Set in the 14th century during the height of the plague, Black Death follows the story of Osmund, a young monk torn between his love for a young woman named Averill and his duty to God.
At the beginning of the film Osmund sends Averill away from the plague infested town in which his monetary is housed, and promises to meet her at a pre-arranged location in the near future. Shortly after a knight named Ulric, played by Sean Bean, arrives with a group of fellow soldiers on a special mission ordered by the bishop. Ulric tells the monks that there have been reports of a village that has escaped the ravages of the plague and that witchcraft has been suspected in its preservation. Ulric requests that one of the monks guide the soldiers to the village, so that they may investigate the situation.
Osmund, seeing his opportunity to reach Averill, volunteers to accompany the soldiers to the village, and so his journey begins. Osmund guides the soldiers to nearby the meeting place he and Averill had previously arranged, and they make camp. Osmund uses the opportunity to sneak away to meet Averill only to discover bloody rags, and a group of bandits, remaining. Osmund then makes a hasty retreat back to camp where he awakes the soldiers who then proceed to kill the bandits. Distraught with the loss of Avrill Osmund continues to guide the soldiers to the village, where not everything is as it would first appear...
The film contains strong performances from Sean Bean, Carice van Houten, Davis Warner and Tim McInnerny. McInnerny, of course famed for his roles playing upper class buffoons in televisions such as Blackadder, was highly believable in his portrayal of a very different type of character and that was gratifying.
In terms of both the visual look, and in terms of ambiance, the film was also very good. The graphic depiction of the plague, in addition to the desolated environment, set against the relatively lush scene of the un-ravaged village, really aided the haunting atmosphere the film attempted to invoke. The violence and misery of life during the period was also not a subject that the film shied away from, and in places verged towards being perhaps too brutal.
The major down point for this film was Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Osmund, a role he didn't really seem to get to grips with until the final scenes of the film. Another problem was the pace of the film, despite not being very long, consisting of only 102 minutes, the film seemed to drag and last far longer.
But those issues aside, I enjoyed the film.
At the beginning of the film Osmund sends Averill away from the plague infested town in which his monetary is housed, and promises to meet her at a pre-arranged location in the near future. Shortly after a knight named Ulric, played by Sean Bean, arrives with a group of fellow soldiers on a special mission ordered by the bishop. Ulric tells the monks that there have been reports of a village that has escaped the ravages of the plague and that witchcraft has been suspected in its preservation. Ulric requests that one of the monks guide the soldiers to the village, so that they may investigate the situation.
Osmund, seeing his opportunity to reach Averill, volunteers to accompany the soldiers to the village, and so his journey begins. Osmund guides the soldiers to nearby the meeting place he and Averill had previously arranged, and they make camp. Osmund uses the opportunity to sneak away to meet Averill only to discover bloody rags, and a group of bandits, remaining. Osmund then makes a hasty retreat back to camp where he awakes the soldiers who then proceed to kill the bandits. Distraught with the loss of Avrill Osmund continues to guide the soldiers to the village, where not everything is as it would first appear...
The film contains strong performances from Sean Bean, Carice van Houten, Davis Warner and Tim McInnerny. McInnerny, of course famed for his roles playing upper class buffoons in televisions such as Blackadder, was highly believable in his portrayal of a very different type of character and that was gratifying.
In terms of both the visual look, and in terms of ambiance, the film was also very good. The graphic depiction of the plague, in addition to the desolated environment, set against the relatively lush scene of the un-ravaged village, really aided the haunting atmosphere the film attempted to invoke. The violence and misery of life during the period was also not a subject that the film shied away from, and in places verged towards being perhaps too brutal.
The major down point for this film was Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Osmund, a role he didn't really seem to get to grips with until the final scenes of the film. Another problem was the pace of the film, despite not being very long, consisting of only 102 minutes, the film seemed to drag and last far longer.
But those issues aside, I enjoyed the film.