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:

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

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Taglines:

From peasant to knight; one man can change his stars

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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, Wide Release

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

Newsweek revealed in June 2001 that print ads for at least four movies released by Columbia Pictures, including this film and The Animal (2001), contained glowing comments from a film reviewer who did not exist. The fake critic, "David Manning," was created by a Columbia employee who worked in the advertising department. "Manning" was misrepresented as a reviewer for The Ridgefield Press, a real, small Connecticut weekly paper.

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Goofs

After the lord of the fist joust presents the golden feather on the pillow to William, he continues holding the pillow out as William shows it to the crowd. In the next shot of him, his hands are empty and he is clapping them.

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Quotes

[first lines]
William: Should we help him?

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Crazy Credits

After the credits finish, Roland, Wat, Kate, and Geoffrey Chaucer have a flatulence contest/drinking game. Wat loses, but Kate is the obvious winner.

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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 Troldspejlet: Episode #26.5 (2001)

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Soundtracks

One of our Own
By Carter Burwell

User Reviews

Rags to riches, love conquers all, never say quit, go for your dreams....

Fun little tale of a dirt poor lad willing to go all out for his lady love, his honor, and to prove he is as good as any other warrior. Plenty of laughs from a zany character or two and a grand adventure with plenty of old world jousting, pageantry, and costumes. Loved the way the producers wove hard rock tunes and today's lingo into the show's fabric and made it seem, usually anyway, as thought it fit that time span. Cool flic.