Arn: The Knight Templar Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Arn: The Knight Templar Blu-ray Movie Review

Kingdom of Braveheart.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 13, 2010

Jan Guillou is a name that probably rings few bells in the general Western populace, but the author and entrepreneur has forged a formidable career in his native Sweden, churning out several big bestsellers while also running one of his country’s largest publishing houses. To Swedes, his epic Crusades Trilogy is something like their national Braveheart, albeit slightly fictionalized, a historical journey through the nascent stages of their burgeoning country with a heroic, if tragic, figure at its center. Sweden’s national film studio, Svensk Filmindustri (an imprint familiar to any Ingmar Bergman fan), spent what for that country was scads and scads of money—some thirty million—to bring Guillou’s fictional hero Arn Magnusson to the screen. In fact, they evidently did it twice, in 2007 with a first feature called Arn: The Knight Templar and a follow-up sequel entitled Arn: The Kingdom at Road’s End in 2008. I’m at a bit of a loss to tell you if this Blu-ray release is only the first film, as the supplementary material provided with the Blu-ray sheds no light on the subject. From what I have been able to glean in some background research, this film seems to be a reedited version of both the theatrical releases, as the story encompassed here contains all of the major plot points I’ve been able to dig up about both theatrical enterprises. Arn: The Knight Templar is an extremely handsome production, despite what for Hollywood would be a miniscule budget, and it offers a tragic love story that will no doubt appeal to women especially. While it has some riveting battle sequences, this is much more of a character drama than some men may have patience for, though the strong performances and epic sweep may help to keep most audiences entertained, even if the tragic dimensions of the central love story become emotionally overwrought to virtually the breaking point.

Arn is a typical medieval lad whose family shuttles him off to a nearby monastery after he is miraculously healed from a bad fall. There, the boy is introduced to sword play by a former Knight Templar, while receiving more intellectual mentorship from the monastery’s leader, Father Henry (Simon Callow). Years later, as a young man, Arn (Joakim Nätterqvist) becomes enamoured of a village girl, Cecilia (Sofia Helin) at more or less the same time he is forced to defend his father’s honor against a dastardly clan called the Sverkers, one of several actual historical families which sought what would ultimately become the crown of a unified Sweden. Though Arn and Cecilia share a night (actually day) of passion, she is promised to a Sverker, and Arn’s family rightly sees trouble on the horizon. When Cecilia confides in her sister that she’s pregnant with Arn’s child, all hell breaks loose, with both lovers being excommunicated, banished for 20 years, with Cecilia imprisoned in a convent and Arn commanded to become a Knight Templar fighting the good fight in the Holy Land.

Though the above précis deals with the setup of Arn more or less chronologically, this is a film which actually plays with time quite serendipitously, moving back and forth between periods as it contrasts the harsh living conditions of Cecilia in the convent and Arn in the Holy Land against their halcyon youth. While this is initially a bit confusing, especially when flashbacks within flashbacks occur, it lends Arn an appealing emotional depth and tension which a straightforward narrative would have provided. The bulk of the film, once the characters are established, simply ping pongs back and forth between Arn and Cecilia as they attempt to make it through their twenty year hell while keeping hope for their ultimate reunion alive.

Both Nätterqvist and Helin make charismatic and appealing leads, if dealing with roles that provide them little to do but pine soulfully for each other over a vast span of time, but it’s the international supporting cast that really gives Arn: The Knight Templar a lot of its flavor. The aforementioned Callow is nicely understated as Father Henry, and Stellan Skarsgård does exceptional work as the real life historical character Birger Brosa, here the foster father of Arn and Cecilia’s illegitimate son, Magnus. But the acting honors without doubt belong to a nearly unrecognizable Bibi Andersson (of Ingmar Bergman fame), as the despicable Mother Rikissa, the Abbess at the convent to which Cecilia is sent. Andersson simply owns the screen in this ostensibly minor role, evincing a brilliant portrait of a demented, lonely old woman who feeds on sadistic revenge. Her deathbed scene with Cecilia, when she begs for forgiveness and then snaps when Cecilia doesn’t immediately offer it, is a textbook course in Effective Screen Acting 101. While Arn has at least a couple of other putative villains, it's Andersson's Rikissa which lingers with a bitter undertaste long after the film has ended.

While the fact that this may be a reedited version of two longer films leaves some plot elements a bit confusing, and some of the time shifts disconcerting, director Peter Flinth has a great eye for the gorgeous scenery of Sweden, as well as good control over his international cast. While action adventure fans probably would want a little bit more of both (i.e., action and adventure), Arn and Cecilia’s heartbreaking exile from each other gives this film an emotional depth which is fairly rare for historical epics of this ilk. Not to spoil too much, but even the putative happy ending is fraught with danger and more tragedy as the film winds down to its frigid and emotionally exhausting conclusion.

Arn is more than a bit redolent of Kingdom of Heaven and, to a lesser extent, Braveheart. While the tragic love story may be off-putting to the more rock-'em sock-'em audience members, it's that very emotional undercurrent which actually gives the film its distinctive luster. The blue-hued recreation of the Middle Ages will no doubt remind many of Ridley Scott's epic, but there's definitely a different emotional tenor here that actually puts this film more in the "chick flick" department than most movies of this ilk. Watching Arn and Cecilia survive decades of emotional and physical abuse may not be "entertaining" in the traditional sense of the word, but it help sgive Arn: The Knight Templar an affecting quality which is often lacking from films focusing more on bombast and battles.

This internationally funded and cast film is a bit odd in the language department. Scenes are spoken mostly in Swedish and English, with a smattering of Arabic, French and Latin thrown in for good measure. Subtitles are available for the foreign language moments, in addition to English SDH subtitles that underpin the entire film.

Arn: The Knight Templar Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arn: The Knight Templar looks very handsome indeed in this AVC encoded 1080p 2.35:1 Blu-ray. As noted above, this is a film that is sometimes filtered to be largely on the blue side, making it ice cold a lot of the time. Arn and Cecilia's early love scenes by way of contrast play out in a gorgeously sunlit yellow palette. Detail is excellent throughout the film, with the only artifacting issue being chainmail, which can't quite resolve correctly in some close-ups. Colors are beautiful, with some really stunning location footage in Sweden and several deserts. Grain is not overly apparent on this Blu-ray, but there doesn't seem to be any really egregious DNR at work. The bulk of the film is just slightly soft by contemporary standards, but it actually works quite well for this romanticized take on historical subjects. Depth of field is also exceptional in the frequent outdoor segments.

Arn: The Knight Templar Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Arn: The Knight Templar is presented with both a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Surround activity is quite well handled throughout the film, in both the battle sequences (as might be expected) and the many beautiful sylvan moments, when a host of ambient environmental effects surround the listener. The multi-language dialogue is always crisp and clear and there is some superb use of reverb in some of the convent scenes, where voices echo menacingly. Note the very distinctive difference in Andersson's voice in her final scene after Cecilia runs away and hears her from a distance. While some of the underscore is a bit on the cloying side, the music is well mixed into the overall soundfield.

Arn: The Knight Templar Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Two SD Swedish language Behind The Scenes featurettes are offered, dealing with both parts of the original film release. Running 21:30 and 21:23, they cover some good background information and made me want to see an unedited version of both films. The theatrical trailer rounds out the extras.

Arn: The Knight Templar Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This may not rise to the heights of the best historical epics, but Arn has several notable things going for it, including an unusual setting that is largely unknown to most Western audiences. Add in a commanding performance by Bibi Andersson and some really gorgeous location footage, and the elements are all there for an unusual, and unusually emotional, historical romance. While this evidently edited version has some continuity and story logic issues, most fans of this kind of film should enjoy Arn. Recommended.