A KNIGHT’S TALE Will Still Rock You

do you remember that time when the Joker Vision Robert Baratheon gustering's business partner and the robot from Rogue one teamed up to make a romantic comedy about jousting and it ended up being one of the best movies ever made what am I talking about of course you do [Applause] [Applause] it's called a loss hello and Knight's Tale is everything a movie should be It's a drama about competition and honor in proving yourself it's a medieval action movie with knights and sword fights and horses it's a coming-of-age story about identity and self-discovery it's a tale of friendship of found families and fellowship it's a romance and of course it's a comedy would you care if I were ugly I mean no no Knight's Tale is the way in which it balances this humor with its real emotional and dramatic heart a heart that is grounded in the simply outstanding Chemistry Between the main cast and Heath Ledges frankly insane levels of charm and Charisma a deep genuine romance drives the story as do the actions of a menacing and scheming villain and it's all set in medieval Europe and backed up by a rock track with Queen David Bowie and AC DC oh and for some reason there's lots of thonging involved I'm well aware a good fogging is on the way I'm about this call me close tonight I swear to God you can see why when I included a three second clip of A Knight's Tale in my last video I got a deluge of comments not about the topic of that video but about this one people love it and despite only performing moderately well at the box office this mid budget romantic comedy historical sports movie went on to firmly Lodge itself in the pop culture conscience of an entire generation so before we look at why people still love a nightstale more than two decades after it came out let's take a quick look at how it came to be made in the first place because on paper you wouldn't think that a romantic comedy historical sports movie would ever get approved by a studio or that a studio would allow it to be directed by someone who only ever made one movie before a movie that he was fired from so maybe that's a good place to start the writer and director of a night sale was Brian helglen who was very much an up-and-coming screenwriter in Hollywood in the late 1990s after writing a couple of low budget horror flicks helgelin's Big Break as a screenwriter came in 1997 when he won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for LA Confidential a crime Thriller set in the 1950s that got nominated for eight other Oscars funnily enough he also won a Razzie award for worst screenplay for the postman making him one of only three people to win an Oscar and a rezzy in the same year but LA Confidential was good enough to get the attention of the right people and in 1999 he got his first directing job on Payback an action movie starring Mel Gibson at helgerland also wrote it wasn't a great directorial debut he clashed with Gibson who was also the movie's producer and was effectively fired from the production helgeland's name still appears in the credits but the final product is very much not his vision he later released the director's cut which is a much better movie so that was the entire history of Brian helgelin's filmmaking career up until he made A Knight's Tale in 2001. some horror movies a couple of police action thrillers and one attempt to direct him that saw him fired by the lead actor so you might be wondering why the hell he chose to make a romantic comedy historical sports movie well it was actually because of the issues he had making payback when I was done with it problems with the star and the studio and lots of things I wanted to do something that took me back more to loving films in the first place now if you're a writer or any sort of creative you'll know that you have a list of potential ideas that is far longer than anything you'd ever end up finishing I mean helgeland himself has said that he's written over 60 screenplays only about a third of which have ever been produced he is clearly a writer who tries out a lot of different things and sees what works and when it came to writing a night style he took one of those ideas and ran with it I wanted to do a ghosting movie for three days and then I put all the notes away and I thought that's the dumbest idea I ever had when I was looking for something to do after payback I dragged all my old notes out and I got to that one and there was one line in there from the research I had done which said you had to be Noble to compete and I thought to myself well that's it once he had written the script helgelin shopped it around Hollywood and managed to sell it to Sony almost immediately now this was partly because of helgerland's writing profile file and the quality of the script but it was also because movie studios in the early 2000s were just much more willing to take chances on smaller projects A Knight's Tale made a modest profit in theaters but by no means a large one by Hollywood standards to be fair it was being released alongside Shrek which was an absolute Juggernaut but not doing well in theaters was less of an issue for studios in the early 2000s because at that time movies got two bites at the Cherry in theaters and on home video it wasn't uncommon for movies to make half if not more than half of their total revenue through home media sales so even if they had a lukewarm run instead of us they could and did find a new life months or sometimes years later some of the most iconic and influential films of all time had bad receptions during their theatrical runs but thanks to her video they were gradually discovered and over time went on to become icons as well as turning a profit for the studios today movies like a night sale get one shot at doing well in theaters and if they do poorly they're quickly consigned to a streaming service where they'll slowly languish into obscurity until eventually they get deleted entirely so that the studio won't have to keep paying residuals to the artists who meet them anyway the state of modern Hollywood is the subject of another video but yeah word of mouth after its theatrical run spurred home media sales and that's how a night sale went on to become so popular and so well known despite it first only making a modest profit now if you've clicked this video I assume you already know the story of the film but for those in the back not sitting on a cushion it tells the story of William Thatcher a squire pretending to be a knight so he can compete in jousting tournaments and win glory and riches cheers he is aided in his quest by his friends Roland any minute now and of course what oh my God along the way he meets Geoffrey Corsa a writer what what a what a writer and Kate the blacksmith I feel a woman or a blacksmith sometimes they're both he also meets the beautiful Jocelyn who he falls in love with and the evil count adamar who he does not fall in love with although with the right editing he does foreign ER alert will has inevitably found out but because he impressed the heir to the English throne in an earlier tournament he is knighted and goes on to defeat adamar and get the girl the story is a textbook hero's journey but that's not a bad thing writing tropes and structures exist for a reason they offer a framework from which you can hang a story what matters is not whether a story is predictable but whether the writer can get us to connect with the characters along the way as you've probably gathered by now that is very much what A Knight's Tale does production began in the year 2000 helgalind was attached to his director and given a budget of 65 million dollars a respectable sum but by no means huge for a context of some other movies being made around the same time Harry Potter's budget was about double that at 125 million dollars while the Fast and the Furious was just under half at 38 million dollars and speaking of Fast and the Furious the only other actor seriously considered for the role of will Thatcher was Paul Walker but helgeland felt that he wouldn't get the englishness of the movie so instead he cast Australian actor Heath Ledger who was still pretty unknown at this time his breakout role in The Patriot hadn't yet been released to General audiences but the executives were really pleased with what they were seeing and so they were happy to bank on his talent enough to make him the lead in a nightstale also the fact that it looked like this probably had something to do with it ledra is very much the heart of this movie it was a huge responsibility to lead a film like this at the age of just 21 but his boyish charm and Relentless optimism just come through in every scene right from the start when he flashes us this smile we are 100 on his side but he also built an Earnest sincerity to the role the same sincerity that drives William's ambition and passion I mean take this scene oh God I could have one thing would be to stop the Moon stop the moon and make this night or beauty last forever or this one he wanted you to know that he changed his stance after all is the writing corny absolutely it is but Ledger plays it so passionately and so sincerely that we cannot help but be caught up in it and get bought along for the journey with him he bought something unique and genuine to every role he had in his sadly short career and it All Began here with William Thatcher a character who like the young kid from Western Australia was determined to change his stars but even more unknown than Heath Ledger was Shannon Sossaman who plays Jocelyn the main love interest of the film and winner of the spikiest hair award which in 2001 was a tough competition this was in fact sosman's first ever film acting role before this she was just DJing at celebrity parties in Hollywood Shannon was working as a DJ at the birthday party for Gwyneth Paltrow's brother and casting director of Francine misler talked to her and really liked her and asked her to come in and read for this movie she was cast after doing a screen test with Heath Ledger where their chemistry was immediately apparent and I think she did a fantastic job in this movie Jocelyn is a woman who feels trapped by the structures of the time she finds herself in not being able to marry For Love or have the independence he so clearly wants instead she has to get the rules of jousting mansplained to her by count adamar and then endure night after night promising to win the tournament in her name each thinking they're being very romantic and original despite saying exactly the same thing with the protagonist and love interest sorted the filmmakers now had to find someone to play the villain Rufus Sewell was ultimately cast as we all know but do you know who very nearly got the role trust me if you watch this channel you know his name the name's Bond James Bond that's right a few years before Bond Daniel Craig auditioned for count edema now we saw how well he can play a bad guy in Tintin and apparently helgeland was impressed but he felt that the lead and the antagonist couldn't both have blonde hair and so he went with Rufus Sewell to emphasize the contrast between hero and villain which was the right call and I'm sure Daniel Craig isn't losing too much sleep over their decision oh and speaking of James Bond the cast often joked that James Purefoy who plays the black prince of Wales would go on to be cast as 007 and yeah I can see it I mean just look at the man [Music] also speaking of James Bond the stunt coordinator for a lot of the jousting scenes was none other than Paul Weston who is a stuntman on 10 Bond films Bond Geeks like me will recognize him as this guy yeah okay okay okay I'll stop with the James Bond trivia for now because it's time to talk about Jeffrey Charles is the name writing's the game even though this was one of Paul bitney's first film roles helgeland had written the role of Corsa specifically with the actor in mind but the studio Executives weren't convinced that he could do comedy I mean they wanted to cast Hugh Grant but helgeland fought tooth and nail to keep bittany going as fast to threaten not to make the movie at all if they didn't cast him and because he had had prior form of actually not making a movie I guess they then said fine you can let him be in your picture I will be forever grateful to Brian helgelin for this Jeffrey Chaucer isn't just my favorite character in A Knight's Tale he's one of my favorite characters in all of fiction a character with Incredible humor and Charisma wit and confidence but also sensitivity and passion a character who grew from someone giving in to their weaknesses and only looking out for himself to someone who came to genuinely care for and love his new family courses also by far the most perceptive and emotionally intelligent member of the group every so often he gets this look in his eye when you can tell he's worked something out he is always the one giving Will advice when he doesn't understand the social cue don't you ever get tired of putting on clothes I believe she's talking about taking them off a lot or reigning and others in the group go and see for auric or just generally knowing exactly what to say and how to say it did she see me take the hair yeah she saw you take the hit or was she concerned it was purple her eyes weld up it was off now we all love his famous speeches of course where he Rouses the crowd and Hypes them up for William or should I say sir but my favorite Chaucer moment is when will is in the stocks his friends come to defend him armed with weapons or the tools of their trade but Chaucer only has his words but the crowd drans him out and you can just see in his eyes that if he could just get them to listen they would come to understand that his words cannot work if there is no one to hear them and there is actually a deleted scene that shows us what Chaucer would have said in this moment and Paul Bentley acts the hell out of it I ask you what makes a man Noble his lineage or his heart and what are nightly virtues and who decides who may possess them my Lord it's true was born poor in cheap side London and so what but this scene ends with the crowd on William's side chanting his name and being totally convinced by Chaucer which kind of leaves Prince handsome with nothing to do when he shows up so you can see why it was cut carrying on through the main cast and we have Laura Fraser as Kate who brings not just her skill as a blacksmith to the group but also a beautiful level of wit and fun because she doesn't take any crap from the boys oh and he can do better can you of course I can and one of the things I love about Kate is the fact that the film never plays down her femininity in order for her to be accepted into the group the film never feels the need to show her drinking them under the table or winning a fight in order to prove her value she doesn't have to be one of the lads she can just be Kate it's very romantic though you're a woman or a blacksman [Music] then King Baratheon himself Mark Eddie was cast as Roland and despite what will might think Roland is in fact the leader of the group they all look to him for advice calm and rationality and his word is usually final well the pope may be French but Jesus is English you're on and last but of course not least who can forget Alan Tudyk as what what what is the clown of the group and I just love how he's constantly right on the edge and has absolutely no filter or control over his rage I will fog you there are so many little quirks and details of his performance that just make him a delight to watch even if he's not saying anything and he's also got one of the best moments in the film when he closes the loop of Will's hero's journey in the first scene of the movie Roland sees what will is trying to do and he says I'm asking you William Thatcher to answer me with your name it's not Sir William it's not count or Duke or Earl William and then in the final scene what gets to say this yourself William Thatcher that's some good planting and payoff right there these Five actors are the absolute heart and soul of this movie and I think the fact that they were all more or less unknown at this point was part of the reason for this a night style filmed almost entirely in the Czech Republic and so the whole cast moved there for the entire shoot with the exception of Eddie and Sewell they were all in their 20s at this time and so they became fast friends in real life enjoying Prague and getting to work together day after day on such a fun and exciting movie we had a joy making that movie it's in the movie and I think a lot of times when you're making a movie how you make it becomes what the movie is and if you have a kind of sincerity it shows up in the movie it leads into the movie and that movie had a joy to it all the way through that's on the screen and I think people recognize it this is a true Band of Brothers and the chemistry and bond that their characters Forge and the story of the film was replicated in real life and night's tale is a story of friendship more than the hero's journey of will or the romance it's a story that tells us that no one can go It Alone we need friends we need a family each of these people bring something to the table to help will change his Stars well I say everyone maybe not you and take the scene where they are all helping will write his letter to Jocelyn it's one of the best scenes of the movie because it reveals how all of these characters are brokenhearted in one way or another they've all lost something but in this group they have found trust and comfort they show their deepest vulnerabilities to each other and not once is there a joke or a cynical sarcastic quip it's real and sincere and it moves us these characters love each other and they aren't afraid to say it God love you William so do I and this friendship has not just conveyed through the acting and the dialogue it's baked into the filmmaking language and take a shot like this one where all of the fellowship are framed together it's an efficient way to film the scene sure but it's also telling us that these people belong together this is intentional and it's not just this shot there's the homage to the right stuff of course that's an obvious example but throughout the film you almost never see any of this group framed by themselves except for will you almost always have a group of them together in the frame and Brian helgelin does a similar thing with the romance he often frames will and Jocelyn together so that we can see not just the actor who is speaking but the reaction of the other in the scene where they finally uh joust the conversation leading up to it all takes place in a single shot that lasts over a minute with the camera slowly pulling in closer and closer until finally their faces are the only thing in the frame this right here this is filmmaking language you might not consciously notice it at first but you still understand what it is saying and helgelin didn't limit this approach approach to the characters he did it with the locations as well my camera operator I'm like proud for said to me one day show the world and let the people decide what part of it they want to look at over 12 weeks real sets were constructed in the Czech Republic which were filled with the local extras to make up the crowds one of the reasons the film has aged so well is because nothing you're looking at in scenes like this is fake but besides helgeland the other person who deserves a mention is Alan Graf the second unit director Graf was responsible for shooting most of the crowd scenes and the jousting stunt work anything involving the main cast was helgerland but as soon as the visors went down the second unit took over graph is a bit of an all-rounder but most importantly for this film was his background as a professional American footballer and as a stunt coordinator on a whole host of Sports movies so he was the perfect person to trust with this project something that helgeland really wanted to convey was how jousting was a sport just as popular as American football or proper football is today and this is conveyed to us through the crowds there's their chanting of the singing this the boozy beer Bros there's the guy selling food and drink there's even shots like this one of the crowd trying to catch the ball or the wave or the face painting and of course the proper English football charts it's blunt he's pissed [Applause] all of these things are immediately recognizable to Modern audiences and so they help us understand what this sport means to the characters in the film who cares that the wave wasn't first seen until around the late 1970s we know what this is and it immediately puts us at ease which brings us to the music some boring people who don't know how to enjoy themselves criticize the music for not being historically accurate and felt that modern pop songs being played over a medieval setting was anachronistic and jarring hey someone came up to me and said you know they didn't have Queen in them in medieval times and I felt quite foolish when I found that out it was one of those exclusives stupid like the sports comparisons the music and the night style is shorthand to help the viewers understand the feelings of the characters the movie isn't telling us that David Bowie is actually playing at the ball but if they played the medieval equivalent with loots and what have you then would just alienate us as viewers what the film is telling us is that these characters are listening to a funky fast-paced feel-good song and so it plays the song we will recognize to convey that emotion to the audience oh and more importantly it's this cool as hell and makes the movie a thousand times more fun than if they just played some generic orchestral score like it's a Jane Austen adaptation which by the way is not any less historically accurate than Queen because the instruments in an orchestra also didn't exist in the 14th century when this is set if you want perfect historical accuracy then none of the casts would have any teeth and they'd all be speaking entirely in Latin and medieval English but they speak Modern English so that we can you know understand it the modern music is exactly the same just like the modern clothes are we want these characters to look good and be relatable which is not easy when you're wearing something like this of course if this was a more serious drama then greater levels of authenticity might be more important to help ground the story but this is a fun contemporary romantic comedy and so right from the start it plays we will rock you to tell you not to expect a deeply researched perfectly accurate portrait of life in medieval England but that's not to say it's completely devoid of research as we saw earlier the entire premise of the film came from a historical fact that only Nobles could compete in jousting tournaments while characters like Jeffrey Chaucer and the black prince of Wales are real historical figures and there's actually a period of Jeffrey cross's life that's largely unaccounted for by historians and so helgeland decided that this would be a good explanation for him showing up here and going on to write the Knight's Tale which is the first story in the Canterbury Tales one of the most famous works of English literature and a book that has zero similarity to this movie except for these two decades I will eviscerate you in fiction God I love Chaucer imagine saying that to someone and although it's Legion not history one of the stories of King Arthur is the inspiration behind the defining moment of Will and Jocelyn's relationship you would prove your love right you should do your worst instead of winning to honor me with your high reputation I want you to act against your normal character and do badly do badly Blues this was lifted directly from one of the tales of Lancelot and Guinevere which is why we get aligned to that effect from Chaucer but this scene also shows why Jocelyn's character works so well as a love interest for William like will Jocelyn is also someone who is unsatisfied with the social rules that tell them who they have to be her telling well to lose is a way that she can take control and instead of having people pledge their self-interest to her she is for once able to ask that her needs be put first when it also lets her say one of the sassiest lines in the movie do not is another one that was all filmed in a single take over three minutes of very careful blocking and framing that means that even without the sound we can still follow what is happening between these characters when the scene comes to its climax we suddenly pull in on these close-ups a stack contrasts to the wide shot and placing a heavy emphasis on this exchange I will not lose anyway as you can probably tell from how long this video is getting I could truly talk about this movie all day so rather than going on and on let me just finish by listing some of the other things I love about this movie that I haven't already mentioned what's treating surrector like the dead parrot from Monty Python not that you wake up this being the best sports training montage of any movie partly because of this line I think he's getting worse he is getting worse Chaucer's entire introduction what are you doing uh tragic the look Chaucer gives watch while he's being threatened the fact that Shannon Sossaman improvised this line that is lovely will choosing to trust and bail out Chaucer being his First Act of nobility and the first step he takes to becoming a true Knight this guy The Silence of the crowd followed by this [Applause] fun fact that scene was real the check extras extras didn't speak any English and so they didn't know that they were supposed to cheer after the speech mark Addy actually did this to Spur them on and they decided it was funnier than what they'd originally written and so they filmed it properly the way that well manipulates Kate into helping by playing on her insecurities the DC I couldn't do it because I'm a woman no they said you were great with horseshoes but shape with armor the fact that you're a woman wasn't even mentioned and then later Kate manipulates will into testing the armor by playing on his insecurities do you at least have the courage to test it cross's entire speech the fact that what is still sleeping with the pillow that they got with the prize in the first scene Jocelyn teasing the living hell out of adamar I myself Jocelyn have never been unhost nor have I the way that they got this shot by swinging a camera guy off a crane which also closing Roland's mouth when he first sees Christiana Roland planning to dress well up in the fabric of their tent and the rest of the gang just slowly realizing what's happening what punching Chaucer Kate watching them dance this exchange you're not gonna wear your hair like that are you [Music] is there another way Jocelyn's historically accurate hair extensions the entire dance scene to Golden Years the way that will says I didn't feel a thing this line it's called alas hello the moment when the letter writing ends like this William and will has to confront the reality that he's living a lie and is still not a true Knight Will's reaction to being kissed yes yes dude that means yeah the team betting against the French line losing oh neither do I hate catching the lands the size of Heath Ledger's eye roll this little nodder between seikter and Will's father the fact that the Boatman in the flashback is the same as the one in the present emphasizing why it's so important to will that he changed his Stars the parade too The Boys Are Back in Town The heartfelt and beautiful reunion between will and his father and how the film isn't afraid to show us the genuine love between these characters with utter sincerity when all of Will's friends tell him to run but he chooses to stand his ground and Roland says this well boys all good things must come to an end attend them together the look on Will's face when he realizes What's Happening Here Chaucer stalling the flag with his final speech will yelling his name in slow motion where edema hovers and mid-air completely alone looking up at will and his friends the fact that will who is just stabbed in the shoulder is now apparently healed enough to do this two minutes later chorus's final line all human activity lies within the artist's scope maybe not yours the movie ending by pounding from Will and Jocelyn up to the stars and then blasting AC DC and of course the end credit scene that no one knows about where the gang have a farting competition seriously [Applause] there's a moment towards the end of the movie where Chaucer says this days like these far too rat and sheep with heavy-handed words I kind of feel the same way about A Knight's Tale these days movies like this are far too rare to cheapen with heavy-handed words or overly detailed analysis but I hope that this video has helped explain why I and so many other people love this movie so much and why it will forever hold a special place in my heart foreign [Applause]

Channel: Pentex Productions

Views: 146,260

Keywords: A Knight's Tale, A Knight's Tale video essay, A Knight's Tale analysis, a knights tale, a nights tale, a knights tale heath ledger, a knights tale paul bettany, chaucer, geoffrey chaucer, geoffery chaucer paul bettany, a knights tale trailer, a knights tale best scenes, a knights tale review, brian helgeland, brian helgeland a knights tale, brian helgeland interview, a knights tale deleted scenes, a knights tale behind the scenes, pentex, pentex productions

Id: gRnxMjaQh8g

Length: 27min 59sec (1679 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 19 2023