Movie distorts Crusader and Templar History
Tekst en Foto's : Jan Hosten, 2004
History is becoming more and more a source of inspiration for big business cinema. After Gladiator and more recently King Arthur, the award-winning editor Sir Ridley Scott, takes on the Crusades at end of the XIIth Century. Scott portrays his movie as being historically correct, but repeats clichés and fails to base his story upon the latest historical research. Saladin is once again the perfect knight and the Templars are once more the bad guys …
Image :
Orlando Bloom features as Balian of Ibelin in the movie “Kingdom of Heaven”.
In June
2005, the movie “Kingdom of Heaven” will be presented to the audience in the
United States. Sir Ridley Scott,
director of movies like Black Hawk Down and Gladiator, takes us back to the
reign of King Baldwin IV (1161-1185) and to the later Battle of Hattin in 1187.
He was succeeded by the infant Baldwin V and soon after by his brother-in-law,
Guy de Lusigan. In the forthcoming movie, a group of muslims, christians and
jews join together in a brotherhood. Regardless of their faith, they work
together against the “evil” Guy and the “evil” Templars. They were working
together," the film's spokesman said. "It was a strong bond until the
Knights Templar caused friction between them.
At the end of our picture, our heroes defend the Muslims, which was
historically correct", said Sir Ridley’s spokesman. Some of the world most
respected historians say the movie “distorsts” the history of the Crusades and
puts the Arabs in a favourable light. We have gathered some reactions.
“RUBBISH,
RIDICULOUS, COMPLETE FICTION …”
Prof
Riley-Smith, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge University, said
the plot was "complete and utter nonsense and that it relied on the
romanticised view of the Crusades propagated by Sir Walter Scott in his book
The Talisman, published in 1825 and now discredited by academics. The Talisman
depicts the Muslims as sophisticated and civilised, and the Crusaders are all
brutes and barbarians. It has nothing to do with reality." Professor
Riley-Smith attacked the plot of Kingdom of Heaven, describing it as
"rubbish", "ridiculous", "complete fiction" and
"dangerous to Arab relations". “It's not historically accurate at
all. Guy of Lusignan lost the Battle of Hattin against Saladin, yes, but he
wasn't any badder or better than anyone else. There was never a confraternity
of Muslims, Jews and Christians. That is utter nonsense. Sir Ridley's efforts
are misguided and pander to Islamic fundamentalism. It's Osama bin Laden's
version of history. It will fuel the Islamic fundamentalists."
Robert
Spencer published a study on global Jihad : “In my book Onward Muslim Soldiers,
I spend a chapter debunking the myth of Muslim Spain — the idea that Al-Andalus
was in the Middle Ages a beacon of tolerance where Muslims, Jews, and
Christians lived together in harmony.”
Dr Jonathan
Philips, a lecturer in history at London University and author of The Fourth
Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, says “The film relied on an outdated
portrayal of the Crusades and could not be described as a history lesson. The
Templars as 'baddies' is only sustainable from the Muslim perspective, and
'baddies' is the wrong way to show it anyway. They were the biggest threat to
the Muslims and many ended up being killed because their sworn vocation is to
defend the Holy Land. Venerating Saladin, who was largely ignored by Arab
history until he was reinvented by romantic historians in the 19th century, Sir
Ridley was following both Saddam Hussein and Hafez Assad, the former Syrian
dictator. Both leaders commissioned huge portraits and statues of Saladin, who
was actually a Kurd, to bolster Arab Muslim pride.”
Amin
Maalouf, the French historian and author of The Crusades Through Arab Eyes,
said: "It does not do any good to distort history, even if you believe you
are distorting it in a good way. Cruelty was not on one side but on all."
Ridley
Scott has chosen one of the most difficult crusader-eras as a setting for his
movie. Many historians have failed to give us a fair and objective view of the
events in 1187. The French historian Marion Melville completely misinterpreted
the situation in her book “La vie des Templiers” and depicts the Templar Master
Gerard of Riderfort as the vilain who influenced the “weak” king Guy of
Lusignan. She jumps to conclusions without giving us the sources of her
information, fails to consult all the primary sources and adds conversations
that may never have taken place. Unfortunately, many historians after here,
based their publications upon her work. Even the respected Alain Demurger
quotes too often Marion Melville on important issues.
Picture : Loarre Castle in northern Spain is used as the setting of the movie, a replica of Jerusalem has been built in the Moroccan desert.
Sources :
Edwards C.
“Ridley Scott”s new Crusades film ‘panders to Osama bin Laden’, The Telegraph,
18th of January 2004
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