The Reckoning
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DVD details
Actor: Marián Aguilera, Paul Bettany, Simon McBurney, Tom Hardy, Trevor SteedmanDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-03
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Reckoning
DVD Review: What the actors may have thought about their role in Hamlet
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie, `The Reckoning' which answers the question of what kind of plot can you construct in a Norman ruled Saxon village in the time of the plague in 11th century England of Richard the Lion-Hearted with a traveling troupe of actors who just lost their leader and is joined by a priest running from an adultery / murder he committed in a neighboring village. And, what can you do which will not even raise the slightest hint of contemporary heroes `Robin Hood' or Ivanhoe'.
The first thing which impresses me about the movie is the contrast between the dullness of the clothes, faces, colors, and buildings in this movie compared to the similar foothills town of Edoras in `Lord of the Rings' which seems to shimmer with life, fresh air, magic, and portent. Somehow, it works, but it is almost a cliché in moviemaking to make the faces of medieval peasant folk be streaked with dirt, as if they never thought of doing anything with water aside from drinking it. These are observations and not criticisms. The set decorators, costumers, and makeup artists have all contrived to make the scenes and cast in this movie seems to have just stepped out of a Vermeer painting. Paul Bettany's facial structure and pallor of skin look especially medieval. The same can be said of most of the rest of the cast, except for Willem Dafoe, who looks inextricably 20th century, based on his well-known appearance in many well-known movies, not the least of which was `Platoon'.
As the movie is a mystery, I have to be careful not to give too much away, as I am certainly recommending that you buy and see this movie if you have any taste at all for very intelligent thrillers, especially one with none of the 21st century mechanical violence involving cars, trains, trucks, motorcycles, and high powered firearms. This is pure drama, without even the kind of gimmicks used in the Sean Connery medieval mystery, `The Color of the Rose'. On the other hand, it is far more intense with very serious emotional involvement of the principles with the story than you will see in the very tame `Brother Cadfael' mysteries set in approximately the same time and location.
As I suggest in the title, this story is very much based on how things would be seen by the traveling dramatic troupe appearing in `Hamlet'. The biggest difference between the troupe and the play in `Hamlet' and in `The Reckoning' is that in the latter, the recreation of the crime is the idea of the players, not the prince or other contractee. The idea arises innocently enough when the troupe's conventional morality play performances bring in a very meager audience, barely enough for the actors to pay for the burial of their dead. So, the leader of the troupe (Dafoe) suggests recreating the story of the woman condemned to execution for stealing from and killing a teenager on the evidence of a young monk. Based on very crude observations about the corpse and demurs from the audience, the suspicion arises that the deaf and dumb woman was not the perp. As the play arouses unrest among the peasants, the baron's men quickly direct the troupe out of town at sunup. The suspicions aroused by the play lead to the death, possibly from suicide, of the primary suspect in the affair, the young monk.
The 110 minutes of dialogue on the screen does not have the time to explore Norman English politics, so the relation between the officials carrying out the hanging, the baron, and the local magistrate who is oddly sympathetic to the actors' story, are not fully explained. Relations between the various actors create situations that are also not fully explained. The medieval tradition of men playing all womens' roles is also assumed, even though it may be mysterious that the troupe includes a woman whose place is confined to costuming and collecting admissions. She does not even have a vote in decisions of the troupe, even though she is the daughter of the recently dead leader and brother to the new leader. Her only perk seems to be that she gets to ride in the wagon while all the men walk.
The script is based on a novel entitled `Morality Play', and I really wish they had retained this title, as it does a much better job of getting you into the sense of the story. There is also much too little made of the Bettany character's history aside from some vague, brief flashbacks whose sole purpose seems to be to explain what drives the character to pursuing the truth behind the murder which is a the heart of this story.
The characters are all believable, the story is true to the facts and logic of life in Medieval Norman England, and the thread which takes the principles to the climax is interesting and believable, in spite of just a bit of skimping on background. It is immensely satisfying to find a story where the motive of the ultimate perp is simply because he wanted to, and he could.
This movie may never ascend to status of cult classic, but it is truly a little gem of acting, directing, and setting into time and place. Highly recommended viewing.
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