Do you really know what you’re fighting for? It’s a question that entered my mind often as I watched Medieval, a film with plenty of blood and plenty of self-righteousness, but not a whole lot of actual righteous-righteousness as far as I can tell.
For one thing, historical champion and Czech hero Jan Žižka comes off as a mercenary. Mercenaries are tough sells. To me, at least. In my mind, a mercenary is somebody who just likes the killin’. Medieval got around this by having Jan Žižka (Ben Foster. Am I pronouncing that right, “FOS-TER?”) say a little “Father, forgive me” prayer before subtracting several of the enemy. Then the film made it personal, so we’d forget the fact that he was a hired gun at the outset.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The year is 1402 and there are two Popes. Neither is a character in the film, but these are the drivers of the action, because getting approval to run the Holy Roman Empire meant getting your hand stamped by the real Pontiff. Honestly, I think there was a better movie to be made out of the two-Pope sitch, but this one had a lot of blood … and isn’t that why we’re here?
Anyhoo, at first, all anybody wants is safe passage to Rome to get that magically delicious Papal blessing. Then Lord Boreš (Michael Caine) convinces team Žižka to go kidnap some important dudes’ fiancée (Sophia Lowe) to force everybody’s hand. Again, kidnapping is just not something that will endear you to an audience, no matter how Stockholm Syndrome-y this might get. Bottom line: before long, everybody is angry except for Žižka, who betrays almost no emotion this film – not sure that was the correct choice here, Ben Foster – and the whole lot of Bohemia takes to killing as if there isn’t already a plague goin’ on. It’s Medieval times; lives are cheap.
What we’re supposed to take from this is, despite his setbacks and inability to save his family, Jan Žižka was one heckuva general, having never lost single battle (in combat, presumably). The film is anxious to demonstrate a few of the Žižka stratagems, yet falls short in convincing me why this story needed to be told. It’s
possible Foster was a miscast and it’s possible that this just isn’t the winning story that writer/director/fanboy Petr Jákl thought it was. This movie kinda strikes me as the Bears superfans making a movie about Mike Ditka. Well, I suppose it’s better than that, but you get my point.
Jan Žižka may well have been the Czech hero of heroes, but I really and truly wondered what was the point of the incessant death. Hence I return to my original question: “do you know what you’re fighting for?” The people that stormed the Capitol on January 6; I do believe many thought they were in the right. Is that the difference between good and evil? Access to information? Or willingness to seek general fact above lazily seeking only that which reinforces the position you want to believe? In any case, I can’t say for sure who was “good” or “bad” in this film. I just knew it was a power struggle turned personal and after a while, you gotta adore Jan Žižka to appreciate his end game. I never quite got there. But then, I’m not Czech, mate.
There once was a soldier named Jan
Who always had the better battle plan
Sad story, the Czech
His life was a wreck
But with a mace, he was always the best man
Rated R, 126 Minutes
Director: Petr Jákl
Writer: Petr Jákl
Genre: Bloody history
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Jan Žižka
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Your average medieval soldier
