‘Kingdom’ does genre well

Films about ancient times have been a hit-or-miss affair recently.

Although it probably recovered its production costs, “Troy” was a

disappointment. More recently, “Alexander” was an unmitigated

disaster.

Whatever success these films enjoyed is probably more due to the

drawing power of their leading men (Brad Pitt and Colin Farrell,

respectively) than the convoluted plots and rather obvious

computer-generated special effects. Without a big drawing card in the

lead role, “King Arthur,” starring the relatively unknown Clive Owen,

proved to be a box office disappointment, despite rehashing the

Arthurian legend.

“Kingdom of Heaven” follows on the heels of the aforementioned

epics and may well be the death knell of this genre, if it is not

successful. This time out, Sir Ridley Scott directs and Orlando Bloom

stars. Scott also directed “Gladiator,” which was commercially

successful and garnered a best actor Oscar for star Russell Crowe.

Bloom plays Balian, a French village blacksmith and the

illegitimate son of Sir Godfrey (Liam Neeson). Balian’s young wife

committed suicide after losing a child. Godfrey beseeches Balian to

join him on his journey to Jerusalem and start anew. Reluctant at

first, Balian belatedly joins Sir Godfrey after killing the village

priest that desecrated his wife’s body.

“Kingdom of Heaven” is set in the year 1184 during one of the many

Crusades. Jerusalem has been in the hands of the Christians for more

than a hundred years. The city is ruled by King Baldwin (Edward

Norton), a leper who hides his face behind a metal mask. The

Christians have wisely allowed Muslims to worship freely in the city

during their reign.

Unfortunately, the fanatical Knights Templar of “Da Vinci Code”

fame will not condone Muslims in the holy city. When King Baldwin

finally succumbs to leprosy, his sister’s husband -- the evil leader

of the Templars Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) -- is crowned king.

His army soon marches from Jerusalem to wage war on the Muslims.

The Muslim army of 200,000 is led by Saladin (Ghassan Massoud).

Saladin is not driven by religious fanaticism, but is a tactical

genius who carefully measures his enemy before engaging in battle.

Driven from the walled safety of Jerusalem, the Templars are

decimated by Saladin, who then marches on the city. Balian, now

commanding Jerusalem, decides to defend the city rather than march

out and meet Saladin.

The ensuing siege of Jerusalem is a spectacular piece of

filmmaking. Production designer Arthur Max constructed a vast replica

of ancient Jerusalem in Morocco. Brilliantly filmed by Scott with the

able assistance of cinematographer John Mathieson, the tremendous

struggle and scale of this ancient battle comes to life.

Although enhanced by computer-generated effects, the results are

seamless and it actually appears hundreds of thousands of soldiers

are engaged in battle. All of the military technology employed at the

time is evident, including giant catapults, siege towers, boiling oil

and pitch, crossbows and a hailstorm of arrows.

Strangely, the hatred between Muslims and Christians that led to

centuries of war for possession of the Holy Land is absent here. The

Templars are portrayed as the evil antagonists that foment the

conflict almost single-handedly. This would have been a stronger film

if the mutual animosity that still exists today had been explored.

The personal stories that are interwoven throughout “Kingdom of

Heaven” are adequate, although Liam Neeson’s strong presence is lost

early and Jeremy Irons has little to do. Orlando Bloom is

surprisingly effective as Balian and now seems perfectly capable of

carrying a film.

“Kingdom of Heaven” is the first epic blockbuster of the

spring/summer season. It is better than most such mass appeal films

and will especially appeal to someone who appreciates an amazingly

accurate representation of ancient life.

* VAN NOVACK, 50, is the director of institutional research at Cal

State Long Beach and lives in Huntington Beach with his wife

Elizabeth.

‘Crash’ resonates with varied viewers

Is Los Angeles an angry city full of diverse ethnic groups who

neither tolerate nor understand each other, or is it an ivory tower

full of wealthy movie producers who know gunplay sells tickets?

Obviously it’s both, and that’s what’s both good and bad about

“Crash.”

When “Crash” is at its best, it addresses prejudice and

intolerance without regard for political correctness. It exposes the

anxiety and fear we all feel, but hide from view. It’s poignant,

honest, and soul searching.

This is a movie that will resonate just as well with audiences in

Huntington Beach and Newport Beach as it will with audiences in

Compton and Crenshaw. It’s confrontational and doesn’t pull any

punches.

When “Crash” is at its worst, it’s the same sort of fear mongering

that is used to sell beer and toilet paper on prime time network

television. It’s a paranoid fantasy that doesn’t ring true. No one in

this movie can go anywhere without having a gun pointed at them. No

one can control his rage.

If Los Angeles were really like the city portrayed in this movie,

no one would be able to conduct day-to-day business.

The cast is packed with talented performers who all clearly wanted

to be in this movie because of the cutting-edge dialogue. They get to

say things in this movie you normally don’t hear in typical Hollywood

fare.

Sandra Bullock is angry she has to feel like a racist because she

wants to protect herself in the city. She resents having to sacrifice

her safety and the safety of her family because it’s impolite not to

do so.

Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, the MTV rapper, pontificates about the

idiocy of rap music and how it reinforces black men to behave in ways

that are so stupid it embarrasses him. He sees no hypocrisy in saying

black-on- black crime is a detriment to society, as he drives to a

chop shop to sell a car he just stole from a white couple.

Matt Dillon is a member of the Los Angeles Police Department who

behaves as though racial profiling is too lenient and too liberal. He

has no qualms about treating people in ways that are humiliating and

abusive, regardless of guilt or innocence, as long as they aren’t

white.

Some of the other standouts include Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard,

William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Keith David, Thandie Newton and

Tony Danza. It’s a shame the intertwining stories aren’t told in more

depth so these performers could do more with their characters.

Time is definitely an issue with “Crash.” Every character has

her/his own storyline and that’s a lot of ground to cover in less

than two hours.

To deal with the time issue, the stories use shortcuts to get to

the moments when the characters are faced with painful dilemmas.

There are a lot of very convenient coincidences and, at times,

“Crash” perpetuates the same stereotypes it seems to be saying are

wrong. This is a shame because it undermines the characters and what

they have to say.

My frustration with “Crash” is that it is trying to be a great

movie, and it should be a great movie, but it isn’t a great movie.

The storylines and dialogue are sometimes courageous and thought

provoking. Other times they don’t quite ring true.

It’s unfortunate Paul Haggis felt he could only tell this story by

pointing guns at his characters. People have these same prejudices

even when they aren’t under such extreme duress. Sometimes all it

takes is being cut off on the freeway to hear a name used that you’d

never guess would come out of a person’s mouth.

* JIM ERWIN, 40, is a technical writer and computer trainer.