Onyx: Kings of the Grail (2018) Poster

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7/10
Docudrama about the great religious icon , The Holy Grail , blending myths , legends and historical facts
ma-cortes5 April 2021
A nice and interesting Docudrama dealing with the cup of the last supper , The Holy Grail. Legends, fantasies , myths , imagination and traditions have adorned the existence and whereabouts of this holy cup from Jerusalem to Europe . It starts with the discovery of a document in the Egyptian library of Al-Azahar that is the key and main proof leading to the real evidence of Christ chalice finds in the Castillian city of Leon, portrayed by painting in the Panteon of Kings of the Basílica de San Isidoro. By following the chalice's journey from the table of the last supper to contemporary times , we start examining the hits and flops of the human race that have shaped the world we know today. According to some historians, some medieval documents that support this theory were located in the National Library of Cairo. These came from Al Azhar University. A translated text supposedly said that the cup revered by Christians as having belonged to the Messiah had been sent to the Sultan of Denia, Ali ibn Mujahid ad-Danii. The Sultan of Denia had sent a ship with food to the Fatimid Sultan Al-Mustansir around 1055 so that Egypt could overcome a famine. In gratitude, Imam Al-Mustansir sent a ship loaded with treasures, including the cup, to the Sultan of Denia. On the trip, the relic would have been escorted by the bishop of León, who was then on a pilgrimage in Jerusalem. In the text it is said that the Sultan of Denia's intention was to send the cup to the king of León, Ferdinand I the Great, to strengthen his friendship with him. Detailing the long destination of the chalice from Calipha of Egypt who gave it to Emir of Denia , thanksgiving for his help due to starvation and drought happened in Egypt . Later on , this Emir to get a durable peace and gave the Holy Grail to King Fernando I of Leon , being eventually inherited by his daughter Urraca who commands to paint San Isidoro de Leon and to adorne the Holy Grail , embellished in onyx . In a second text it is said that the leader of the expedition to Denia was Bani-l-Aswad. In this expedition, the first of his men would have removed a piece of the cup with a rubber band. This splinter would have been sent to Saladin and would have been used to cure her daughter by placing the piece of stone on her body. At the same time, detailing the exploits carried out by the secret organization created by Himmler : Ahnenerbe by seeking the Fountain of Life and ancient relics as the Lance of Longinus , King Salomon's Table, Ark of Alliance , the Holy Grail , Stone of Scone , and other investigations proceeded by Otto Rahn . Finally, Himmler himself travels to Monastery of Monserrat where he believes is the Holy Grail, the mysterious cup filled with gifts and virtues . In addition , there appears some historical characters , such as: Beda El Venerable , Carlomagnus , Fernando I King of Leon , his daughter Urraca, Saladin who defeated the Christians in 1187 battle of Hattin, the chief of the SS Henrich Himmler and his underling Otto Rahn who wrote The Court of Lucifer and Crusade against the Grail : Tragedy of the Catarism.

This is an attractive docudrama in which appears known actors as James Cazievel , Maria de Medeiros and Anthony Howell. James Cazievel plays a friar who acts as a narrator of the historical events . Cazievel is really a religious person and in fact he has played: Pablo , Apostle of Christ and , of course , The Passion of the Christ . While the Portuguese Maria De Medeiros and the British Anthony Howell play Margarita Torres and Jose Ortega respectively, both of whom actually show up telling their investigations and discoveries about the Holy Grail . Furthermore , brief appearances from Spanish secondaries as Carlos Olalla and Saturnino García playing Goldsmith craftsmen. The film pays tribute to the gorgeous City of Leon , including wonderful sightseeing from Cathedral of Leon , Casa Botín , Hostal San Marcos , Basilica of San Isidoro, and vistas of Jerusalem , Ecclesia Sanct Sepulchri, Last Supper room , among others. The picture was well directed by Roberto Girault, though it is more a documentary than a fiction movie .
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1/10
unfounded. incongruent. boring. poorly done.
camera-1113 April 2022
It lacks of everything. Incomprehensible how actors like Maria de Medeiros or Jim Caviezel have agreed to participate in a documentary of such poor quality.

It is a mockery of any minimally scientific concept and rigor.

It could, perhaps, have been the starting point for a script, but the project does not even reach the quality of the first year of school.
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