A Knight's Tale (2001)

After his master dies, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, creates a new identity for himself as a knight.

Director:

Brian Helgeland

Writer:

Brian Helgeland

Stars:

Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell

4 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Heath Ledger	...	William Thatcher
Rufus Sewell	...	Count Adhemar
Shannyn Sossamon	...	Jocelyn
Paul Bettany	...	Geoffrey Chaucer
Laura Fraser	...	Kate
Mark Addy	...	Roland
Alan Tudyk	...	Wat
Bérénice Bejo	...	Christiana (as Berenice Bejo)
Scott Handy	...	Germaine
James Purefoy	...	Colville
Leagh Conwell	...	Young William Thatcher
Christopher Cazenove	...	John Thatcher
Steven O'Donnell	...	Simon the Summoner (as Steve O'Donnell)
Jonathan Slinger	...	Peter the Pardoner
Nick Brimble	...	Sir Ector

Storyline

Inspired by "The Canterbury Tales," as well as the early life of William Marshall (later First Earl of Pembroke), this is the story of William, a young squire with a gift for jousting. After his master dies suddenly, the squire hits the road with his cohorts Roland and Wat. On the journey, they stumble across an unknown writer, Chaucer. William, lacking a proper pedigree, convinces Chaucer to forge genealogy documents that will pass him off as a knight. With his newly-minted history in hand, the young man sets out to prove himself a worthy knight at the country's jousting competition, and finds romance along the way.

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Plot Keywords:

medieval times | knight | jousting | chaucer | knight in armour | 

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Taglines:

He Will Rock You

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence, some nudity and brief sex-related dialogue

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

11 May 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Knight's Tale

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,511,391, 13 May 2001

Gross USA:

$56,569,702

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$117,487,473

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Escape Artists, Finestkind

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min 144 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In addition to the '70s rock music, Wat wears tunics with bird insignias on them. The insignia strongly resembles the decal that appeared on the hoods of 1970s era Pontiac Firebird muscle cars.

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Goofs

In the montage of William during his sword of foot fights, his armor has a line from Kate's repair. His armor isn't broken until the next joust scene.

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Quotes

[first lines]
William: Should we help him?

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Crazy Credits

As the first credits appear, the camera swings to show a constellation behind William and Jocelyn. The constellation is Orion, the Hunter. Jocelyn refers to William as the Hunter before she learns his name.

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Alternate Versions

There is a slight difference between the UK cinema version and the UK DVD release. In the cinematic release, the queen/Robbie Williams version of We Are The Champions starts playing when William and Jocelyn kiss just before the credits, whereas the DVD release has a different song play. However, We Are The Champions still plays over the last half of the credits.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Medieval Movies (2014)

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Soundtracks

Golden Years
Written and Performed by David Bowie
Courtesy of RZO Music, Inc.
Remixed by Tony Visconti

User Reviews

Jousting With A Modern Take

A story about jousting but this old knight's tale is anything but old because it mixes in satire of today's modern sports-audience age with some funny bits. Those include the overly dramatic public address announcer (boy, that's even more so since this film came out), rock music blaring out as the contestants do battle, etc.

The main characters are nicely varied with distinct personalities. Shannon Sossamon, however, was not quite up to leading-lady status and hasn't had a choice role like this since, either. I would have rather seen her "assistant" in this film, or the blacksmith woman, be the lead. Anyway, even though it's a bit long at 132 minutes, it's still entertaining most of the way, with some of the funniest bits at the beginning. However, it's just as much a romance (with Heath Ledger as the male lead) than a comedy.

What also is good is the sound and visuals in here: all high-class. The lance hitting an opponent made an interesting sound each time. The surround sound in here was good, too.

It's a film most people would like, and I recommend seeing it.