Word: balian
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...worthy adversaries--Balian (Orlando Bloom), leader of the crusading Christian army, and Saladin the Muslim (Ghassan Massoud)--meet to discuss what they're fighting over. "What is Jerusalem worth?" asks Balian. "Nothing," Saladin says. A pause, then: "Everything...
...Christian knight Godfrey (Liam Neeson) enlists his illegitimate son Balian in the Crusades. Godfrey's hope is that they can fashion "a kingdom of conscience, a kingdom of heaven" where "there is peace between Christian and Muslim." Well, one way for peace to come to the region would be for the Christians to leave. That doesn't suit Godfrey and his men. They are soldiers for Christ. They have a mission to achieve, and they will do it, by God. Their God, that...
...violence with slow-motion artistry. The attractive cast can sell an obsession or articulate a conundrum with equal fervor. Eva Green, in the token-girl role every action epic needs, has a classic movie star's beauty and allure, and Bloom has matured splendidly (the beard helps). He gives Balian heft and winsomeness as a pensive man of action...
...what's missing? In movie terms, a rooting interest. In religious terms, a sense of faith. Balian's faith is a wavering, sometime thing. The final decision--to make war or to chuck it--is a matter not of Christian belief but of a secular conscience. That's because Balian is less an ancient warrior than a modern statesman. As a 12th century commander, he is obliged to seize the Holy Land for the church and state he serves. But as a representative of early 21st century liberal thinking, he has to consider a decision that only posterity will deem...