The shadow of the sword dimmed, and the distant drum horns fought. Epic movies, because of the vastness of the extreme sky and the desolation at hand, can always give people an unparalleled shock. And limited by the constraints of funding, quick success, pattern and public opinion orientation, the great epic movie is of course rare and precious, such as this "Heavenly Kingdom Dynasty" destroyed by the theatrical version, after watching the [194-minute director's edited version] will know that only handsome men and beautiful women and old drama bone support scenes, with the grand war scenes that attract attention, are still embarrassed by the word "epic"; and restore the story destroyed by the scissor hand, the purpose and logic of the characters' thoughts and behaviors, in order to bear the entrustment of history. The ideal of the author, and the soul of the film.
Poster for the movie Dynasty of Heaven
The full version of "Heavenly Dynasty" is a masterpiece that is comparable to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Gladiator", "Braveheart" and other film history classics, and even more precious in terms of historical and humanistic values. If one has to fight for faith, it is by no means a religious struggle that has been frantic for thousands of years, for centuries of holy cities in heaven, and for crusades to plunder and kill in the name of the Bible; if a halt to war can save the lives of a city's people, a perfect knight does not hesitate to sacrifice Jerusalem to a great enemy.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > the perfect knight Balian — nobleman and blacksmith, think and believe</h1>
Historically, during the Crusades of the 12th century, there was indeed a Balian man. However, he was an aristocrat from beginning to end, not a blacksmith. He took part in the Battle of Harding in 1187, but could not avoid the fate of routing with the army. After escaping death, he returned to Jerusalem as the main commander to lead the Battle of jerusalem to defend the city, and finally personally reached an agreement with Saladin to sacrifice the city peacefully.
It is true that he held Jerusalem at an absolute disadvantage. Even muslim histories see him as king of Jerusalem because they don't want to admit it, but a lord, not a great king, who once stood in the way of their great Saladin.
The Balian in the film has a more tortuous and legendary life and experience, he is a blacksmith but not mediocre, he is also a mechanical engineer, he has designed and manufactured siege machinery, "help one king fight another king". Therefore, his knightly biological father wanted to take him to the holy city, not only because Balian was his illegitimate son, but also because he had the talent to serve the king and continue his ideals.
Balian kills the priest and becomes a fugitive, and the cross that the priest stole from his wife's body is only the fuse, behind which is a long-simmering storm. His journey to Jerusalem to redeem the soul of his suicidal wife was also his own long quest from doubt and confusion to the loss of religion and the restoration of his faith in Iberin's territory.
Arriving in Jerusalem, Balian was honored by the Masked King, whose father had been the King's teacher, and whose talents in the debates of the fortifications, as well as his sense of justice and adherence to ideals, eventually made him a confidant of the King and a leader in the defense of the Holy City.
Balian's refusal to marry the princess and his refusal to "do little evil for the sake of greater good" was based on his more sacred convictions. Balian is the main character with the greatest fictional component in the film, but his role is by no means just a fig leaf for the Western world, he is the embodiment of thinking. Balian's father was an older generation of Crusader knights who fought and killed all his life for faith, land, and money. That generation of people with ideals and consciences must think about what they are fighting for and what kind of beliefs they are holding on to. Therefore, As a sustenance and continuation of this thinking, Balian went all the way backwards and gave the answer.
In the name of the sacred, he killed infidels externally, and internally, and Balian also "helped one king to fight another king, but did not know why", in the early days, he was empty and confused inside; the priests who claimed to be brothers tried their best to force him to leave his hometown in order to occupy his property, and the body of his wife who could not be buried in the cemetery was destroyed because of the canonical suicide, which made him angry and questioned from the confusion: "Does God really exist?" ”
Crossing the sea to the holy city, sitting on the hill where Jesus was martyred, watching the crowd of pilgrims bustling in the dim night, he still did not feel the presence of God, "I have lost faith anyway" So during the defense of the holy city, he ordered the bodies of the dead to be burned to avoid the plague, and when questioned by the bishop, he said with a loud voice: "God will forgive, if not, then he is not God, we do not have to worry." ”
In fact, Balian did not lose his faith, in the territory of Iberin he led the people to dig wells, irrigated an oasis in the yellow sand, looking at the peace, stability and prosperity he had created with his own hands, he found faith, convinced of what he was guarding, just as his father's last wish - "Defend the king, the king is gone, defend the people".
Mobilized before the siege, Balian let people know that it was neither religion nor holy places that everyone wanted to defend, but the people here, their own relatives. The divine is not in Jerusalem, but in the hearts of men. So it didn't matter to him who the holy city belonged to, the only reason for guarding the holy city was that the Christians slaughtered all muslims when they captured Jerusalem a hundred years ago, and now they are facing a Muslim retaliatory slaughter.
Faced with tens of times the number of troops, Balian knew that there was no chance of victory, his purpose was actually to negotiate, with tenacity and sacrifice to earn the opportunity for peace talks, his demand was simple - life, this is the faith he found and held. Therefore, at the end of the film, he is dismissive of the invitation of Richard I, the "Lionheart", to recover the lost land.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > Mask King Baldwin IV – the fall of lepers</h1>
"I fought when I was sixteen years old and won a big victory. At that time, I thought that I would live for a hundred years, but now I know that I will not live more than thirty. You see, the fate of man... It's all up to you. ”
In fact, the historical Baldwin IV was discovered to have leprosy at the age of nine. When he won the Battle of Monguiza at the age of sixteen, the world knew that he was running out of days. So, Baldwin IV's real situation is worse than in the movie, and from the moment he took the throne, he drew a bad hand.
By the time he was thirteen years old, the brilliant Saladin had consolidated Muslim forces to form a two-sided attack on the kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin IV's father, Amarik I, or a generation of British lords, died of dysentery on his way to seek cooperation with emir of regent Egypt, leaving only his sick young son to deal with the greatest strategist in Muslim history.
When he was fifteen years old, the situation deteriorated further, the Army of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel was crushed by the Sultanate of Yunmen, the original balance between Jerusalem, Byzantium and Egypt was broken, and Jerusalem lost its most powerful allies and had to face strong enemies on its own. Fortunately, Baldwin IV was young and promising, and he quickly quelled the internal power strife and fought several victorious battles at key moments, although by the time Kirac was "a soldier who surrendered without a fight", he was "without fingers, without toes, and almost blind" (Fuller, Military History of the Western World).
"The decree of the king may not be broken; the father's decree may be irreversible; and man may still act autonomously, so that he can start his own business." But remember: even if you are under the throne, before the hegemon, people must not ask their own conscience. When you face God, you cannot prevaricate that you are forced by helplessness, that it was a stopgap measure at that time, and that you cannot shirk it! Remember! ”
When Baldwin IV, who is covered in white robes in the film, says this shocking thing to the newcomer Balian through the mask, it is not difficult to understand why Balian's father must come to Jerusalem to continue to guard the king who bears the "curse of the gods".
Baldwin IV passed the throne to his seven-year-old nephew and appointed a regent of the Lord and factions to avoid the king's power falling into the hands of the chief of the main war faction, Gai. Even, in order to avoid the dispute over the throne, he crowned the little prince when he was alive, and he endured the pain and painstakingly hoped that the child would grow up, become the next generation of virtuous kings, and save the royal city. However, the heavens did not go according to people's wishes, Baldwin V died a year after taking the throne, and the Mask King struggled for more than ten years, and finally ended up in a void.
The arrangement in the film is the same, Baldwin IV entrusts the beautiful Princess Sibylla and the angelic little prince to his perfect knight Palian, but he does not know that in addition to the love and country he offers, the knight will face the sin and blood of the cut off Ofe and his supporters, and Balian will refuse the king's order, as he said: "If the holy city is unjust, the holy city is nothing." So, after hearing the expected answer, a faint "so be it" (just like that) vividly expressed the nobility, desolation, helplessness and calmness of a dying king. At this moment, "one conscience" unites Balian and Baldwin IV into one, and the film gives the fictional Balian another meaning— the spiritual mantle of the Mask King.
The marriage was rejected by her beloved, discouraging princess Sibila, who was originally maverick and enthusiastic, and even more cruelly, after learning that her son was also infected with leprosy and would face the same fate as his uncle, she had to poison her angelic son with her own hands. Because, when she unveiled the king's mask, she saw how ugly and vicious the once heroic and handsome face under the mask had become, which was a shadow that the two brothers and sisters had lingered in their lives.
Baldwin IV, who died young, did not establish any great achievements, but in his limited life, with wisdom and courage, he made Jesus and Allah, who have fought so far, shake hands and make peace. His style has been passed on to future generations, leaping into light and shadow, becoming a rare bright color in the chaotic and ignorant history of the Crusaders. His death was accompanied by the destruction of the True Cross of Christ in the Battle of Harding and the destruction of the corpses of the Knights' Legion; the fall of the kingdom of heaven, which was filled with flint and symbolic religious coexistence during the Siege of Jerusalem; the turning point in history, the end of the last great attempt and persistence of Western civilization, and the beginning of the era of cruel heresy.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > the hero of the Muslims, Saladin, a pagan of true faith</h1>
Today, near Damascus's famous Umayyad Mosque, there is a magnificent mausoleum that attracts many Arabs and foreign tourists every day. The man who rests in this mausoleum is saladin, the legendary hero of the Muslims.
The film recreates the Battle of Harding and the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187 between the Crusaders and the Muslim army, according to historical records, the Crusaders and the Jerusalem Coalition were defeated, tens of thousands of main troops were completely annihilated by Saladin, the sky was full of foraging vultures, so that the sun could not be seen for miles, and the blood of Europeans made the rocks red for decades.
After the victory, Saladin immediately swung his army directly to take the holy city of Jerusalem, which had lost its defense, and fired stone throwers, fire bombs, naphtha, arrows and crossbows... Although Balian stepped forward and led the people of the city to resist dozens of times the enemy and the invincible Saladin, and repeatedly thwarted the attack of the Muslim army, so that Saladin agreed to sign the alliance under the city, but it did not change the result of the Christianity ending in a disastrous defeat, and the Muslim hero Saladin won the victory and recaptured the holy city that had been occupied by the Christians for nearly a hundred years.
Saladin in the film is not only the commander of the mighty division, but also has a calm, rational, benevolent character and chivalry. When it is said that victory is decided by God, he thinks that victory depends on adequate preparation. When his mortal enemy, the revered king, was seriously ill, he would send a royal doctor to see him.
And the Crusader Templars, who constantly provoked and clamored for a decisive battle with Saladin's army, were the complete opposite of Saladin's calmness and rationality, and they went deep into the vast desert in a reckless and ignorant way, but they did not even touch his shadow and collapsed due to the harsh environment. The ending, of course, is to be slaughtered and left to be slaughtered, allowing crows to envelop the battlefield like black clouds and enjoy a delicious meal.
Whether it was the slaughter at the Battle of Harding or the sword-pointing of the holy city, Saladin was famous. These unsure, zealous and belligerent Templars from the West repeatedly killed Muslim merchants and even Saladin's own sister in order to provoke war, and it was these Christians who took Jerusalem from the Muslims more than a hundred years ago and slaughtered all the Muslim believers in the city.
Consistent with history, Saladin pardoned 100,000 Christians in the city and did not avenge the massacre of Muslims by Christians. Although there are reasons for this that Balian has vigorously fought for, the disparity in power contrast is more due to Saladin's own tolerant rationality and humanitarianism.
The film celebrates the wise actions of these two heroes, the alliance under the city, and the sympathy and high recognition of different religions sublimating the same faith, especially the dialogue is classic: after the negotiations under the city, Balian asks Saladin: "What is the value of Jerusalem?" Saladin replied, "Nothing." After taking a few steps, Saladin turned around, thumbs up with both hands, and waved his chest: Everything! (Priceless), at that moment, a generation of tyrants was happy like a child.
To add a history: after the fall of Jerusalem, the feudal lords of Western Europe were shocked by the news, and richard I of the British "lionheart", Frederick I of the German "red beard" and Philip II of France jointly sent troops to try to restore the crusader kingdom. In the face of strong enemy pressure, Saladin was not afraid of danger, and commanded the army to carry out the Battle of Acre and the Battle of Jaffa, defeating the coalition forces. At the Battle of Jaffa, Richard I was shot and fell, and Saladin, instead of doing any harm, gave him a horse to fight again, showing a rare chivalry that shook the enemy's heart and made him feel lost. Richard, seeing no hope of victory and political instability in his country, was forced to sign a peace treaty with Saladin in 1192, acknowledging Arab control of Jerusalem; Saladin forgavely agreed that Christians could go on pilgrimage freely and return all captured religious objects.
It can be said that Saladin not only won the admiration of the Arab people, but even his enemies had to be impressed by his noble character. Saladin died in Damascus on 3 March 1193 at the age of 55. His final message to his son was: "Fear the Allah, be aware of the people's feelings, and be concerned about the people's sufferings." ”
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > Scott's Dynasty of Heavenly Kingdoms— digging graves for war and laying the foundation for peace</h1>
In the years when the epic theme has been in decline, director Scott sword to sacrifice "The Kingdom of Heaven", is at the risk of "the great disobedience of the world", the film was filmed in 2004, to know that the 911 incident has only been more than two years, the American people heard that the Muslims in the Middle East have changed color, but he has made a Christian army defeated by the Islamic army, not only hate to mock the crusaders wrapped in sacred clothing, but also spared no effort to praise the Muslim hero Saladin, to know that Saladin is the idol of bin Laden and Saddam Hussein This is extremely inconsistent with the mainstream public opinion orientation in the United States, and it can even be said to be "a great rebellion.".
However, today's people do not see the ancient time and the moon, and this month once looked at the ancients. History is history, Jerusalem, the "holy land of the three religions" and the ancient city of a thousand years, carries too much indelible suffering and vicissitudes, so that to this day it will still bleed from the wounds that have never healed, and how many people will continue to lick the wounds and carry the weight forward.
Scott is to tell again, nearly a century ago, there was a king who fought against fate all his life, there was a hero who shed the hatred of the whole nation, he took off his mask, he stopped charging, their thoughts incarnated into a perfect knight, on the one hand, a bloody vendetta, on the other side is countless lives, and their choice determines whether it is "Nothing" or "Everything".
This is mostly from the fictional Balian journey to Jerusalem - when he returns to his hometown and looks at the sapling planted by his deceased wife swaying in the wind at the end of the film, he has completed his redemption, and there is no longer confusion and doubt; this is the redemption path of the perfect knight to the "Heavenly Dynasty"—to let go of hatred, get out of paranoia, and coexist in harmony and harmony is the most valuable "Jerusalem". "Kingdom of Heaven" is actually in our hearts.
Every inch feels life, and all the anger is beautiful
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