There's a lot to really like in this film adaption of "The Moral Play" that is beautifully filmed and has some fabulous characterizations but unfortunately, those two don't often mix well. The spinning camera at times distracts from the excellence of the script and the story and some fantastic individual characters, and the conflict of style and substance results in a perplexing film. It is a story of a traveling theater troupe utilizing a horrifying situation involving a young woman on trial for the murder she obviously did not commit to expose the real killer, and the details of that reveal some repulsive truths about the noblemen of the middle ages.
Starring Paul Bettany as a priest who becomes involved with the traveling theater troupe, this documents his journey from accidentally discovering them to becoming one of them. Willem Dafoe gives a great performance as the head of the troop, with Gina McKee as the accused sentence to be tortured and hanged for the murder of a young boy. Then there's Vincent Cassel as the powerful Lord who has used his position for great evil, making him the villain of the film and one of the best bad guys in a historical film since Tim Roth in "Rob Roy". The film is rather slow at times, but it is surprisingly gripping because of the details that draw you in it by a bit rather than rushing into the action and conflict without setting it up. It's definitely a case of less is more because stylistic film tricks just creates a mood that would have been better served without all of these tics.
Starring Paul Bettany as a priest who becomes involved with the traveling theater troupe, this documents his journey from accidentally discovering them to becoming one of them. Willem Dafoe gives a great performance as the head of the troop, with Gina McKee as the accused sentence to be tortured and hanged for the murder of a young boy. Then there's Vincent Cassel as the powerful Lord who has used his position for great evil, making him the villain of the film and one of the best bad guys in a historical film since Tim Roth in "Rob Roy". The film is rather slow at times, but it is surprisingly gripping because of the details that draw you in it by a bit rather than rushing into the action and conflict without setting it up. It's definitely a case of less is more because stylistic film tricks just creates a mood that would have been better served without all of these tics.