An affair between the second in line to Britain's throne and the princess of the feuding Irish spells doom for the young lovers. In the Dark Ages, after the fall of the Roman Empire, weak Britain is divided into several clans, while the powerful Ireland, untouched by the Romans, dominates and ravages the British tribes. The just and noble British leader, Marke, meets with the other clan chiefs to try to unite the country, but they are attacked and slaughtered by the Irish army headed by Morholt. Marke loses one hand protecting the young Tristan, who had just lost his parents, and Marke raises the boy as if he were of his blood. Years later, after another attack by the Irish forces, Tristan rescues his people, who had been captured to serve as slaves, and kills the brutal Morholt, to whom the beautiful Irish princess, Isolde, had been promised in marriage. Tristan is poisoned by the sword of Morholt, declared dead by his mates, and put on a boat as part of his funeral. The ship floats out to sea, and lands on the Irish shore. Isolde, along with her maid-servant, Bradnae, finds the boat with Tristan in it, and hides him in a hut, where she nurses him back to health. In the process, they fall in love for each other, but with Isolde concealing her identity from Tristan. When Tristan is about to be discovered by Irish guards, he escapes by boat back to Britain to avoid being captured and killed. Isolde's father, King Donnchadh, together with the British traitor Wictred, declares a joust as part of a plan to divide the British and make Wictred king, by promising the hand of Isolde to the winner. However, Tristan wins the tournament. Without knowing that Isolde is his love, Tristan offers her to Marke, in order to make Marke king and thus unify the British clans. When Tristan sees who Isolde is, he must decide between his friendship and loyalty to Marke and his love for Isolde. Wagner will throw you to a wonderful never-land of drama through music, but this is the real thing. Totally – and wonderfully – non American in flavor; the kind of picture you will not see in your (US) neighborhood movie theater. Which means I caught this film in HBO today, never before having heard of it. The film is beautifully done all around: no excess of anything good or bad (e.g., nudity or violence) no pursuit of effect for effect's sake. The acting, direction, photography and music are all quite memorable. Isolde (Sophia Myles) is the real thing also; beautiful and believable of her time; not a slender bombshell of mere curves. Even the script has a few jewels for those suckers, such as I, who have felt such passions at some point in their lives (o lucky we!): "You were right. I don't know if life is greater than death. But love was more than either." Loved it, yes. omgomgomg this is like the best movie…. I mean, it's not dragging and the story is really tight and fast and it never gets boring..<br/><br/>the conflict between the king, Tristan and Isolde is expressed fantastically in the film, as it lets you actually "feel" how they feel. The actors are chosen well too, they just seem to be the best ones for their character… <br/><br/>this movie is one of the best i've ever seen… <br/><br/>I love Tristan!!!!! <br/><br/>Apparently, he is in "Flyboys" as well… I just love him, he's soo cute!! >.< By removing elements of magic and operatic excess from the story, the brothers Scott focus on what is, underneath, a story as tragic (and less contrived) as the one cited in the ads, "Romeo and Juliet."
Baeyas replied
365 weeks ago