A Knight's Tale

IT'S 14TH Century England. A jousting tournament is in progress. One of the knights dies and his valet William Thatcher (Heath Ledger), a peas-ant's son, takes his place, rechristens himself Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein... and a legend is born. Columbia Pictures' "A Knight's Tale" is a fairy tale about a young man who over-comes obstacles to "reach for the stars" and his motto is -- "We can do this We can be champions".

The time-tested 'Good vs. Evil' theme reappears this time cloaked in a costume drama. If ` good` takes the form of William Thatcher, a self-made handsome young man who realises his dream, 'evil' takes the form of charismatic champion Count Adhermer (Rufus Sewell), who will go to any length to quell the rising popularity of `Sir Ulrich.'

To add that dash of romance, we have the beautiful Joselyn (Shannyn Sossamon), who wants her hero to lose to prove his love, and of course, Sir Ulrich obliges, at least during one game!

There's the aspiring poet-writ-er Geoff Chaucer (yes, the same one who wrote The Canterbury Tales, played with conviction by Paul Bettany), whose wisecracks keep you in splits.

William's band includes the level-headed Roland (Mark Addy), the fiery Wat (Alan Tudyk) and Kate, a blacksmith.

The music, very contemporary, sets the tone for the film, which opens with Queen's "We Will Rock You". An interesting dance sequence is set to David Bowie's "Golden Years" (Bowie in fact pitched in while composing the music for the film) while William and his gang get set for the grand tournament to Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town".

Funny, emotional, romantic and action-packed... that is what Brian Helgeland (won an Oscar for Scripting "L.A. Confidential") wanted his film to be. And that's what "A Knight's Tale" is. It may not be authentic at all, but it does not really matter. What matters is that the film is entertaining and appealing, despite its predictability.

SAVITHA GAUTAM

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