¶ … movie )) • What specific references medieval culture history film feature address 've explored class ? • Discuss film embodies clash cultures Crusaders Saracens, Christian Moslem worlds.
Ridley Scott's 2005 motion picture "Kingdom of Heaven" holds a great deal of references to Crusaders and to events having happened during the Crusades. Medieval culture involved religion being revived as one of the principal elements holding society together and the Bible as a document that could be interpreted with the purpose to motivate people's acts of violence in the name of God. Scott's film provides an intricate account displaying actual feelings expressed during the Crusades and events that took place as Christians went to Jerusalem with the purpose of freeing it from groups that were apparently unworthy of inhabiting it on account of their failure to act in agreement with Christian laws.
Cultural clashes take place throughout the film and as the storyline progresses viewers can gain a more complex understanding of the differences between Christian and Muslim cultures as well as between Western and Middle-Eastern values. One of the first examples concerning the cultural clashes deals directly with the reason why each community is interested in fighting the other: Christians adopt religious principles in fighting for their values while Muslims also fight because they identify with the lands they are fighting on. At the time when Balian kills the Saracen knight he is surprised to understand that his servant emphasizes how he is going to get respect for his deed rather than to be punished. The moment when Guy decapitates the emissary sent to present Saladin's demands further contributes to dividing the two cultures, considering that the Westerner is unhesitant about performing an act typically deemed to be in contradiction with honor.
Jerusalem is generally regarded as the one place where individuals need to act in agreement with God's laws regardless of their personal interests. The Crusader cause provides individuals with the opportunity to redeem themselves in front of God and Balian's decision to join it is a good example of why people decided to become Crusaders.
Balian is, in contrast to many of his counterparts, actually concerned about respecting the Chivalric code and about doing everything in his power with the purpose to act in agreement with the set of laws that he swore to live by. He acknowledges the fact that simple individuals in Jerusalem are unable to protect themselves and concentrates on preventing Muslims from harming them. In contrast, Guy de Lusignan and the Knights Templar fail to respect the Chivalric code and actually seem to be more concerned in their personal interests than in acting chivalric.
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