Introduction
The film the Kingdom of Heaven tried to show the events with historical accuracy. For instance, while telling a story about the Hattin battle, which is widely regarded as a one-sided battle, the movie also shows a hero in Balian who helped bring the two parties to an agreement. The historical, contextual, and significant events like the Hattin struggle are depicted justly (Al-Khalili 119). The film explains well Jerusalem’s fall and does not hide anything about the warfare that happened at that time.
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In addition, the film presents a realistic portrayal of Saladin, who was a mighty Muslim leader during this period. Despite all the depictions that were true in actual life, there are occurrences like Balian inheriting his father’s position among the Crusaders and a fictional castle that makes the story compelling. The film is an excellent vehicle for interpreting the events of history between the two most dominant religions at that time. This work explores how the film achieved historical accuracy by accurately depicting the relationship between Christians and Muslims in the past.
The director of the movie followed Jerusalem’s fall closely in the film. The Christian soldiers and knights responsible for building the kingdom had vowed to capture back holy sites in Jerusalem or the sacred land, which refers to modern-day Israel. The kingdom had experienced continued attacks from the Muslims as well as Arabs (Akmal 338). The city of Jerusalem is of equal importance among Christians, as well as for Muslims and Jews. The Crusaders felt that they were fighting under the flag of Christianity. The war with the Muslims was an excellent opportunity to repent for their sins and get the desired indulgence.
The film concentrates on the continued danger facing Jerusalem by the emergence of the Ayyubid Sultanate. The film captures the danger that Saladin poses to the Crusaders due to his military and battle prowess. While historians regard the Hattin struggle as among the greatest wars in global history, it led to the destruction of mostly one party of the struggle (Al-Khalili 120). The film acknowledges this and focuses on how Jerusalem defended itself, which is sensible as it is a more exciting narrative.
The Crusaders’ battle and subsequent capture of Jerusalem were disastrous as they parted with a more significant portion of Jerusalem and surrendered it to the Islamic sultan. The film director portrays this as the result of the beginning of the third Crusade and as a new test for the French and English crusaders to reclaim Jerusalem (Akmal 336). The historical context of the film and its interpretation of the main events of world history and all the battles are reliable.
The screenwriter of the film bases character Balian on an actual individual. The character in the film is a blacksmith in his youth who chooses to attend a crusade and meets his biological father. The film depicts this character as an illegitimate young person who follows a crusade to save his wife’s soul from eternal condemnation after she ends her own life. After recognition by his father as the biological son, he gets to occupy the same position his father had (Akmal 337). In actual life, a child out of wedlock’s knighting would be prohibited in the Middle Ages unless a monarch offered dispensation.
The film shows the journey that Balian makes to the holy Holy Land. This man’s father is a crusader and a noble knight who goes on a crusade with spiritual goals and one of the most prominent nobles. The film claims that Balian goes on a campaign with his father, who dies before reaching Jerusalem. It becomes evident that Balian would be familiar with the politics and culture of the Holy Land region. It is through the image of Balian and his campaign that viewers discover the world of Jerusalem. Despite several historical inaccuracies, this fact does not affect the viewer’s general idea of the events.
The film depicts Balian as very young in the Kingdom of Heaven, but in real life, he was already a mature man. The film correctly emphasizes that in the 1180s, Balian played an essential role in the politics of Jerusalem. He was involved in power struggles that significantly deteriorated the realm (Akmal 336). The film shows a hero who struggles to protect a kingdom from different factions that desire power. In the real world, Balian was Machiavellian and constantly sought ways to be better than his rivals by influence and power. Nevertheless, the film accurately highlights that Balian was a courageous knight.
The film correctly portrays the defense by Balian and forces under his command of Jerusalem. He was a courageous leader, outstanding swordsman, and tactician in the film. He became the Christian garrison of Jerusalem’s commander before the Hattin battle. He devised a defense that effectively beat off numerous attacks from Muslims (Al-Khalili 119). Despite Balian being the commander, the film diminishes the pivotal roles played by other important leaders. Saladin and Balian reached an agreement that brought the siege to an accurate end.
On the one hand, Christians agreed to let the Muslims under Saladin have the city. A scene in the film shows Balian leading Christians out, which successfully happened. On the other hand, the Muslims allowed the garrison plus the Christian populace to leave unharmed.
After surrendering Jerusalem to the Muslim leader, Saladin, Balian goes back to Europe with Sibylla. The film shows him being happy as a blacksmith in his birth village and refuses requests by the English to go on another crusade, as seen in one of the scenes (Pagès 698). After falling of the city, he remained and was among the leaders in the region. He took part in the Third Crusade and was the chief consultant of the English King Richard the Lionheart. The film director shows Balian as one with good association with Muslims while, in reality, he did have a good relationship with the Muslims, notably Saladin. This work showed that the author of the film did an exceptional job of maintaining a good narrative while maintaining historical accuracy in certain events. For example, the film tells the story of the Battle of Hattin, which took place. Even though the story is true, to tell a compelling story, the film chooses to focus on Balian, who is the hero of those defending Jerusalem. In addition, there are cases such as Balian, who inherited the position and castle of his late father, which only complement the storyline, but which did not happen in reality.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the film is suitable for mass teaching history in schools because it reflects the natural history of the confrontation of two religions, military campaigns under their banners. The film contains several exaggerations and inaccuracies, but this is not negative but only creates the atmosphere of the era shown. Knowledge of history helps to approach the review of the film critically but does not cause an adverse reaction. Initially, the film does not pretend to be historically accurate but tries to show the event truthfully and as precisely as possible.
Works Cited
Akmal, Saiful, and Desy Ulfa Yana. “Conversational Implicature Analysis in ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ Movie Script by William Monahan.” Buletin Al-Turas, vol. 26, no. 2, 2020, pp. 335–50. Crossref.
Khaleel Al-Khalili, Raja, and Maen Ali Al-Maqableh. “Migration of a Cultural Concept: Arabian Knighthood and Saladin as a Model.” Advances in Language and Literary Studies, vol. 10, no. 4, 2019, p. 118. Crossref.
Pagès, Meriem. “From Crusading Queen to Damsel in Distress: Re-Imagining Sibylla of Jerusalem in Kingdom of Heaven.” Gender & History, vol. 30, no. 3, 2018, pp. 696–703. Crossref.