A Knight's Tale
Short description
A Knight's Tale is set in fourteenth-century Europe, where William Thatcher works as a squire with no noble blood of his own. When the knight he serves dies suddenly during a tournament, William takes on the dead man's armour and name and enters the jousting circuit himself. Because only aristocrats are permitted to compete, he travels through France and beyond with his companions Roland and Wat, relying on forged genealogy supplied by a wandering writer named Geoffrey Chaucer to pass as the knight Ulrich von Lichtenstein. His success in the lists brings him both fame and the hostility of Count Adhemar, a rival nobleman, while his feelings for the lady Jocelyn complicate his ambitions.
The film was written, produced and directed by Brian Helgeland, arriving between his debut Payback and later features such as 42 and Legend. Heath Ledger plays William, with Rufus Sewell as Adhemar, Shannyn Sossamon as Jocelyn, Paul Bettany as Chaucer, Laura Fraser as Kate and Mark Addy as Roland, among 37 credited cast members and 117 credited crew.
Released in May 2001, the film had a reported budget of 65 million dollars and earned about 117 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from roughly 219,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.9 from about 3,500 votes; film critics gave it 6.3 from 154 reviews, lower than the broad audience response.
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming took place in Prague.
- During filming, Paul Bettany had to strain his voice and shout so often that the actor ultimately developed laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx).
- Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein actually existed, but lived in the 13th century.
- Since the film mentions the Battle of Poitiers, the exact time of action can be determined as 1356. However, full plate armor appeared much later, approximately 60 years after that.
- The film features a scene where William knocks off an armet-type helmet from an opponent. The construction of this helmet (forged precisely to the shape of the skull, with the lower half opening on two hinges during donning but securely fastened with a pin) makes it impossible to knock it off without also removing the head.
- Anticipating a feast, Wat talks about potato pancakes and mint cream pastries. Neither common peppermint (cultivated in the 16th century) nor potatoes (introduced by the Spanish in the 15th century) existed in 14th-century Europe.
- Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein did indeed exist, but he lived in the 13th century.
- A great deal of effort was put into creating lances that would break on impact without unseating the rider. The shaft of each lance was made to break easily, and the tips were made of cork wood. Each tip was hollow, and the cavity was filled with cork shavings and raw linguine (a type of pasta) to make the fragments look convincing.
- There was a period in the life of Geoffrey Chaucer (lasting about a year) that remains a complete mystery to historians to this day. The film takes place during this very period.
- The first scene of the duel between the two knights used footage of an accident involving Heath Ledger’s stunt double (who was playing the main character, William). During the filming of one of the later scenes, the opponent’s lance struck higher than intended, and the stunt double was hit in the head, lost consciousness, and was thrown from the saddle. This footage was used at the beginning of the film.
- In the scene where William, played by Heath Ledger, follows Jocelyn (played by Shannon Sossamon) into the cathedral, the sound of his horse’s hooves was created by the sound of coconuts being hit on the floor of Charles Mains’ garage.
- While rehearsing one of the fight moves with director and screenwriter Brian Helgeland using mops, Heath Ledger accidentally knocked out one of his front teeth. Helgeland’s mouth didn’t fully heal for several months, after which he was finally able to see a dentist.
- When showing London from a bird's-eye view, the audience sees a medieval version of the so-called "London Eye" (this is the name of the Ferris wheel, the second tallest in Europe after the "Moscow Sun" and one of the largest in the world). A model of it was built for the film (i.e., it was not a product of computer technology), and this structure cost $500,000.
- In the scene of the first awards ceremony involving Heath Ledger and Rufus Sewell, the character played by Paul Bettany kisses the herald of Sewell's character. He did this in response to director Brian Helgeland's request to "surprise him." Helgeland did not specify his wish in any way.
- The terrible crunch that the audience hears when someone's lance breaks in the film is the slowed-down sound of a howitzer firing.
- Poet Geoffrey Chaucer is also a real historical figure; the film is based on a story from his "Canterbury Tales" cycle.
- The film was originally intended to be titled "In the Gleaming of Armor."
- When Geoffrey Chaucer, as portrayed by Paul Bettany, presented “Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein” in his speech, the crowd didn’t react immediately because the Czech extras didn’t understand what was being said. Applause only began with a cue from Roland, played by Mark Eddie. That take was the one used in the film.
- Heath Ledger got the role in the film because Brian Helgeland once saw footage shot during a day’s work on Roland Emmerich’s historical drama “The Patriot” (2000), where Ledger played the son of the main character, and was impressed by what he saw.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
