Thursday, May 12, 2005

Kingdom of Heaven Revisited

On checking out visits to my site I discovered that a few hits had come through from Google on the search: "Kingdom of Heaven Facts". Strangely I seem to be the number one result for this- especially odd as this was the entry Google pointed to. If you're here because of that search then let me tell you that a much better page to go visit, one which explores the controversy around the historical facts of the film, is here. I'm assuming that zombie is the one and only LGF operative mentioned on Little Green Footballs. His page documents the facts of the film through media references. The basic thrust of the argument seems to be that Ridley Scott's film is pro-Muslim, pro-Saladin and anti-Christian. Ridley calls the Knights Templar the "the Right-wing or Christian fundamentalists of their day". That might give you an inkling of his bias.

According to Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith, Britain's leading authority on the Crusades - the story of Kingdom of Heaven is "rubbish", "ridiculous", "complete fiction" and "dangerous to Arab relations". I think I'll take my history lesson from a leading scholar than from Hollywood any day. Also, one of the main criticisms of the film is the coalition of Muslims, Christians and Jews portrayed in the film. No such group ever existed. To read all about it, go check out zombie's page.

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