Black Death (no spoilers)

I had heard very little about this film.  It seems to have fallen well below most people's radar.  It was brought to my attention on Twitter by @Moviegrrl . I'm glad she did give it a mention.  I'd have hated to have missed it.  I'm assuming its time of release won't have done it any favours.  Most British eyes seem to be on the World Cup right now.

Unsurprisingly this film is set during the first outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in England.  Sean Bean plays a Bishop's envoy despatched to find and return with a heretic who is supposedly protecting their village from infection.  The period detail in the film is great.  As is the sense of of atmosphere it gives.  The use of diegetic sound was central to creating the atmosphere and was wonderful throughout.  As were scenes set on a marsh with the use of the mist present.  This was a spooky setting.

The cast wasn't well known to me.  I had heard that this is the film that will relaunch Sean Bean's career.  He was good in this but was playing a part we have seen him play before.  There was nothing new to his range here.  Good casting but unless a few more people actually see this film it won't be a launchpad for anything.  Which is a shame because I enjoyed it.  Carice van Houten was great in her role.  I don't think I've finished a film in with her before.  Despite everyone else loving Black Book it just wasn't for me.  She had a great presence in this film.  Managing to play a strong woman in Medieval England convincingly.  Not an easy task I would imagine.  I can't remember seeing Eddie Redmayne in anything else before.  I thought he carried himself well in this.  He was good if not standout great.  The majority of his role must have difficult as he plays neither a meek sort nor a confident brute as do most of the rest of the male cast.  Tim McInnerny did well.  Upon his arrival on screen I smirked.  This was a period piece.  The sight and sound off him just made me think of his Blackadder roles.  His performance got me past that and believing in his character.  Not an easy job as he is firmly Captain Darling in my mind.  Emun Elliott didn't let the side down.  This is the second role I've seen him in.  In both the majority of his lines were spoken whilst glaring through his fringe.  I want to see him stretch himself a bit.

The film is horrifyingly brutal in parts.  Probably no more brutal than the scenes shown would have been at such a time but not exactly a pleasant watch.  I don't think as some have said that this brutality was unnecessary.  The subject matter seems to call for such behaviour.  This is discussing the church and heretics in medieval times.

The film is decribed as a medieval thriller.  A pretty apt description.  I loved the sense of spookiness I felt throughout the film.  It seems yet another way of discussing religion as so many things do these days.  It wasn't allowed to get in the way of telling a good story though.

4 out of 5 pawprints.