Pemberley (Lyme Park, Cheshire)

Pemberley (Lyme Park, Cheshire)
Oh, to be in England...

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

A Knight's Tale 2001 with Heath Ledger

A Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger
Another one of my all-time favourites, A Knight's Tale was on television a few nights ago, and we just sort of fell into watching it. I have seen it so many times, I can watch the middle, the end or any part and enjoy whatever I have time for. My boys loved this one when they were young teens and used to watch it with their friends.The modern music in this gives it a wonderful energy-We Will Rock You!

A Knight's Tale cast promo photo

This medieval underdog tale is great for everyone of all ages. For the females, we have an adorable young Heath Ledger as the thatcher's son turned makeshift knight. We also have a naked Paul Bettany (carefully filmed of course) as Geoffrey Chaucer for those who like their men long and lean! For the men we have exotic looking Shannyn Sossamon as the noble lady Jocelyn whom William Thatcher/Ulrich von Liechtenstein tries to win. My guys all liked the feisty little blacksmith-lady Kate played by adorable Scotswoman Laura Fraser with her Nike swoosh and her amazing metallurgical know-how! And the kids just love the jousting and the comedy.

Rufus Sewell as Count Adhemar in A Knight's Tale
The rest of the supporting cast is brilliant too. Rufus Sewell always makes a great baddie!

Adhemar: You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me?

James Purefoy as The Black Prince in A Knight's Tale
James Purefoy is delicious in his small but wonderful role as The Black Prince, disguised as Sir Thomas Colville.

Prince Edward: Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough.

Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer in A Knight's Tale


Chaucer:  My lords, my ladies, and everybody else here not sitting on a cushion!

Shannyn Sossaman and Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale
William: Where will we live? In my hovel? With the pigs inside during the winter so they won't freeze?
Jocelyn: Yes, William. With the pigs.

Alan Tudyk as Wat in A Knight's Tale
Wat: We're the sons of peasants. Glory, and riches, and stars are beyond our grasps. But a full stomach, that dream can come true.

Modern dance scene from A Knight's Tale

Chaucer: And one and two and three and four and your hands should be light like a birdie on a branch. And one and two and three and four and Wat doesn't lead he follows like a girl.
[Wat punches him. Scene changes, and Chaucer now has a tissue stuck up one nostril]
Chaucer: And one and two and twirlie twirlie twirlie! And one and two and you're still getting it wrong! And one and two and three and four you can hit me all day cause you punch like a... what?
Roland: A girl!

Well, hopefully that gave you a laugh or at least you are smirking right now. So again, if you have never seen this one, rent it or better yet buy it (good extras on the DVD) and if you have seen it, you might want to dust this one off from your DVD collection!

P.S. Here is a deleted scene I found on YouTube with Olivia Williams as Chaucer's wife. Cute joke at the end of the scene with Wat and Kate!



A Knight's Tale (Special Edition)A Knight's Tale [Blu-ray]A Knight's Tale

4 comments:

  1. Great to see the familiar faces in this one - Paul Bettany before I'd seen him in anything else was quirky and charming! Rufus was so detestable, great acting but I wanted him to play the good guy for once! I enjoyed Ledger's sidekicks too and I cannot complain at all with the fact that Heath held the whole thing together with his wit and charm! Love the dance sequence! Will be going to watch it on Youtube right now!
    btw, you're not alone in watching a film on tv even when we have the DVD!

    ReplyDelete
  2. They seemed to be having a great time filming this one and it is infectious isn't it? As soon as I see that dance sequence photo, the music is in my head!

    Glad I'm not alone. BTW, I had to go to bed before the end, but it's OK when you've seen it before. Although now I want to go back and watch the end again!

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  3. Dear Jenny:

    Your niece, Julia, just finished doing her Grade 4 project on the Medieval era (she portrayed the Queen in their little society ... fitting, right?) and we had brought this out and watched it again recently. Not exactly authentic (with the QUEEN and David Bowie soundtrack and the funky costumes), but great fun nonetheless! Breaks my heart, though, every time I see it, that we no longer have Heath Ledger among us. Hard to believe that he's gone.

    Love,
    Big Sister

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  4. Dear Big Sister (you gotta fix that anonymous thing)

    Glad to hear Julia enjoyed being Queen for a day. She IS used to that role though isn't she????

    The writer/director Brian Helgeland explained that his use of modern music was to make the audience feel like the medieval audience would have felt listening to their contemporary music, which would have seemed modern to them but not to our ears. The young people then would have been listening to something that would have pissed off their grandparents!

    Helgeland also set this in the 1370s and he said the 70s are always the 70s no matter the century! Love this film and I'm glad Heath did some amazing things like this so we can still enjoy him!

    P.S. I have just added a deleted scene I found on youtube with Olivia Williams as Chaucer's wife and more naked Paul Bettany!

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