Peaceable 'Kingdom'
Tolerance message highlights uneven Crusader epic 'Kingdom Of Heaven'

Three Crusaders walk into a village, an Irishman, a German in long blond braids, and a black man. It's no joke; it's the beginning of Ridley Scott's 12th-century epic Kingdom Of Heaven, which takes itself very seriously indeed. As well it might, for its timely and laudable theme of the quest for peace between Muslim and Christian, its sympathetic portrayal of Muslim characters, and its warning against the destructive ignorance of religious intolerance.

There's so much to respect in Scott's ambitious moral parable, it's a shame the movie isn't more persuasive. William Monahan's uneven script makes some points with resounding effect; others are completely irrational. And he fails to write a compelling character to support Orlando Bloom in his first starring role. Bloom is earnest and hard-working, but with hardly any dialogue for the first half hour, his silences are not profound; he just seems unformed, pliable. He never gets a chance to establish character, he just goes with the plot flow. Bloom needs a few more miles on him as an actor to carry this weighty a film.

It's 1184, 100 years after Christian armies fired up by the Pope captured the Holy City of Jerusalem from the Muslims in the Second Crusade. Knights continue to flock to Jerusalem to protect the city. One unit of French Crusaders, led by nobleman Godfrey (Liam Neeson), detours through a remote French village to find the blacksmith, Balian (Bloom). Having just lost his wife, newborn child, and his faith in God, the moody young smith is nonplussed to learn that Godfrey is his father. But circumstances force Balian to join the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, "a place to erase sins." On the road, Godfrey confers knighthood on Balian with an oath to "protect the helpless."

Jerusalem is a utopia where people of all faiths are allowed religious freedom, under the compassionate diplomacy of Baldwin, the masked, swaddled Christian leper king (Edward Norton, acting only with his eyes and soulful voice). Outside are vast Muslim armies under legendary commander Saladin (played with enormous presence by Syrian actor Ghassan Masoud), who agrees to a fragile peace with Baldwin as long as religious tolerance is maintained. Saladin and Baldwin are the movie's true heroes, enlightened enough to choose peace even as their warriors are thirsting for each others' blood.

French knight Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas), married to Baldwin's pretty sister Sibylla (Eva Green), is eager to stir up a war he's sure the Christians will win because God favors their cause. (The same argument with which Saladin's chieftans agitate for war.) When Baldwin's advisor, Tiberius (Jeremy Irons), suggests the Christians can't beat the Muslims, he's shouted down for "blasphemy."

Balian becomes Baldwin's confidante, Guy's enemy, and Sibylla's lover (in a brief, by-the-book romance without much heat). Proving himself a wily strategist, he's given the job of defending the city when, inevitably, the peace is broken.

These characters are named after historical figures of the Baldwin/Saladin era, but their actions have been rewritten to suit the plot. Scott tries to convey the waste and futility of religious warfare, while still giving his hero plenty of action, so Balian fights heroically against officious soldiers, or assassins, or a mano-y-mano duel with desert warlord that earns him a Muslim friend for life. When Guy's idiot bravado leads his army into certain death against Saladin's superior forces, Scott doesn't show us the battle, just the wretched aftermath.

Which is why the climactic battle for the city feels so hollow and infuriating. For one thing, Balian has a chance to prevent the showdown earlier if he agrees to marry Sibylla, but refuses to risk his soul with the sin of bigamy. (Sex with a married woman apparently being okay.) And if Balian's stated object is to protect the people, wouldn't it make more sense to hand the city over peacefully to Saladin, rather than fight on (as Balian says) to the last man, woman, child and stone? The battle lacks the sense of tragic inevitability since a negotiated solution seems so obvious. It's just more head-crunching gore and explosions to sell tickets. Too bad the movie ends on such a sour note when so much of it has been so intriguing.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN With Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons, Ghassan Masoud, and Liam Neeson. Written by William Monahan. Directed by Ridley Scott. A 20th Century Fox release. Rated R. 138 minutes. (**1/2)
Review published in Good Times, May 12, 2005