Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven is a work of historical fiction centered around the Saracen siege of Jerusalem in 1187. Thought it takes some historical liberties and presents a message that does Christianity few favors, I find it to be an engaging and thought provoking work.

Visual Elements

From beginning to end, the cinematography is excellent. This movie is a real visual treat–and it has lots of cool siege machines! Scott had a huge set built for the city of Jerusalem, and it is gorgeous. The scenery is fitting and immersive.

Music

Harry Gregson-Williams delivers a refreshing palette of music for this film. This isn’t Gladiator II, and Gregon-Williams isn’t trying to be Zimmer. I appreciated the moderate use of percussion. The score is fully of wonderful ethnic vocal performances and it combines well with generally understated orchestration.

Content Cautions

This is a war movie, set in a time where people hacked at each other with sharp pieces of metal. There is a lot of violence, and there is a LOT of blood. This movie is rated R, and it isn’t because of language or sexual content. That said, the word b_____d is used in reference to Godfrey’s illegitimate son, and there is a brief (adulterous) scene.

Please note that the plot of the movie is discussed in some detail throughout the rest of this article. If you don’t want any spoilers, stop here.

Plot

Balian the blacksmith (Orlando Bloom) finds himself drawn to the Crusades after his father returns to France in search of his heir. The baron dies soon after, leaving Balian to play an important role in the developing turmoil at Jerusalem. Balian helps to keep the restless peace between Muslims and Christians and when the king dies, Balian stands as one of the few voices for peace. When the new king, Guy de Lusignan, leads the Christian army out to battle, Balian remains to defend Jerusalem against Saladin’s army. Following an inconclusive siege, Balian surrenders Jerusalem in exchange for the safety of all its citizens.

Balian

The real cause for Balian’s foray to Jerusalem wasn’t high-minded holiness. He had committed murder and was searching for forgiveness from God. Through the course of the story, it seems Balian comes to a realization that fighting in a holy war would not erase his sins. Unfortunately, there is no real resolution of this and by the end of the story, Balian is back to his old stomping grounds with his new love Sibylla.

The relationship between Balion and Sibylla is problematic. After an adulterous fling, Balian does seem to feel some real remorse. He does refuse to allow her husband (the warmongering Guy de Lusignan) to be killed so they can be married. However, the damage is done.

The real Balian did not have such a relationship, as far as we know. The love interest was added simply to increase marketability, and we all know it isn’t true love unless the clothes come off. Sarcasm. It could have been handled with more integrity, if they had to have the romance. For me, this really weakened the idea that Balian was a repentant man in search of forgiveness.

The whole well digging thing I found to be a bit corny. Could the people really not figure out how to dig a well until Balian came along?

I was not particularly impressed with the character arc. There was little development, and I felt like Balian returned to France the same man, plus some new scars.

Historical Accuracy

Not every movie has to deal with this, but Kingdom of Heaven does, as a historical work. There is definite “artistic license” taken with the real events. The real Balian wasn’t a blacksmith. Balian didn’t actually knight all of the men in the city. Sibylla and Balian didn’t actually have any romantic involvement. Saladin spared most of the city’s inhabitants. Still, I would like to point out that the movie is historically accurate in that while the crusaders did kill the population of Jerusalem when they captured the city, Saladin showed surprising mercy in his victory.

However, many foundational elements are correct. The church was indeed an instigating force for the crusades, and the Templars and Hospitallers were driving forces in the hostilities. A good screenwriter knows that a true-to-every-tittle film adaptation of a book is a risky idea. I am willing to allow for similar license when history is adapted to film as well. At the end of the day, it needs to be a good story to be viable.

Worldview

“God wills it!”

This is a cry heard many times throughout the course of this story. God wills war. God wills the killing of Muslims. God wills Christian victory in battle. Does God will it? The self-evident answer in this film is “no”. Any hypocrite or lunatic can bellow those words just as easily as a true servant of God.

Two factions are depicted among the Christians, however. While the first hungers for war and bloodshed, the second wishes for peace between the religions.
They do not see any glory or holiness in killing Muslims.

“They are dying for what the Pope would have them do.”
“Yes, but not Christ, I think.”

So far, so good. There will always be those who do works of evil in the name of God. There is a recurring idea that the Kingdom of Heaven–the name given to the holy lands–is really a “Kingdom of Conscience”–in which Christian, Muslim, and all others dwell in peace with each other. As a Christian, I do not entirely agree with this.

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
-Luke 17:20-21

The Kingdom of Heaven is not a physical place–that much this film has nailed right on the head. And I believe with all my heart that, as a Christian, it is my calling to love all those whom I encounter in the world, regardless of their religion.

But the Kingdom of Heaven is a place only for those who are God’s own. Not Allah’s or any others’. There is only one path to heaven, only one gate–and that is Jesus Christ.