I recently read an interview on Winter is Coming with
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (NCW) and found out he made a movie some years ago called
Shadow of the Sword. (Nikolaj plays Jaime Lannister in HBO’s series
Game of Thrones.) The reason I was so
taken by the mention of this film is that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (from now on I’ll refer to him as
NCW) is wearing medieval garb, carrying a sword, and riding a horse. There’s nothing that I enjoy more than a
handsome man in a period film with a sword.
I was also curious to see NCW in something other than Game
of Thrones. I will admit that I saw both Kingdom of Heaven and Black Hawk Down, but since I didn’t know who NCW was
at the time, I really don’t remember him. (Make a note to re-watch both films
soon). So this weekend I settled down to
watch Shadow of the Sword (The Headsman) (2005).
The film is set in what seems to be Northern Europe during
the 16th Century’s Inquisition seen through the story of the
friendship between two orphans, Martin (NCW) and Georg (Peter McDonald). The
film is also about the horrors of religious fanaticism.
Peter McDonald and NCW
Martin and Georg meet as orphans in the local monastery and
one day when they are considered old enough are taken away to separate
locations by the Archbishop (John Shrapnel).
We meet them again as adult men when Martin is now a soldier and Georg a
priest. Georg is the Prior of the
monastery and town and Martin an officer in the military. While camped outside the town Martin comes to
visit his friend and falls in love at-first-sight with Anna (Anastasia
Griffith), daughter of the town’s executioner. The executioner is employed by
church and town, but considered and outcast along with his family. One thing
leads to another and Martin has no choice but to become the town executioner to
stay with his lady love. As for Prior Georg, let’s just say…
“Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition” But they come to
town anyway.
Martin and Georg find themselves
on opposite sides of the religious persecution issue, their friendship is
tested and their lives are in danger.
The film is successful in setting the right look and
atmosphere for the times and the story.
The contrast between the dirty streets and equally dirty people, and the
tidiness and sumptuousness of the church and the priests is very well
done. Some of the scenes are shot in
beautiful locations that also contrast with the darkness of the tale.
The success of the look is deceptive because however
ambitious the story, it just isn’t there in the script. The friendship between Martin and Georg as
children is never really told, so later when they meet as adults it’s hard to
know what keeps these two very different men involved and concerned for each
other. There’s a start of an interesting character arc with Anna as a woman
ahead of her time, but that story is dropped into nothing shortly after. Martin is clearly the hero, but we know so
little about his character that the revelations that come later in the film
fall flat.
What happened with the villains in this film? Seemed at times that this group of good
British character actors were at the edge of playing their roles for
laughs. Steven Berkoff channels his
inner Dracula as the Inquisitor. John Shrapnel seems to be twisting an
imaginary mustache as the Snidely Whiplash of Archbishops. And Lee Ingleby and Eddie Marsan are the most
repulsive of repulsive villains. (Lee Ingleby has perfected the art of being “weasely.”)
Steven Berkoff
I liked the performances of the lead actors. Though he’s not
helped by the script, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau does his best and gives a
heartbreaking performance as Martin. He
also looks good despite the stringy hair. There’s a charm about NCW that shows
through in the quiet and romantic scenes. Anastasia Griffith plays a low key
Anna and is believable in her romantic scenes with NCW. Peter McDonald as Georg gives the best
performance in the film and his character of the one time good priest fighting
his own interior and exterior demons is the most developed.
I think my expectations were too high for this film and this
led to my disappointment with it. The cast is impressive and the story of the
Inquisition and the darkness of the soul promised great drama. But the film is far
from a great historical drama. It’s more an action/adventure/horror film that
seeks to entertain rather than enlighten.
I enjoyed watching Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and learning a bit
more about his career, and that was really my objective in watching this film.
There a few extras on the DVD. There’s a “Making of Shadow of the Sword”
that’s really a bad home video of the filming of one scene with bad background
music. But I really enjoyed watching the mini-interviews with the cast.
Warning – the film has some very graphic violent scenes.
The film was nominated for the Grand Prix des Amériques at the 2005 Montréal World Film Festival, Director Simon Aeby
Director Simon Aeby
Photos from www.lunafilm.at and Google Images.
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