Don’t Be So Political: KINGDOM OF HEAVEN – Director’s Cut

 

 

“This is not heaven. This is the world.”

 

 

Called on to crusade to the Holy Land, a French blacksmith rises rank and defends a besieged Jerusalem from Saladin’s army. 

 

 

Master of the epic, Ridley Scott chronicles the Crusades of the 12th Century. Building to one of the great sieges ever put to film, Kingdom of Heaven recounts one episode in the eternal fighting over the Holy Land. Large set pieces and immersive production design on mostly practical locations recreates a brutal time in history on beautifully shot 35mm film. One of the last true sword and sand epics out of Hollywood, the film takes on a scale rarely seen since. 

 

 

The film was released a few years after 9/11, when war and violence between the US and its allies and Middle Eastern nations dominated the news. Today, the US army is back in the region (this time with far fewer allies) and has restarted the cycle of violence. With rising Christian nationalism in the States and an unclear set of objectives for their war, some have likened it to a modern Crusade. A military adventure at great human and monetary cost for reasons unclear.