Directed by:
Paul VerhoevenCinematography:
Jan de BontComposer:
Basil PoledourisCast:
Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Burlinson, Jack Thompson, Susan Tyrrell, Ronald Lacey, Brion James, Simón Andreu, Bruno Kirby, Héctor Alterio (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
In Western Europe, 1501, a small army of mercenaries led by the charismatic and mercurial Martin (Rutger Hauer) reclaim a heavily fortified castle for its owner Arnolfini, who then betrays the band and ejects them from the city by force. Swearing revenge, Martin leads a violent assault on the nobleman and ends up accidentally kidnapping the beautiful Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the fiancée of Arnolfini’s son Steven, who in turn pledges to wipe out the mercenary group once and for all. With its vision of a brutal and morally bereft Medieval Europe, the film shocked audiences who had become used to the highly romanticised depictions of the era commonly seen on the big screen. (Eureka Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (4)
I like Verhoeven, but he couldn't have been serious about this pseudo-medieval piece of schlock. Or maybe it was a parody (especially from the second half onwards) and I didn't get it. Paul, you better stop writing scripts and stick to what you do best. And by the way, the brutality wasn't so hot either.
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The Middle Ages according to Paul Verhoeven. Don't expect any delightful fairytale stylization from it, it's really all flesh and blood. A very atmospheric spectacle for those with strong natures. On the other hand, I feel that the amount of "gore" scenes kind of masks the inability to evoke the cruelty of the times in a way other than this explicit way. But why pretend I didn't like it when the opposite is true :o)...
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A truly humorous take on the Middle Ages with an unusually asinine mysterious “feeling” and wannabe bloody action scenes. I really don't understand the message of this movie because sometimes you have a “WTF feeling” and wonder if the people behind it are right in the head. And believe it or not, this two hours actors bickering feels anything but cinematic. Obviously, there were times when Paul Verhoeven was still wet behind the ears and had a long way to go before achieving shock and chills. At least he practiced on this farce. Unfortunately, it essentially caused the end of Rutger Hauer, who over time started appearing more and more in supporting roles, which is relatively strange because even as a twisted mercenary, he has quite a lot of charisma.
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Historical postmodernism that may have set out to de-romanticize and de-mythicize the early modern period, but it did so with such a zeal that it simply exploited it. There's nothing wrong with that, except that sometimes it just stings a little when you see an uncompromising vision hiding behind the caricatures and haste, which are probably the fault of the excessive posturing. It's been a long time since I've been uncomfortable watching a film, but watching the lurid and overt sex scenes with a young Jennifer Jason Leigh, who still looks like a child and whose character in the script is actually supposed to be about 12 years old, makes you wary of whether anyone is looking over your shoulder as you watch the film. But apparently she was 22 when the film was made, so it's all good.
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