Geoffrey Chaucer is a real historical figure, a very famous writer and poet who wrote the Canterbury Tales, the first chapter of which is called A Knights Tale. The two men he owed a debt to that took his clothes, who he said he would "eviscerate in fiction" appear as characters in his book. Also fun fact, most of Chaucer's life is well documented except for a section where basically no historian has any idea what he was doing or where he was, and this movie happens to be set in that period. So we don't have any proof that this didn't happen...
We don’t have any proof he didn’t go live in the sun for that period of time. That doesn’t mean you fill it in either awful story telling. Chaucer would vomit if he knew he would be associated with such tripe
Good points. One correction. Chaucer wrote The Knight's Tale, not A Knight's tale. That's why this movie is A tale, not The tale - because The tale already existed.
8:11 - The extras in the stands were from the Czech Republic and didn't speak English, so they didn't understand their cue to start cheering when Chaucer finished his speech. So the actor who played Roland did that cheer to get it started, and they kept it in the movie.
I have lost count how many times i have seen this movie, but when William goes to see his father, I cry every damn time. So glad you guys did this one!
Edward Prince of Wales known as the black prince famously did often enter tourney's in unmarked black armour to give the other knights plausible deniability if they injured him . He was a well known battle maniac who spent most of his life in battle.
“Such as thou art, sometime was I. Such as I am, such shalt thou be. I thought little on th'our of Death So long as I enjoyed breath. On earth I had great riches Land, houses, great treasure, horses, money and gold. But now a wretched captive am I, Deep in the ground, lo here I lie. My beauty great, is all quite gone, My flesh is wasted to the bone.” -Edward The Black Prince’s epitaph
He wasn't dead for 3 days... he died during a break in a bout... that's how he got those two lances. He was the knight who was struck in the intro, so he JUST died and shit himself.
The "green trimmed with pale green and wooden toggles" is Roland describing the tent material, because that's where he cut the material from for William's tunic.
As much as Alan Tudyk is the butt of the jokes in this film, the moment he says,"That's your name, Sir William Thatcher, your father heard that." It gives me chills every damn time.
The fart joke at the end is sort of a shout out to Chaucer, who used crass humour, particularly fart jokes and poop jokes, widely throughout his work. Ulrich Von Lichtenstein was also a real historical figure. He is most well know for writing about how Knights should act, basically formalizing the ideas of chivalry.
Well to be fair, well defined more or less universal codes of chivalry came after the actual period of knights. In the romantic era. In the era of knights, chivalric code was different for every ruler. In essence it just meant, "be what your lord wants you to be," if your lord wants a backstabbing psychopathic mürdering grapist, that's what's in your "code." It was like employees code of conduct, you basically got to please your boss.
8:35 In the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", a medieval historian was unfortunately killed. Since then, it has been difficult to find a medieval historian as a consultant for a knight movie.
To create the spectacular splintering bursts when the laces broke during the jousting in this movie, the prop lances were hollowed out at the intended breaking point and filled with dry pasta. When a hit was made, the pressure of the impact made the pasta and wood rip apart in a very satisfying manner. After seeing this movie, the jousters at the Ren Fest I worked at started doing this as well, and the crowds LOVED it. There was so much spaghetti and linguini and fettuccine left in the mud after each joust! Good thing it was all biodegradable.
The knight at the start, Sir Hector, hadn't been dead for 3 days, he'd died during the tournament (for whatever reason) between his previous rounds and his last round. They hadn't eaten in three days because they were just that hard-up and penniless. Also, ARAGON was a Kingdom in Spain and is now a Spanish Region.
I think maybe they miss alot is because theyre talking alot n trading jokes they miss details or just go off on a tangent and miss details or good stuff.
@@joshfacio9379 George has an issue with over thinking everything. I feel like he would be a pain to watch movies with. Always want to outsmart the movie.
It took me forever to realize that when he’s saying what color Williams outfit will be, he’s looking at their tent because he uses the fabric from the tent to make the outfit
When Simone mentions hearing Aragorn in the lists, she most likely heard Aragon, a kingdom in what is now Spain (plus bits of France and Italy, I think). This is a great film with some excellent performances. Alan Tudyk's English accent is pretty much faultless, which is always worth recognition when it happens! Great reaction, as always.
@@dgpatter This is some half-remembered information that I learned over thirty years ago. I could very well be wrong. But I think they had some holdings in what is now Italy and dotted around the Mediterranean as well.
Aragon is still the name of a state ("autonomous community") of Spain today, with Zaragoza as its chief city. Catherine of Aragon was Henry the VIII's first wife
@@dgpatter At one point the Kingdom of Aragon held Sicily, Sardinia, and the southern part of the Italian peninsula. So yeah, about half of modern Italy.
Which is also amazing because Alan Tudyk is from Texas. Born in El Paso raised in Plano. I know this because I met the man and we talked at length because at the time I met him we found out that we were both born in the same Medical Center and lived in Plano. We had a good laugh about it
The extended cut of this movie has a speech from Chaucer while William is in the stocks that is INCREDIBLE; it's my favorite speech in the movie, and I don't know why it was cut. Somebody throws rotten food and hits Chaucer, to which he replies: "Mother? Is my mother here? I'd know her cooking anywhere! (laughter) Mother, you at least go home. I will tell you tonight how it turns out. I hope that it will be good news, mother. I hope I can tell you how I convinced these...good people to leave my lord William unharmed. For I have never seen a heart that beats like the one in this man. Great it is, swollen with all the virtues risen of pride, full, free, courageous, constant and most of all...filled with hope. At least until today. I ask you: What makes a man noble, his lineage or his heart? Thank you very much, Mother, you can go home now. And what are knightly virtues and who decides who shall possess them? My lord, it's true, was born poor in Cheapside, London and so what? For he is as true as steel.....no, truer. For he is like gold to me. He is like gold and you and I are merely iron. And yet you people would come to see him rust. For shame. Shame on you all."
Me too. I did my senior term paper on Chaucer because I've loved The Canterbury Tales since I was a kid. I read it after seeing The Canterbury Ghost on tv one day and discovering the connection.
I was surprised that they, living in the Commonwealth, didn't recognize the name. I've never set foot in the Anglosphere, but even when I first saw the movie in my late teens I went "oh, I see, he's Chaucer" before he reiterated that he is indeed Chaucer, the writer.
This movie was so much fun. It was my intro do Paul Bettany AND Heath. I loved Bettany's portrayal of Chaucer and his "I will eviscerate you in fiction" is great since Canterbury Tales is STILL read and talked about in high schools around the world.
When you want to make a movie that "reflects the world we live in", THIS is how you do it. Just a really fun movie that doesn't take itself seriously at all, and yet still manages to throw in a heart-wrenching father-son story and a wonderful message of making one's own destiny. Full marks to the whole cast, especially Rufus Sewell, who is deliciously unlikeable as Adamar. A really underrated gem of the early 2000's.
Sewell is just fantastic in this. He has that classic movie actor's swagger to his delivery. He wants ALL of the camera, and fair play to him, he deserves it!
In the audio commentary Paul Bettany explains that he had to actually be nude for his opening scene, since any sort of covering would be at least partially visible; however, they also didn't want his manhood accidentally coming into view, and so tried to figure out ways to ensure this didn't happen. Seeing them struggling, Paul told them just to gaffer tape it to his leg. This then caused another argument as to which department would be responsible for this task - was it make-up or costuming? Ultimately they decided that since gaffer tape was involved it was the responsibility of the props department.
Ok, I'll say it, Paul must be packing serious sausage. Think about it. the only situation more likely to cause shrinkage is to have all your family pointing and laughing at your schlong in artic conditions.
I like that the “Geoffrey Chaucer? The writer?” line was met by George and Simone with faces that were just as blank as those of the literally ignorant medieval peasants he’s talking to 😛 Time is a flat circle
@@bradmcmahon3156Yeah, I was 19 when I saw this in the theaters when it came out, and I knew who Chaucer was at the time. Granted, I didn’t really know too much of his work, but I knew who he was .
Everyone knows Chaucer. My young children know Chaucer (though they have not yet read anything by him). He's as famous as Shakespeare, Dante, Homer, or Cervantes.
The idea of knights losing in tournaments to show their love was a popular trope in medieval literature. In Chrétien de Troyes Lancelot, knight of the cart Guinevere asks Lancelot to lose in a tournament before, eventually, changing her mind and asking him to win.
I like to think of it as the classic 7/10, with 5 being average. It is good not great, it isn't a master piece, but it is a fun watch and most of it is fairly lighthearted with some comedy.
When it came out it pretty much bombed, and was poorly reviewed by the critics. I also saw it in the cinema, and recommended it to everyone I could, but it really only found success on DVD release.
The part where he gives his speech to the crowd and none of them react The crowd was all extras from Czech Republic (most of this movie was shot in the Czech Republic). None of them spoke English so they didn’t know when they were suppose to cheer. Mark Addy improvised that part on the spot to get them to cheer.
One day I was just chilling at the kitchen alone and this movie randomly started on a TV. I knew nothing about 'A Knight's Tale', I never heard about it. But this sole 'We Will Rock You' intro sells me this picture immediately. What a great way to establish in the very first minutes that this isn't an average historical epic, but a very fun experience.
The scene when William's blind dad recognizes him at the end, never fails to make me absolutely bawl my eyes out. One of my fav movies of all time and reminds me how sad it is, that we lost heath ledger so young in his life. He went to school just down the road here, where im from Australia and what a phenomenal talent and human he was. 10 things i hate about you is another classic from him ❤
Fun Fact: “The director said when he was studying history homework in high school, he listened to this type of rock music. So in his mind, this music reminds him of the medieval period. Due to associating that music to his homework.
An important jousting fact i hope no one else mentioned. Movies that involve jousting almost always have the lance horizontal for far too long. the lance is vertical until just before impact in actual jousting. this is due to the fact that physics would make it almost impossible to hold, let alone aim while riding a horse at speed. The lance would hit the ground like a horse powered pole vault causing at best irreparable damage to the knights arm, and at worst the knights death and horses injury..
For another couple of great Heath Ledger films, you should check out _"10 Things I Hate About You"_ a modern-day version of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. And _"Two Hands"_ an Australian crime comedy. Both from 1999, slightly earlier in Ledger's career than this movie.
@@RandomNonsense1985honestly the middle English isn't too far off from our own. If you take the time to practice the sounds and the look of the alphabet for it, it shouldn't take very long to quickly get the hang of reading and understanding it.
Between crying at the dad and laughing at 'THE PROTECTOR OF ITALIAN VIRGINITY' every single time, I absolutely love this film, and so glad you liked it!
On the commentary the director said that a week didn’t go by in production where some well-meaning, concerned person didn’t take him aside and quietly inform him that while they could be wrong they didn’t think the band Queen was known in the middle ages, or whatever modern song was playing in the scene. Director was like, “Realllyyyy?? Are you sure about that??” 😂 Another flick with awesome jousting in it is “Jabberwocky” but it comes from a COMPLETELY different place than “Knights Tale.”
At the beginning the old knight wasn’t dead for three days. He died that day after getting hit. The body releases its bowels when it dies which is why they had the nose plugs.
One of those wee gems one must click "like" on principle alone... "without contestation!" And yeah, that's Laura Fraser (Lydia - Breaking Bad), from Glasgow :)
The Anachronisms (historical inaccuracy) in the movie is a great intentional touch to make sure modern audience got the right vibe. They could have had the peasants chant and sing real medieval chants, but those chants might sound fancy and weird to us now. But back then? It hyped them up the way We Will Rock You hypes us up! And the Nike Swoosh. Blacksmith marks were like a designer logo, and using a real life athletic logo gives us the same feeling of "he's sponsoring her work" now. The cared less about historical accuracy, and more about making sure you feel the same way medieval peasants might feel at these events.
Another accuracy: Widows often took their husband's trade to make ends meet. (mainly because they already had the tools, but also possible that they assisted their husbands) So a Woman being a blacksmith wasn't unusual.
Also I love how @30:38 kind of implies Chaucer started the over-the-top sports announcer stereotype we have, since his coworkers/opponents are now emulating him.
I think you missed that when the tunic was described he was looking at, and describing the pattern on the tent behind her, which he then cut up and sew into the tunic.
32:49 "What happens if you're left-handed?" "The Church burns you alive?" 🤣🤣🤣It's stuff like that why this is my favourite Reaction Channel. And as a Lefty, we would have destroyed the competition, what with our more direct Lancing angle.
@@richardstephens5570 That crap continued for centuries. My mom was born left-handed in 1947 and they made her switch. It went on for quite a while after that in some areas (especially amongst the hyper-religious).
The jousting in this movie was actually surprisingly accurate considering the type of movie it is. There are some inaccuracies, such as Will's pauldron constantly slipping under his gorget (which on a real suit of armor would be a terrible flaw) but most of the armor is historically accurate and you even get to see novelties like the frog mouth helmet during Will's montage of victories
This movie is so much better than it has any right to be. N The tone, the music, the set design, the performances, and then suddenly we meet his dad! It is truly special.
While Heath, the dad, and the Black Prince being an honorable badass are all great, the not so secret sauce is the gang just clearly having a great time the whole time 🥰
I think the first joust includes a knight from Aragon, which was a medieval kingdom in northern Spain. Perhaps he's a Ranger of the North, but I doubt that he's the heir of Elendil...
Yes, the woman armorer Kate is played by Laura Fraser who also played Lydia in Breaking Bad. Also she’s from Glasgow so her Scottish accent in A Knight’s Tale is her native accent
About jousting: A king of France, Henri II, died from an injury from jousting. He received his opponent's spear in the eye (30th June 1559). Died after 10 days of agony.
Fun fact, in Scotland traditional dancing (ceilidh dancing) is still actively done at weddings and formal events, so you learn it in gym class from about age 9 (and you specifically have to walk up and ask someone to dance at the start of each song as part of it, leading to a whole schoolyard meta-flirting game of who-fancies-who). So that actress was almost certainly having some school flashbacks when filming that scene where she instructs them :P It's actually a lot of fun as an adult though - the dances are designed to be short and loop, so you only have to remember a few steps, and most people are drunk and just trying to have a good time anyway :P
A Knights Tale is such a guilty pleasure movie for me. It's fun, silly entertaining and action packed but still has some great messages throughout . I never get tired of seeing it and watching others react to it for the first time.
Yes, but there were definitely tiers of armour quality. A fully enclosing, fully articulated, jousting plate armour would have been out of reach for anyone but the absolute elite, but even men-at-arms wore plate armour in the late medieval era. There would have been a second hand market, just as for cars today. It may not fit very well, and it may be old and rusty, but even that is better than no armour at all. Now, the armour that Heath wears would have taken months to finish for an armourer with assistans, even if it is not that elaborate.
A lot of the cost was just from the fact that you wouldn't really joust in your normal war armor, so if you were jousting you basically could afford at least a second set of armor. And a lot of them might have some kind of third, more ceremonial set, which would not be all that effective in combat but looked nice. If you had only one set, it certainly wouldn't be made for anything but the most efficient protection you could afford for war. Beyond that was just a luxury.
About hitting the horse: It may have varied from tournament to tournament, but in many tournaments, hitting the opponent's horse could mean an instant disqualification. So the horse armor was mostly for show, because no one would willingly hit them. (Though I suppose it can prevent an accident).
@@burrichgrrl57 I believe you won a knights horse if you managed to knock him off it. Bare minimum if you beat a knight he owed you his armor and arms, and then you'd ransom it back to him for a honourable and fair amount. It's how most tourney knights made their living I believe.
Yeah, killing the horse would be bad all around, whether the rules explicitly forbade it or not (and rules on this varied wildly from place to place and time to time). To do it intentionally, you'd have to be both incredibly spiteful and wealthy enough already that you were jousting just for the fun of it (which itself is kind of insane).
This is a favorite. A real feel-good movie for the whole family. Watched it in cinema and was a bit suprised by the use of the soundtrack and the modern twists. But: A positive suprise. Rufus Sewell was a worthy opponent, he's a great actor. The whole cast is impressive. Heath of course, then Bettany, Purefoy, Laura Fraser, Shannyn Sossamon and then there are Robert Baratheon and Hoban "Wash" Washburne! A great movie without taking itself too serious, without bloodshed. It just always lifts my spirits when watching it.
Aragon is a region in Spain, so in this case Simone is not crazy. Henry VIII's first wife (and mother of the future Queen Mary) was Catherine of Aragon, which is the time you'd see it most often being from a former British colony.
Filmed in the chek republic, and the locals were the extras, when Chonser gave his first speech the crowd missed it's cue, so rollond adlibed the yeah and the crowd exploded so that's the take they kept
The actor playing the William father was Christopher Cazenove a British actor stage, tv, films 1986-1987 Dynasty as Ben Carrington he died in 7 April 2010 (aged 66) London, England , due to Sepsis
Based on one of the 24 "Canterbury Tales" (1387-1400) of Geoffrey Chaucer. Heath Ledger's first-lead film role. This was after The Patriot (2000) and before Monster's Ball (2001,02). Originally the film was going to be made in a grim, serious tone. But the direction went unorthodox to have a medieval story with some modern sensibilities (music, sports, etc) and it actually worked. Ledger's character spoke to the fellas who wanted to be somebody despite hard times and just win the day. Shannyn Sossamon as Jocelyn (acting debut), was so hot. Who would not wanna fight for her? Her and Heath teamed up on another film, mystery thriller "The Order" (2003). The supporting cast was enjoyable. Definitely a feel good movie. More than what you expect.
The critics didn't like it, but I thought that "The Order" (aka The Sin Eater in Europe) was awesome. You forgot to mention that it included Mark Addy, who played Roland.
Sir Hector passed from dysentery... specifically, dehydration as a result of "shyting himself excessively" in the summer heat exercising in a metal suit... even though he'd just passed, they had to plug up their noses because of the stink from THAT. That's why all the flies!
There is a 6 month gap were Chonsers wearabouts are unknown, and the first story of the cantiberry tails is called a knights tale, this is supposed to take place during that 6 months
This movie is SO MUCH FUN. I think of it as a 00s infused medieval reimagination. Also let this be the mandatiry comment that they used raw pasta inside the spears to make the splinters. Also I liked William with the blacksmith more. 😔
I remember being slightly obsessed with Berenice Bejo who played Jocelyn's hand maiden. Whenever she appeared on screen I wondered who she was. Later I saw her in the very entertaining spy spoof "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies". She eventually got an Oscar nomination for her role in "The Artist".
From a medieval historian (my wife): It's accurate but exaggerated when it comes to her clothes (for example). People back then were the same as they are now. The young were always rebellious, wearing the latest fashions, doing risque dances, and generally behaving outrageously. All the writer/director did was emphasise it by making it "modern" because what would have been outrageous back then would just look like medieval clothes to us. Yes the peasants were into jousting and it was like the World Cup. Also a woman could become a blacksmith, if she was married to one who died without an heir. The Divine Right of Kings was still a thing at this point, if the Prince says it's true, then it's true.
What's good in jousting - generally an increasing scale points for hitting the opponent, breaking your lance by hitting your opponent with it, and unseating your opponent. Bad is the converse of that plus, of course, injury/death/etc.
What I absolutely LOVE about this movie is their decision with the jousting. Originally, it was going to be fake with creative camera angles, but the feel of it wasn't right. So they just decided to do it for real instead! And that just makes it all the more timeless for many future generations to come. 🥰
The lines "You have been weighted, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting" is a paraphrase from the Book of Daniel, specifically the story of The Feast of Belshazzar.
The movie is just swimming with genre talent: Heath had the Joker in the Nolan Batmovies. Mark had Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones. Alan was Wash from Firefly. Paul was Vision from the Marvel movies. Laura was Lydia from Breaking Bad. Rufus was Smith from Man in the High Castle. Shannyn has been in a mix of things, but most known for Wayward Pines as Theresa, and Sleepy Hollow as Pandora. James was Marc Antony in Rome. And yes, the priest from the church in 7:06 was Mace Tyrell in Game of Thrones (Roger Ashton-Griffiths).
James Purefoy also played the lead in "Ironclad", in which he plays a Knights Templar who has to defend a castle with very few men against a overwhelming force. Lots of well known actors in that one
When they ask about what color the tunic will be so she can copy it. Roland describes the tent behind her. "Green trimmed with a sort of... Pale green and wooden toggles." He did a kaiser sosce
The whole thought process behind this movie "not seeming medieval-y," with the song choices and the way people are speaking, is that the people of that time would have been singing and clapping along to music of that time and enjoying themselves just like this. So, while many people nowadays find that kind of period-specific music and manner of speaking tiresome or boring, doing it this way tells the story in a more relatable, modern way. The director fought for this and it worked out really well.
Man, how I hate the fact everyone believes the defamation campaign on the middle ages... The time where peopel used perfume instead of washing was MUCh later, in medieval times bathing was very important.
I love it how this movie is mixing medieval society with a modern twist. It tells us how medieval society would feel like. A tournament was like going to a hockeygame in a big arena, so they behave in a way we would understand it. They would play popular music for the time, so they play popular music we understand the context of etc. I think it's such a wonderful way of conveying their world through our eyes.
I think I read somewhere at some point that this was exactly what the production team was going for. It was a very active attempt to convey the right emotions, if not complete accuracy
@@TheGoIsWin21That may have been their goal all along, but the late 90's/early 2000's were chock full of historical films with modern trappings, Romeo and Juliet being another example.
It had the complete opposite effect on me, making me want to vomit in disgust. I saw an early trailer of this when stopped while shopping by a polling company to view it and answer questions. I was pretty blunt with my opinions. I do not demand 100% historical accuracy in period pieces but deliberate pandering to soft headed modern audiences turns my stomach. Too many morons actually think they learn something from such nonsense. I'll accept enough deviation to allow the story to work with the hope that it will interest a viewer in learning more but this crap was utter nonsense.
@@robertcampbell8070 Then you had Master and Commander in 2003 which was a brilliant fictional story in an entirely historically accurate setting with spot on depiction of characters and world. Twenty years later that film stands up as a classic for all time.
I remember when this came out some critics decried the 'modern music' and anachronistic behaviours but it totally made sense. They were saying "This is the medieval version of what we do today". Also I've read that the type of choral music most associated with the era wasn't really accurate. It's just what we think of as medieval but came later.
The scene where Chaucer introduces William at the melee and the crowd doesn't respond until Roland prompts them to cheer came about because they filmed this in the Czech Republic and none of the extras (all of whom had been recruited from the local towns) could speak English... so they missed their cue to cheer. Mark Addy, the actor playing Roland, then threw in a cheer to get them started.
As a wee child deeply infatuated with the Middle Ages, this movie was everything to me. I still watch it at least once a year, it will be a “classic” in generations to come, it has such a loving and dedicated fanbase for good reason. We watched this in my European History class after testing at the end of the year, so the teacher could say it was “relevant to the course material” for Big Brother. “It’s called a lance…. hellooo” is iconic. The music director knows when to be cheesy camp and knows when to bring in an original score (like the uplifting, wholesome, and serious scenes). I definitely agree that the intro scene really sets the tone, and it introduces the characters SO well. You instantly understand their personalities just from the first 2 minutes of dialogue. Will is optimistic, confident, and courageous. Wat is sarcastic, snarky, violent, and impulsive. Roland is calm under pressure and a realist. Such good writing, great immersive sets with a touch of modernity that only feels slightly out of place, phenomenal acting that never feels corny or over-the-top (even the “Williaaaam!!!” at the end feels appropriate, his name has so much weight). I could say so much about this movie.
I absolutely love this movie. I've watched it so many times. It's funny but it's got so much heart. I saw this movie in theaters in 2001 and my parents bought it on dvd as soon as it came out and STILL the dad stuff still makes me tear up. Such a good movie!
