Unholy land
HISTORY’S GORY ‘KNIGHTFALL’ MUST FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
There are worse series to imitate than HBO's “Game of Thrones.” History's new drama “Knightfall,” from executive producer Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye in “The Avengers”), opens with the kind of battle that would fit in with the premium cable channel's No. 1 series. There are no dragons, but then, this, at least initially, is based in fact. It's Night 43 in the Siege of Acre in 1291. The Knights Templar, a Catholic military group, lose the town of Acre, their last great stronghold in the Holy Land, to Mamluk forces.
“Surrender. Die. Those are your choices,” one invader warns.
Catapults bring fire down upon their heads; enemies somehow breach their secret tunnels. Worse, as the few survivors escape, the Templars lose the Holy Grail, the cup that Christ drank from at the Last Supper and the most sacred of relics entrusted to their care. “Lost” might be the wrong word. The boat it is on is blown up. Some of “Knightfall's” CGI action, at least in the cut the network offered to critics, is ambitious but unconvincing.
And when the show settles the swordplay to push plot around, “Knightfall” rises to far-fetched. Fifteen years later, the Templars have settled in Paris, where anti-Semitic sentiments are shouted at street corners. Jews rightfully fear for their lives.
Landry (Tom Cullen, “Downton Abbey”) chafes at going to meetings when he thinks he should be leading his fellow knights to take back the Holy Land.
King Philip IV of France (Ed Stoppard, “Downton Abbey”) has a desperate need for money.
His lawyer and chief aide William De Nogaret (Julian Ovenden) suggests he take it from the Jews.
Philip protests. “I want to be loved by the people.”
That's OK. De Nogaret is pleased to have people murdered even when his ruler objects.
Queen Joan of Navarre (Olivia Ross) is miserable and refuses to share a bed with Philip. Daughter Isabella (Sabrina Bartlett) knows she is a bargaining chip in her father's empire-building schemes and lobbies for a marriage to a prince she can admire.
The court intrigue seems to be lifted out of outtakes from “The Borgias.”
A farm boy named Parsifal (Bobby Schofield) witnesses a knight being attacked, and his mission to fulfill the dying man's final words will have profound repercussions for the Templars and set him on a path to knighthood.
Oh, that oath entails a commitment to celibacy. That's something Landry can't abide, and his choice of partner is one of this show's weakest inventions.
Still, when actor Cullen raises his voice, he can be fearsome. Most of the other cast members are just not up to selling this sort of schlock.
“Knightfall” is gory. Somebody on set seems to have a fascination with seeing people get stabbed through the mouth.
While “Knightfall” makes for an adequate companion to History's “Vikings,” it's still strange to see a network once devoted to fact peddle these quasi-factual dramas. It's like finding out your favorite history teacher believes the world is flat.
Students of history know where this story is going, and it's not going to be pretty. The title of the show is its biggest spoiler.