Dir. Kevin Reynolds, 2006, USA, 125mins
Cast: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell, David O’Hara, Henry Cavill, Bronagh Gallagher
Review by Kevin Holmes
Ah, ye olde Hollywood Historical Love Epic, the cornerstone of any nutritious Saturday night date. It’s got romance, it’s got action…it’s got historical inaccuracies. You’ll either be pleased or despondent to hear this film doesn’t disappoint on any of these. The Brothers Scott produce and Kevin Reynolds directs – and what better man for the job. His chequered past includes such revisionist Hollywood epics as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Rapa Nui, The Count of Monte Cristo and, er, Fandango. His is a back catalogue littered with movies made with another Kevin Of Hollywood, you guessed it, Aquaman himself, Kevin ‘Anyone seen my career?’ Costner. All this movie needs is a Bryan Adams power ballad and it could well be Robin Hood 2: Audience Leaves. If only Reynold’s love for Kevin Costner equalled his love for historical accuracy and Celtic legend, this film would be infinitely richer.
It’s based on a medieval Celtic myth that tells the story of the doomed and forbidden love of Tristan and his lover Isolde. It’s set in Dark Ages Britain, just after the Romans have left, where England is disbanded into warring tribes (Celts, Saxons etc) and ruled over by the not-so-jolly Irish, governed by King Donnchadh (O’Hara).
James Franco plays Tristan, with the same I’m-a-spoilt-rich-kid attitude that he brought to Harry Osborn in the Spiderman films. While that worked for someone whose destiny will eventually turn him into a vengeful super-villain known to the world as Hobgoblin, it isn’t really the behaviour you would expect from a valiant knight whose actions would eventually lead to the unification of the disparate tribes of a post-Roman England. His lover Isolde is played with appropriate Oirish-girl charm by Myles, her acting skills safely cruising on neutral. The love between them is particularly run of the mill and their ‘passionate’ romance doesn’t really make the heart race – if it does, it’s more egg and spoon than 100m dash. The only one who really pulls out a convincing performance is Rufus Sewell as Lord Marke. Torn and troubled by Isolde’s betrayal, he conveys the chivalrous and noble, yet occasionally morally ambiguous traits that would surely define such a man.
So far, so standard; the filmmakers have managed to take a 1500-year-old myth rich in wonder, excitement and the otherworldly nature of great legends, and drag it down to the banal, the commonplace and the everyday, alleviating the myth of its grander, more fantastical elements, like the dragons and the potions (Isolde is shown to be skilled in the healing arts, but that’s it). It’s like an episode of the blandest soap you can get – think Sons & Daughters set in Medieval England. The filmmakers’ idea of Dark Ages Britain is religiously muddled, the historical inaccuracies nearly making the film what it tries so hard not to be - a fantasy. A great example of this is when Isolde recites a poem to Tristan called The Good-Morrow by the 17th Century esoteric poet John Donne, a man who lived hundreds of years later than the time-period of the movie. Perhaps the lovers are Time Lords traversing the boundless temporal planes of infinity (“You grab the flux capacitor, I’ll get the DeLorean up to 88mph…”), but I doubt it. Liberties with historical accuracy aside - which to be fair wasn’t going to be the film’s strong point - the question remains whether the film provides what is demanded of it, i.e. entertainment, and the answer is a resolute no.
Reynolds has made a not altogether bad film; the cinematography makes the land look enchanting, giving the film a particular green hue, which, mixed with some natural colourisation, does help add a certain radiance. The fight scenes are handled with flair and pack a kinetic punch, but overall, it’s just too damned dull. Competent when it should have been capricious, lacklustre when it should have been luminous. As for the Brothers Scott, Tony should stick to making kick-ass crime movies scripted by Tarantino. And Ridley? Well, it’s the last time I take a history lesson from a man whose Christian name sounds like a packet of Spearmint chewing gum. “All right now,” indeed!
Fox Home Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of Tristan & Isolde for 11th September 2006 priced at £17.99.
Features include:
- 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
- English DD5.1 Surround
- English SDH
- Producers' Commentary
- Writer's Commentary
- Love Conquers All: Making of Tristan & Isolde
- Gavin De Graw Music video - "We Belong Together"
- Image Galleries
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