Kingdom of Heaven
(with spoilers.)

oh! i just came home from KoH!!
*squee*
i LOVE the leper king!!!
*collective awwwwwwwwwwww.....*
he is AWESOME!!!!!! Oh!
*faints*

question: what race is the leper king? he looks white under the mask, but his sis looks arab.

about the portrayal of the knights templars, templars were shown to be led by a corrupt guy. i think they wisely stopped short of saying all templars were awful, just this particular leader was extreme. its like, there was this scene where a couple of templars were trialed and hanged for rape i think. but then later on we see the politics behind closed doors... that the rapes were very probably ordered by some other nobleman...

and then later this group of guys wanted to have their little killing spree.. and they used "god wills it" for their own selfish and very human purposes. so about religion, they showed two different attitudes of "god wills it", so that some people used it as an excuse to do bad stuff, while some people said "god wills it" only when they have already tried their best to prevent unavoidabe shit.

like the arabs when picked a fight with balian over the horse in the desert. they confronted balin, the flashy guy fought bailin, the lord tried to stop it, flashy guy died, and then the lord said that it was the other's time and that it was God's will. its like, he tried to stop it when he realised the two men were out for blood. but the men wont listen. so yeah. shit happens. he accepts that shit happens. so that's what "god wills it" means. that sometimes shit happens. and there's nothing we can do to stop it. sometimes we see it comming and try to stop it, other times we're blind to the shit until it slaps us in the face. but whatever happens, shit or no, it's god's will and i shall not rant aganist what has already happened. whatever happens, it is my job to accpet it willingly.

even later there was this priest who wanted to flee jerusalem as it was going to be attacked, and adviced balian to flee as well. and then balian went "and leave the people here to die?" and the priest said something like "it is regrettable that they, must die, but it is god's will" and wanted to run off and abandon the others. its like, there are those like the priest who go "this is god's will" to justify themselves. and there are those like Guy and Reynald who go "this is god's will" to manipulate others. and there are those like the arab lord.

about the christian vs muslim thing, its odd, cos i personally feel the muslims were portrayed as more honourable and with more integrety than the christians. the muslims were portrayed as cleverer (battle tactics... but then again it was just Gu who was a complete ass and brought the army out even after Balian told him not to), more advanced (they buried their dead to prevent disease while bailin had to get into a fight with the priest about cremation... the earth has neutralizing properties or so i'm told, but even so it's only a personal opinion so *shrug*. opinion is not fact.), and less spiritually corrupt.

its pretty unnerving actually. i'm starting to see coetzee's point about the racial guilt. i mean, after being the subaltern, and suddenly the subaltern is elevated above the level of the others... it feels so odd, like, wrong, you know. i feel like apologising that the director portrayed muslims in such a culturally sensitive light.

for me it's a very spiritual movie. they had a few (albeit truncated)islamic prayer sequences-- i actually ended up saying prayers during a hollywood movie!! *gasp*!! never EVER thought that would happen!!-- and the most powerful scenes were during the storming of the castle. it reminded me of the storming of Gondor, except it's not so simple as man against enemy. it's men who just have finished their prayers kill other men who may or may not have just said theirs.

its like they actually said their subuh prayers. like, honestly, no joking. the director had all the madness of battle stop, and cut to the next day suboh when the entire army just stopped and did their subuh prayers with the Ang Mohs watching. and then the sun came up and everyone got ready for battle. and as they were comming i just sat there horrified... that these guys who prayed... *prayed*.. to God... and now they're wielding battle knives and everything ready to slay anything in their path?! within that few minutes, they go from men who just a few minutes ago were talking to god, to men who in cold blood, take the living life of god's creation, just like that. they have said their prayers. they've asked forgiveness of their sins. and now they're ready to... kill?

and what of the ang mohs? the arabs have said their prayers. they have made peace with God and with themselves. but what of the people they kill? have *they* made peace with God? have they made peace with themselves? the killer doesnt care. the killer doesnt *care*. i mean, just *think* about it. a man who just a few minutes ago was talking to god, and now in cold blood taking the living life of god's creation, just like that, without regard for the state of the other's soul. they have prepared for death. and they dont give a shit if you have not.

KoH really brought that bit out. usually in movies it's man against man (sans god), or man against monster, but for me KoH drummed it in that it's Creation killing Creation... and for the life of me i cannot imagine **how**. the moment you see a person as a Creation of the Almighty, how can you ever raise your hand up against him? how can you? its just not possible. its like raising a hand against God. that's what KoH brought out for me. it brought out God's creation in us.

its a very didactic movie. KoH makes me question the cry of "god wills it" (when and how is the appropriate use). Orli's character makes me question what exactly it means to protect the people (is it fair to sacrifice the men to save the women and children? how is the best way to protect the people without compromising oneself? should he have fled jerusalem with the people, or immediately ceeded jerusalem over to the arabs to spare the lives of the men? is that advisable? is that wise? what if he ceeded it away to it's doom? how was he to know? how do you really *know* anything? would it have been most right for him to simply allow Guy's death? in the end it was many more deaths.. could there have been a different way?).

but best of all it reminds me that there is grace within everyone regardless of whether we (or they) recognise it. and it reminds me that everybody, i mean, EVERYBODY is great. remember how Balian goes around saying "god has forsaken me"... and then at the end the arab lord turns to him and says something like no, god has always been with him, or how else could he have achieved that much. and Balian smiles and he looks peaceful when the arab tells him that. there is god inside every one of us, and there is grace. and it's there. in everyone. whether or not we see it. and it took an infidel to help us see. someone of a different religion, telling someone of a different relition that God has never forsaken balian. whoa, that was powerful. that was heart and soul.

on the whole it didnt leave me floored the way LoTR or Alexander did, but it was a very thinkie type movie. will probably need to rewatch it for fullest effect. about the actual plot/ storyline, it kinda sucked. great didectic movie, but plotwise it's pretty sucky and lame. and there's like... no chemistry between the romantic leads, which just makes the ending even stupider. like... ^_^****