9 / 10
Kingdom of Heaven is two different films. The theatrical cut is a confused 144-minute medieval action movie that critics dismissed and audiences ignored. The director’s cut is a 194-minute religious epic that is one of the best films Ridley Scott has ever made. If you have only seen the theatrical version, you have not seen the film. Watch the director’s cut.
Scott directed it. William Monahan wrote the screenplay. Orlando Bloom plays Balian of Ibelin, a French blacksmith who discovers he is the bastard son of a Crusader baron and ends up defending Jerusalem against Saladin in 1187. Eva Green plays Sibylla, the king’s sister. Jeremy Irons plays Tiberias, the marshal. Edward Norton plays the leper-king Baldwin IV behind a silver mask. Liam Neeson plays Balian’s father. Ghassan Massoud plays Saladin and steals the film.
The Director’s Cut
Fifty additional minutes of footage transform the film from a competent action picture into a meditation on faith and tolerance during the actual collapse of the crusader kingdoms. Sibylla has an actual subplot in the director’s cut. Balian’s grief over his wife’s suicide has texture. The political situation in Jerusalem makes sense. The whole subplot about Sibylla’s son being secretly a leper, which is the central tragedy of her character, is missing from the theatrical version entirely.
The difference is not minor. The theatrical cut is a 6. The director’s cut is a 9. The studio cut the film to be more commercial. It became less commercial as a result, and almost twenty years later the film exists in the popular memory only because the director’s cut was eventually released on home video.
For Writers
The theatrical cut of Kingdom of Heaven is a case study in what happens when you remove what looks like fat and turns out to have been organ. Sibylla’s subplot looks like padding to a studio executive. It is actually the emotional spine of the film. When it is gone, the rest of the story is connective tissue with nothing to connect. The lesson is that you cannot cut a story by word count alone. You have to know what each scene is doing structurally. Cut the wrong thing and you lose what made the work work.
The Religious Argument
Scott’s film is unusually fair to all three religions involved. The Muslim characters are not villains. Saladin is one of the most decent characters in the film. The Christian fanatics are villains, but the script makes clear that they are villains for being fanatics, not for being Christians. The Knights Templar come off worst because the historical Templars at the relevant time and place were the worst. Norton’s Baldwin IV is a tolerant ruler whose tolerance is the foundation of a working Jerusalem. When he dies, the tolerance dies with him, and Jerusalem falls.
Balian’s final speech to the citizens of Jerusalem during the siege is the thesis of the film. Holiness is in the people, not the place. The script believes this. The film commits to it. The line is not throwaway dialogue.
For Writers
A film about religion that takes religion seriously is rare and difficult. Kingdom of Heaven does not mock faith. It also does not endorse any particular faith. It argues that faith is something humans do and that what they do with it determines whether faith is good or bad. The lesson is that you can write seriously about belief if you understand that belief is not the same as the institution built around it. The honest treatment respects both the believer and the doubt.
The Battle Scenes
The Battle of Kerak and the Siege of Jerusalem are both well-staged. The siege sequence is the better of the two. Scott shoots medieval siege warfare with attention to the actual mechanics: how the towers were built, how the catapults worked, how the defenders responded, what the chaos looked like inside a city wall being breached. The trebuchet bombardment is one of the best sequences of its kind put on film.
The final cavalry charge against the Templars before Balian arrives at Jerusalem is a great set piece on its own merits. The sound design is exceptional throughout.
For Writers
Battle sequences in historical fiction benefit from research more than from invention. The siege of Jerusalem in Kingdom of Heaven works because the mechanics are correct. The towers do what towers did. The defenders respond the way defenders responded. The lesson is that authentic process beats invented spectacle. The reader does not always know what is authentic, but they can feel when something has been thought through and when it has not.
Craft Note
Ridley Scott directed. William Monahan wrote. Orlando Bloom played Balian of Ibelin. Eva Green played Sibylla. Jeremy Irons played Tiberias. Edward Norton played Baldwin IV. Liam Neeson played Godfrey of Ibelin. Ghassan Massoud played Saladin. Brendan Gleeson played Reynald of Châtillon. Marton Csokas played Guy de Lusignan. David Thewlis played the Hospitaller. Theatrical cut released May 2005 at 144 minutes. Director’s cut released on DVD 2006 at 194 minutes. Both versions exist. Watch the director’s cut.
The Verdict
9/10 for the director’s cut. 6/10 for the theatrical cut. The studio cut the wrong things and turned a great film into a mediocre one before release. The director’s cut restores the missing material and produces one of the best historical epics of the 2000s. Watch the long version or do not bother.
FAQ
Is it historically accurate?
Approximately. Balian of Ibelin was real. The siege of Jerusalem in 1187 happened. Baldwin IV, Sibylla, Saladin, and Reynald were real. Specific incidents are compressed or invented. The political situation is depicted with reasonable fidelity to the actual collapse of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Which cut should I watch?
The director’s cut. 194 minutes. Available on Blu-ray and streaming.
Is Edward Norton actually in it?
Yes, behind a silver mask the entire time. He gets one scene where the mask comes off briefly. His performance is entirely vocal and gestural for most of the film and is one of the best things in it.
Is it pro-Christian or pro-Muslim?
Neither. It is pro-tolerance and anti-fanatic regardless of which side the fanatic is on. Saladin is shown as a man of dignity. Baldwin is shown as a tolerant king. The Templar leadership is shown as bigoted opportunists. The film picks a side, but the side is not a religion.
How does it compare to Gladiator?
Different. Gladiator is a revenge film with the Roman empire as backdrop. Kingdom of Heaven is a meditation on faith and tolerance with the Crusades as setting. Director’s cut Kingdom of Heaven is the more ambitious work.
Who is Ghassan Massoud?
A Syrian actor. His performance as Saladin is one of the great supporting performances in any historical epic.
Should I watch this?
Yes. The director’s cut. Set aside the time.