MEDIEVAL MOVIES II

Updating and correcting “Medieval Movies: Films of the Viking Era,” to include films released since the last edition. And discovered there were many other films as well…

I’ll be posting comments on some of the ones not covered before for the next month!

Pope Joan (1972)

aka The Devil’s Imposter

Set aside the fact that there was probably no actual Pope Joan, since it is of little more importance than the inaccuracies in any other historical film (see “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” “The Outlaw” or “Birth of a Nation”), the film is very well done. The cinematography is well done, and costumes are passable. Some details, such as pails, book closets and saddles, are well done and accurate. However, sexual aspects are rather unusual and somewhat uncomfortable, and her cross-dressing starts after a rape (though it is based in Joan’s previously established piety). The buildings are mainly the stone castles of about five hundred years later, but that is almost expected in a medieval film. And even the hovels of the poor are remarkably clean, spacious and hygienic, though they are shared with livestock. The film is rather jumpy and jerky. Events do not flow from one scene to another, and the music is rather cloying and sentimental. The film is not driven by the feminist ideology of the 2009 version, which some viewer might find disappointing and other relieving.

Pope Joan (2009)

aka Die Päpstin

Set aside the fact that there was probably no actual Pope Joan, since it is of little more importance than the inaccuracies in any other historical film (see “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” “The Outlaw” or “Birth of a Nation”), the film is very well done. The cinematography is well done, and costumes are passable. Some details, such as pails, book closets and saddles, are well done and accurate. However, sexual aspects are rather unusual and somewhat uncomfortable, and her cross-dressing starts after a rape (though it is based in Joan’s previously established piety). The buildings are mainly the stone castles of about five hundred years later, but that is almost expected in a medieval film. And even the hovels of the poor are remarkably clean, spacious and hygienic, though they are shared with livestock. The film is rather jumpy and jerky. Events do not flow from one scene to another, and the music is rather cloying and sentimental. The film is not driven by the feminist ideology of the 2009 version, which some viewer might find disappointing and other relieving.

Erik, the Viking (1965)

aka Erik il Vichingo aka Vengeance of the Vikings

Another Italian Spaghetti Northern film. Filled with cheerfully anachronistic costume, props and storylines with a very tenuous connection to historical facts. There is little difference between this and other Italian Viking films, and if you re able to like one–and can forgive the errors and the over-acting—this will be another film you will love. I just think that it is funny that they reach Vinland without even mentioning Greenland or Iceland, though I love the cactus and tropical plants that grows in Vinland! And it is ironic that the clothing of the Inuit make that of the Vikings look super-thenty, and the clothing of the seem to come from a variety of eras. But the film is nicely written and the action is well choreographed. Grab a mead, pull on your furry vest and concentrate on details only if you are good at forgetting them.