer than many other period movies: buildings are mostly squalid and insubstantial, the weapons and armor of the soldiers are crude and ill-assorted - Ulric (Sean Bean), the bishop's envoy, has the best of everything, while his followers are progressively less well-equipped as they descend the social scale - and it gives a good sense of the unwelcoming, sparsely-populated landscapes of medieval Britain. The casting works well too: the soldiers are, for the most part, neither Hollywood pretty-boys nor stock grotesques, but have the look of real people, 'warts and all'.

The impression of a brutal, bleak time when life was not merely cheap but nearly worthless is reinforced by the look of the film. It's coldly lit, and everything is misty and uncertain. This distinctive atmosphere creates a feeling of constantly impending disaster without the need for the cheap frights and minor chords of a horror movie.

The characterization is often surprisingly complex: Ulric may be a fanatic, but he's also a pragmatist who is no crueler than he needs to be. Even his soldiers are not one-dimensional brutes, but have their own personalities, with subtly-sketched human traits. The film encourages you to think about the motivation of even the most minor characters. Eddie Redmayne as Osmund does a good job of presenting a complex and conflicted character for much of the film.

The weak point where the characters are concerned are the women. Averill (Kimberley Nixon) and Langiva (Carice Van Houten) sometimes feel more like plot devices than people. This is not the fault of the actresses, who both deliver good performances. It's just that their characters are more constrained by the requirements of the plot.

As with any film in which religion plays a major part, there's been some debate as to whether the film is pro- or anti-Christian. To my mind, it's neither. All the characters, whichever faction they represent, are badly compromised. The only value system that it really seems to promote is that of simple humanity. It's no accident that the director gives the final voice- over to Wolfstan (John Lynch), who emerges ultimately as the film's most sympathetic character, a somewhat tarnished and world-weary ideal of what it means to be a 'good man'.

By and large, the film works well in terms of plot and pacing. It doesn't drag, and there are few obvious plot holes. Where it falls down badly, however, is with the ending segment, which feels like a hurriedly-sketched afterthought. The fact that the director felt it necessary to deliver key material in the form of a voice-over should have warned him that he needed to rethink his approach. The film would probably have been not only complete but also stronger if that whole section had simply been cut.

It isn't a standout film, but it's certainly an interesting one. It's well made and acted and it leaves you with plenty to think about. Any film-maker who wants to truly convey the feel of the Middle Ages - brutal and squalid, and at once alien and familiar - should watch "Black Death" and take notes.

While some may see this movie as having a not so subtle undertone of 'the greatness of Christianity', I saw it as an interesting exploration of religion itself. The characters in this movie all differ in their religious views, allowing you to identify with them based on your own religious persuasion. There is the fanatic, the believer, the non believer, the good, the bad, the in between etc.

The plot itself helps this journey, as the characters move from one setting to a vastly different one, all the while suffering the same basic experiences. Their initial motivations, in addition to their reactions to these experiences, all differ along the lines of their beliefs, and help either strengthen or weaken those beliefs. This movie shows quite well, that people's attitudes to religion have not changed in hundreds of years. God is still used to explain things we do not understand, and fear and "miracles" are still used to recruit and keep believers.

Human behaviour also has not changed much. Even faced with the 'black death', one of the worst pandemics in human history, people still found reason to divide and fight amongst themselves assigning blame and punishment rather than band together. The way these themes fit in so appropriately with the medieval setting, makes it all the more surprising that they can still be applied in today's world. All in all, a good movie for open minded people because although the film explores these themes, it makes no conclusion. That is left to the audience to determine who was right, who was justified and who was wrong; who was good and who was evil.