Historically-oriented media have information and messages that their makers want to convey to audiences and provoke particular emotional, moral, and even political responses. To explore this, let’s watch a clip from director Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005), which was produced and released in the years after the September 11 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the US and during the U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The movie tells a story of the fall of the medieval crusader-kingdom of Jerusalem and the events leading up to the Third Crusade. At the end of the 11th century, Christian armies from Europe organized by the papacy seized the coast of the Middle East, including the holy city Jerusalem, from Muslim rulers. Decades later, Islamic armies commanded by the sultan Salah al-Din (Saladin) moved to retake the territory. The film revolves chiefly around the defense of Jerusalem after the army of the crusader-states was wiped out by Saladin at the battle of Hattin (1187). The film’s main hero Balian of Ibelin (Orlando Bloom) was an actual historical figure, though his representation in the film is a composite of several people, and he also is given a fictional background as an illegitimate blacksmith from France.
Keep all of this in mind as you watch this scene of Balian preparing Jerusalem to face Saladin’s siege. How does this scene convey messages to the viewer for our world in the present by using the historical past?
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NOTE: Below is the title only of the complete video that will appear in the full course.
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Balian’s speech in Jerusalem
Tracks 35 and 36, running time 01:40:01 – 1:44:50
The film chiefly celebrates moderate Christians and Muslims, as exemplified by the hero Balian of Ibelin. Other crusade leaders are depicted as warmongers or extremists. This scene actively reinforces Balian as a moderate hero for multicultural audiences today. He pronounces “Muslim” properly and respectfully (something rarely seen in period documents, which usually call them “Saracens”). He denies that Christians (or any group) have superior claim to Jerusalem. He says he is not fighting for the city itself but to protect the people. He democratically promotes all fighting men to knighthood and states this will make them better fighters (without actual training or equipment). In particular, notice the role of the “lord bishop” or “patriarch” (he’s referred to by both titles) in this scene. This senior Christian religious leader is used as a foil for all the values Balian represents—he cynically says it is “God’s will” that he and Balian flee and abandon the people; he denounces Balian’s multicultural message as blasphemy; he questions Balian’s idealism in making knights out of commoners. This sole representative of a “religious” figure is portrayed in opposition to everything that is conveyed as “right” in the scene. All the other characters are subtly shown responding to and agreeing with Balian. Even the scene’s musical score is used to support Balian—rising to a crescendo as the bishop sputters a challenge to Balian’s making knights out of commoners and then cutting out to give all focus to his "yes" reply before resuming.
The total effect is a message against religious extremism and for multiculturalism and equality, all as understood by present-day Western society. The film may be about the 12th century, but told through 21st-century values that would have been mostly alien to people in the actual historical setting.
