A Knight’s Tale – Film Review

Title: A Knight’s Tale

Age: PG

Released: 31st August 2001

Director: Brian Helgeland

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance

Rating: ***** (5/5 stars)

About: After his master dies, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, creates a new identity for himself as a knight.

Review: So I’ve said this about a few films. But this is one of my ultimate favorite films.

For starters, it’s got Heath Ledger in who I love (God Rest His Soul). Ever since I saw “10 Things I Hate About You” he’s been one of my favorite actors.

This is probably still one of the funniest, wittiest and most enjoyable film I’ve seen to date. There are many reasons why this might be the case though.

Maybe it’s because of the hilarious characters, amazing script or the 70s/80s hits that are juxtaposed with the medieval era (I mean that scene with the jousting, whilst people sing “We Will Rock You” – so clever).

This film always makes me happy, so I love it whenever I see that it’s available to watch (either on the TV or I think it was on Netflix sometime last year – Netflix please bring it back!!!)

This film is a lot of fun, so don’t go in expecting to see an exact historical piece. It’s not accurate in some things, but who cares.

You have knights, jousting and a whole lot of fun.

The actors like Paul Bettany, Rufus Sewell are just a wonderful addition to this film.

I could quite happily watch it again, and again, and again.

You’ve got jousting, some romance between a peasant masquerading as a noble knight (played by Heath Ledger) and a cheeky fair maiden (played by Shannyn Sossamon).

This movie is clearly a work of historical fiction – heavy on the fiction. It does not try to be more than that.

But although this film is fun and makes me laugh, I can quite honestly say that it holds a very strong message at the end of that day.

The message is quite obvious is you think about it. The film basically proves that we can all be champions by squarely facing our fears. By daring to risk everything for a goal (any goal really) – but we can succeed even if we accept help and directions from others.

You should never be alone in facing your fears. With the right people beside you, you can do anything.

But, no matter how successful we become, eventually, it’s important to follow our feet back home and reconnect with our roots.

You should never forget where you came from.

And that’s the moral of the story.

But seriously, this is a fun light-hearted film, that many, many people will enjoy.

I know I do, and I can’t wait to watch it again soon!