It’s a crying shame that films such as Black Death will only see limited theatrical distribution while similarly themed schlock such as Season of the Witch get a wide, if tepidly received, release.
Directed by Christopher Smith, Black Death is a harder-edged, medieval action version of Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man. Sean Bean stars as a righteously religious warrior sent to investigate a small remote village that has remained untouched by the ravages of the plague. Fearing that the villagers have made a pact with a demon, the church tasks the knight Ulric (Bean) to elicit a confession from the necromancer responsible for the village’s good-fortune.
Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) is a young monk who volunteers to lead Ulric’s band of mercenaries — seeing the quest as a sign from God that it is OK to leave the confines of the monastery and join up with the woman he has fallen in love with and who waits for him in the marsh surrounding Ulric’s destination.
Sean Bean, who is no stranger to wearing armor and wielding a huge-ass sword, is a tough-as-nails crusader for Christ — steely in his faith and determined to wipe out any slight to God from the face of the earth. Ulric’s willingness to commit evil for the sake of eradicating greater evil rubs against Osmund’s naïve piety.
Redmayne’s character is a fresh-faced, love-struck boy whose big heart and burning desire to help the afflicted is not a good fit for a countryside fearful of the highly contagious disease that is ravaging their land and even more afraid of the unknown threat that is causing said plague.
It’s Ulric’s theory that a witch is at the end of their quest and, as luck would have it, it’s in the village they seek that a witch is discovered. Carice van Houten plays Langiva, a beautiful woman who leads the villagers in their harmonious utopia. The land is free from the death that rages across the rest of England — and it’s all seemingly thanks to the pagan worship services that Langiva leads the village in. But does Langiva’s affront towards God really demand the edge of a blade if it brings about peace and prosperty for a village?
Black Death is the rare action film that deftly balances gore-soaked carnage with thought-provoking moral quandaries. Right alongside decapitations, dismemberments and the drawing and quartering of men is a well thought out exploration into faith, the fear of the unknown and the need to believe in something tangible. For the villagers that follow Langivia, she provides them with easy to process proof in her protection — something that a faith in God has not bestowed upon the most of England. Ulric, on the other hand, has seen God’s wrath up close and personal — practically reveled in it for most of his life. He has, in many ways, become the personification of death — bringing His scythe down on any that threaten the established hierarchy of the Church.
Before you think Black Death is as dry a film as your average episode of Masterpiece Theater — full of philosophical debates and powdered wigs — don’t worry. Black Death is the type of stylistic medieval action that fans of the sub-genre have grown used to during the recent resurgence of its popularity. Thankfully, though, the film avoids heavy use of CGI blood — depending more on practical effects and a gritty realism to its action.
Black Death is not a film that’s overbearing in its pomposity. Although the action hits hard and heavy and the well-paced climax comes with a bang not a whimper, the film itself feels methodical in its execution — not the haphazardly formed pile of gravy-covered mashed potatoes most modern action movies resemble.
Like the quest the film’s heroes embark on, the movie itself takes its time getting to where it wants to go and never looks back. The film plays out with a deft purpose to its every motion — never wasting a scene or a performance.
Black Death is the Requiem for a Dream to Season of the Witch‘s Reefer Madness. Terse, to the point and powerful in its execution, Black Death is a film that’s highly recommended.
The movie will be released in American theaters March 11, 2011 but is currently available OnDemand through a variety of different services. Take the time and seek this movie out — you won’t be disappointed.
Director: Christopher Smith
Notable Cast: Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne and Carice van Houten
Writer(s): Dario Poloni
