It is very difficult to make a film set during the feudal era. After all, studios do want to make money and the lack of flash involving a story of common folk is a hard sell. Now it IS possible to make an exciting film about Medieval life--"The Vikings" (1958) is a great example as are pageantry films like "Ivanhoe" and "Robin Hood". But in general, the life of most during this period in history was pretty ordinary. There are no explosions, colors are muted and haircuts pretty bad (just look at Charlton Heston in this film)--and it takes real creativity to make an exciting film about this era--especially when "The War Lord" lacks the wild story elements of these other films. So, I had relatively low expectations for "The War Lord"--as making an engaging story would be an uphill battle.
The film begins with Heston playing a favored knight working for a Duke in Norman Europe (modern day northwestern France). Heston's job as the new lord is to go into a godforsaken part of the kingdom and set to rebuilding its castle and restoring the Duke's authority. It seems that the old knight in charge of the region was remiss in his duties and the land fell into ruin. By saying 'remiss', I mean the guy was more interested in despoiling the local maidens and not much else and let the locals practice their old pagan ways! As for Heston's men, they, too, seem mostly interested in raping the local lasses. As for Heston, he's an enigma. Although he condemns such activities, when he meets up with a local lady about to be ravished, he's not exactly chaste--as he stands there staring at her nudity. And, through the course of the film, he seems almost 'bewitched' by this woman--though she doesn't seem to encourage him.
The main theme of the film seems to be the clash between traditional values--paganism versus Christianity. Although the folks say they are good Christians, they retain many old ways. And, Heston is not exactly a bastion of Christian goodness, as through the course of the film he loses his moral compass. Eventually, he seems bent on exercising the feudal right of a lord to sleep with a virgin on her wedding night ("droit du seigneur"). I did some research on this right and apparently there really isn't any historical proof that such a privilege ever existed--especially since it would be hard to reconcile this with the teachings of the Church (of course, MANY behaviors by the nobles violated Biblical teaching during this time period--the whole 'thou shalt not kill' thing was pretty much ignored).
The film might irritate some, as when Heston does exercise this probably fictional right, the fair lass was quite willing. This might tend to promote the old rape myth--the one that says women protest but they WANT to be ravished by a man who won't take no for an answer. It irritated me more for it promoting bad history (in regard to the supposed right) but in some other ways it was excellent history. Knights did pretty much bully the serfs and Heston's men wanting to do as they pleased to the poor folk was very possible. And, although the film was a bit slow, it did show life for the lower ranks of the nobility--a group pretty much ignored in other films. But I couldn't look past that the film was not particularly enjoyable or interesting--thank goodness at least it had a battle near the end to add some excitement. And, I am sure, at the time the film wasn't much of a success because of this.
Some low-lights of the film would include Maurice Evans' character. This priest was VERY confusing--very pagan AND very Christian at the same time! He just didn't make much sense. Nor, now that I think about it, did the actions of Heston, the hot lady (Rosemary Forsyth) or many of the other characters.
The highlights, at least for me, included a nearly naked Heston fighting against the evil Frisians--and shoving fire in the guy's face! It was cool...and a bit funny. And, seeing the boiling oil tossed on the Frisians near the end was pretty exciting...in a low-brow sort of way.
As for me, I still prefer "The Vikings" and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". In fact, repeatedly through the latter portion of the film I kept expecting to see the Trojan Rabbit or hear Heston tell his men "fetchez the vache".
The film begins with Heston playing a favored knight working for a Duke in Norman Europe (modern day northwestern France). Heston's job as the new lord is to go into a godforsaken part of the kingdom and set to rebuilding its castle and restoring the Duke's authority. It seems that the old knight in charge of the region was remiss in his duties and the land fell into ruin. By saying 'remiss', I mean the guy was more interested in despoiling the local maidens and not much else and let the locals practice their old pagan ways! As for Heston's men, they, too, seem mostly interested in raping the local lasses. As for Heston, he's an enigma. Although he condemns such activities, when he meets up with a local lady about to be ravished, he's not exactly chaste--as he stands there staring at her nudity. And, through the course of the film, he seems almost 'bewitched' by this woman--though she doesn't seem to encourage him.
The main theme of the film seems to be the clash between traditional values--paganism versus Christianity. Although the folks say they are good Christians, they retain many old ways. And, Heston is not exactly a bastion of Christian goodness, as through the course of the film he loses his moral compass. Eventually, he seems bent on exercising the feudal right of a lord to sleep with a virgin on her wedding night ("droit du seigneur"). I did some research on this right and apparently there really isn't any historical proof that such a privilege ever existed--especially since it would be hard to reconcile this with the teachings of the Church (of course, MANY behaviors by the nobles violated Biblical teaching during this time period--the whole 'thou shalt not kill' thing was pretty much ignored).
The film might irritate some, as when Heston does exercise this probably fictional right, the fair lass was quite willing. This might tend to promote the old rape myth--the one that says women protest but they WANT to be ravished by a man who won't take no for an answer. It irritated me more for it promoting bad history (in regard to the supposed right) but in some other ways it was excellent history. Knights did pretty much bully the serfs and Heston's men wanting to do as they pleased to the poor folk was very possible. And, although the film was a bit slow, it did show life for the lower ranks of the nobility--a group pretty much ignored in other films. But I couldn't look past that the film was not particularly enjoyable or interesting--thank goodness at least it had a battle near the end to add some excitement. And, I am sure, at the time the film wasn't much of a success because of this.
Some low-lights of the film would include Maurice Evans' character. This priest was VERY confusing--very pagan AND very Christian at the same time! He just didn't make much sense. Nor, now that I think about it, did the actions of Heston, the hot lady (Rosemary Forsyth) or many of the other characters.
The highlights, at least for me, included a nearly naked Heston fighting against the evil Frisians--and shoving fire in the guy's face! It was cool...and a bit funny. And, seeing the boiling oil tossed on the Frisians near the end was pretty exciting...in a low-brow sort of way.
As for me, I still prefer "The Vikings" and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". In fact, repeatedly through the latter portion of the film I kept expecting to see the Trojan Rabbit or hear Heston tell his men "fetchez the vache".