Black Death
Black Death is an intriguing movie set in 1348 in England - and the black plague is wreaking havoc. Many of the medieval folk feel this disaster will destroy everyone if it's not somehow stopped.
From a medieval person's point of view, they didn't know much about biology. When entire villages were wiped out by a mysterious, nasty disease, they thought it was either caused by witches or by an angry God. They flailed around trying to do something - anything - to get it to end.
Into this mix comes a group of religious men. Osmund is a quiet monk who is torn by his love for a woman. He wants her to get somewhere safe from the plague. Ulric is a knight who's on a quest to examine a village which apparently is safe from the plague. Along with them go various other miscreants.
The movie keeps you guessing. Are there supernatural elements? Is what they are seeing real? This is useful because it helps the viewer get into the mindset of medieval people. From their point of view, some elements of human biology *were* supernatural. I wasn't that fond of the ending, as I find it doesn't add to the story, but I'm sure others might find it fitting.
They did a good job on the historical side. Not perfect, but then again most movies are far worse. The plague years were gritty, run down, rough, and full of intense emotion. People had no idea what to do. It seemed as if the world were about to end. The clothing and architecture is fairly accurate. So many movies make the middle ages seem like a eat-off-the-floor-clean wonderland. It wasn't. Especially not these years.
Interestingly, for Game of Throne fans, both Sean Bean (Eddard Stark) and Carice van Houten (Melisandre) play key characters in this movie.
Well recommended.
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