A Knight's Tale

A Knight's Tale (2001) is a jousting film set in the Middle Ages that deliberately refuses to match its period. William is a squire. When the knight he serves dies during a tournament he puts on the armour and takes his place. Only nobles may compete, so they invent a false lineage. The man who writes it is Geoffrey Chaucer, found on the road penniless, in gambling debt and having lost his clothes. The bravest decision is the anachronism. In the opening a medieval crowd claps out a Queen song and does the wave. In the middle of a ball the music turns into David Bowie. The spectators behave like football supporters, chanting names. The choice rests on a coherent idea: tournaments were the sporting events of their day, and the film delivers that feeling in the language of ours. Brian Helgeland wrote and directed; he had written L.A. Confidential. It was Heath Ledger's first major lead. Paul Bettany's Chaucer is the best work in it; he gives the introduction before each tournament and escalates every time. The jousting was shot with real horses and real impacts, with cameras placed inside the helmets. It did well commercially and split the critics. It runs 132 minutes. Good for: light adventure, sports film structure, and the early two thousands. Less good for: anyone wanting historical accuracy will not find it, and it is long.