Hope you enjoyed the video! Find Zac here: UA-cam.com/zacevansjouster Preorder the Just Stab Me Now ebook here! US: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2 UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2 Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2 Australia: www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2 And have a lovely day!
About the Bessemer process. What she does with his new armour is not really that far fetched. Around the late 14th century they were starting figure out that if you take a type of iron high in carbon inclusions and quench it in a certain way it gets really hard. Sometimes it was so hard it would be brittle and break but there was an intermediate stage where it was hard but also springy which made for superior armour. Mind you they would not have known about the carbon, crystalline structures, pearlite, martensite like we do, only that you could sort the metal from the smelter into rough hardness grades. Make Armour from the ‘medium grade’ nuggets, slack quench that armour and it would be much tougher than the air cooled stuff. It’s not even totally unrealistic for a woman to know this because armorers kept this a family trade secret.
I have to say that the insight & breakdown of the accuracy/inaccuracy for A Knight's Tale is *Chef's Kiss* & it puts this film into a whole new light. Btw, Congratulations on finding an editor for One Crisis At A Time! I imagine that it hasn't been the easiest with getting your storyline sorted, let alone written & hopefully it'll be smoother sailing.😊
Very nice video, unexpected. I’d say the movie is set in 1386 as Chaucer hasn’t written the Canterbury Tales, but it’s implied that these events inspired the book. Since you asked: 1.Will doesn’t have a gorget or throat protection. 2. his head isn’t stabilised, 3. the saddle is anachronistic. (It’s a dressed up western saddle) 4. The breaths on the helmet are too large.
The oddest thing that was true to history in this film was the lady blacksmith. In the middle ages, whenever a woman married a craftsman, she would learn the basics of his craft out of sheer necessity. Labor was short to come by, particularly after the Black Death, and no one but the nobility could afford to have a healthy household member NOT working. Farmers' wives hoed the fields, tanners's wives worked the leather, coopers' wives bent planks, etc. Specifically, in England, most blacksmiths would pay their taxes to the local lord in arrowheads, so they'd teach their wives how to do basic forgery and make arrowheads to cover the tax, which freed the master blacksmith up to do the real money-making stuff. Armor. For a blacksmith's widow to go from making arrowheads and horseshoes to making armor is not actually unrealistic, or historically inaccurate. It was just rare at the time.
I recall reading somewhere that the majority of nails made by hand were done by blacksmith's wives and/or daughters since it's the sort of bulk order item that's time-consuming but technically simple and inherently profitable to keep making.
The whole 'women don't work' was - to my knowledge - a sign of wealth. Nobility could afford to let their wifes do nothing. It became only widespread well after the industrialisation.
I believe they also said in the commentary that the wives would learn the craft so that in the event that the husband dies (as Kate’s did), she could provide for herself and their children until she remarries.
I watched this movie with my dad recently, and Kate the blacksmith was one of the things he grumbled about as inaccurate. It delighted me to be able to say “actually that’s one of the accuracies”. Also after correcting a few of his grumblings, I teased him with “David Bowie was actually writing songs during the medieval period, he lived for hundreds of years!”
Also if you were marrying a blacksmith they were probably one of your father's journeymen. So you would have grown up helping your father in the forge with chores and forging little things (as someone else mentioned) such as nails.
Fun fact: I worked on subtitling the director's commentary for A Knight's Tale, in which Brian Helgeland and Paul Bettany heckle themselves for two hours and it is GLORIOUS. My favourite part is that every time some very-obviously-modern music is played, Brian exclaims (extremely tongue-in-cheek): "We must have shown the screenplay to dozens of people DOZENS! And would you believe that not one of them told me that Queen didn't exist in the Middle Ages? WHO WAS TO KNOW?!" 🤣
I know EXACTLY THE BIT IN THE COMMENTARY YOU ARE REFERRING TO!!! I poured over that in my VHS copy of A Knight's Tale. And I enjoyed watching it again when a friend had it on DVD. I've also watched the film online with the director's commentary on too. That film was so formative to me as a child growing up and I loved all the behind the scenes extras at the end after the film. I was only sad that my VHS copy didn't have the director's commentary on it (because I knew there would be one) given the way the crew spoke about things in the extras and TV spots. So, I actually went down to Blockbuster to rent it on DVD just so I could watch it with that very commentary you subtitled. I was so impressed with it. The use of the font and the breaking down of the lines and displaying the text on screen and keeping the different italicised forms or not for the different languages, and the different characters and then the different actors and to show if they were making a joke or not or talking to someone else... I absolutely adored it. I can't believe I've found you out in the wilds. Although, that it is on the comments section of a Jill Bearup video makes it seem like this is the most natural of places to find you! I just want to say, sincerely, thank you for your work. The fact you were so committed to getting it right was an absolute dream to watch and appreciate as someone who did font design for fun and then also in art and design and such in school and loved all the ways you creatively showed intention of speech and originator of the comment and then the different little asterisks and such for when someone else would add in a fourth aside onto an aside or the original commentor would come back in again. Did you just work with their audio tracks after the fact or did you actually get to meet Brian Helgeland or Paul Bettany? I know sometimes they drop by to see the work that's going on with what they said in post-production. They just seemed like such genuinely nice and down to earth but also fun and kind people to work with. Thanks so much Julie! I am eternally grateful for your work and trade. Serious and deepest of respect and much kudos!
@@niallblack2794 Thank you, that's so kind! I was not at all part of the production -- I was part of a studio that was solely dedicated to subtitles (then called Subtitler, now part of Deluxe Digital Studios), and we got the files to subtitle when it was being prepared for DVD. I can't claim credit for the whole thing; obviously, it was a team effort, with several rounds of editors to ensure quality control. We also had very strict standards for things like the italics, line breaks, displaying speaker names, sound effects, lyrics, etc. But it was definitely one of the more fun projects I'd worked on, especially since I loved the movie so much! (I actually wrote a paper on it when I was doing my undergrad lol.) Amusingly, it took years after leaving that job before I was able to watch anything with subtitles again. I kept mentally editing them in my head based on the company's standards! (So, so many subtitles are just terrible, and doubly so with the auto-generated subtitles that are common today. I understand why they're needed, but I can't help but throw up my hands and go "this could be so much better!")
@@juliegolick you are most welcome! Okay, I thought you might say that. Yes, I think I actually know a couple of people in the same industry and at least one who worked for Subtitler at one point. Or maybe they just knew of them by reputation? I distinctly remember them all talking about how they wished other firms had such strict standards as them. Am I right in saying that at least to start with Subtitler didn't do non-English language subtitles? I mean, obviously when it would come up in a film that's fine like a scene here or a character there. But more they weren't looking to subtitle films from other languages. Anyway, the person I was thinking of ended up working at Subtitler eventually and that was when the demand for Scandinavian Noir was really taking off. And I remember asking them if they had ever worked on anything I'd have watched like that since me and my family watched alot of those kinds of movies and TV series. And they said it was almost exclusively English language only and they'd just hire a new translator to act as a translator and sort of cultural advisor with the transcription (if one were not provided) and then work in a team on the subtitles themselves. And the pains of having errors or no cultural context for certain things and that making it really hard to know how to follow their policies for r exactness properly because some files were just really messy and choppy and required alot of cleaning up before they could even start trying to subtitle from them. They, unsurprisingly, echoed what you said of maybe once ever having met a star or had a really nice email from a star or their agent when they actually watched the dvd with the subtitles and saw how good a job they had done. Especially noticeable with stars who speak multiple languages and rerecord their own lines. Antonio Bandaras is a good example of that. Anyway, it reminded me of other translators that I knew who were doing English subtitles for non-English language films. And they were also doing non-English language subtitles for English films. And working on the transcripts of the localised overdubbed new audio. And then eventually had their eyes set on working for Subtitler because their standards were so tight and it made them happy. And they would incorporate those quirks of their style of transcription into their own subtitles for other firms with less strict rules because they felt why not do an even better job than I've been asked to do? Why not get it absolutely perfect. I remember them talking about when the buyout happened and how worried everyone was. And what it was like being there prior to and during and then after the takeover. So, I think they were at a small office which was in the UK for their head of UK operations. Although they would get visits from staff from the USA? I think I've gotten this right.
@@niallblack2794 I was there in the late 2000s, and only there for a couple of years, so I only have that frame of reference. They merged with Deluxe after I left -- they were still Softitler when I was there. At the time, I believe we only did English-language films and shows. (Though maybe some of the other offices worked with other languages? I believe we had a Japanese office at the time, so maybe they were working on Japanese-language media.) At that time, our main offices were Bangalore (India), London (UK), Montreal (Canada), California (US - don't remember which city), and I think there was one in Japan also. This was to ensure that we could work on a file 24 hours a day, since the turnaround times were so tight. Usually a file would start in Bangalore for setting the script to the video (if there was a script) or transcription (if there was no script - like for featurettes or commentary tracks), then it would get handed off to the Montreal office (for a second pass at editing), and then either get handed to California for QA or distributed to our global translation teams for translation. We always used translators who were native to the language / country in which we were translating. There was also a team in Montreal that did "secondary English files," i.e. English meant for hard-of-hearing audiences. (These contained things like speaker tags, sound effects, song lyrics, and sometimes placing the text underneath the speaker.) One of the things that was very important when working on commentary tracks or featurettes was that when they were using audio from the original film in the featurette / commentary, we had to note which subtitle "box" in the main film's file we were referencing, so that it could always be translated the same way by the translators. One of the challenges with this is that sometimes you'd be assigned featurettes or commentary tracks without having watched the original movie, which could make it tricky to ensure that you really were referencing the right part of the movie. It was harder than it sounds to make sure everything matched up! Almost all the stuff I worked on was post-release -- so, stuff that had been out in the theatres or aired on TV already, but were now being produced for DVD. Very, very rarely I got to work on a few pre-release shows (most notably Clone Wars and Heroes), which was super-cool, because the post-production wasn't always done and I was watching the rough-cut. It was like a look behind the curtain!
My favorite part of the movie is when the Black Prince essentially goes "I've found historical documents which prove that Will is descended from a noble line. Who has the guts to say otherwise? No? Good. And just to drive the point home, I'm knighting him now."
A knight's tale is really good at what it does. It tells a good story with believable characters and a real fondness for the historical background. It's not anachronistic because it's bad, it's deliberate and that's why it works.
I loved this movie so much growing up, it was the first time I ever dove into the bonus features on the DVD. Listening to, I believe it was the director, Heath Ledger, and Paul Bettany laugh at the idea that they weren't aware things weren't period appropriate was quite enjoyable.
The primary way I try to judge movies is how well they do what they're trying to do (and does it know what that is?). A Knights Tale knows exactly what it wants to be, and it's excellent at it.
@@robertnett9793 Not really. As OP says, a movie just has to know what it wants to be, and be good at being that. Movies don't have to be entertaining. Movies don't have to be anything. There is no objective standard of quality in art.
@@robertnett9793 Even that is selling it a bit short. It wasn't just trying to be entertaining; it wanted to capture what it would have felt like, and show that to a modern audience in a way they'd understand. And it did that.
Every medieval nerd I know loves A Knight's Tale. As they say here, most of the anachronisms are deliberate and for storytelling purposes. The overall effect really immerses you in the mindset of the medieval characters in a far more authentic way than most films that deliberately set out to achieve an 'historically accurate' look- generally meaning smearing everybody on screen with mud for no reason. It also has lots of little nods and easter eggs related to medieval history and literature.
This is one of my favorite movies. It's really the first time Heath Ledger is the main star and his charisma really shines through in a cast of mostly veteran actors. This is all before Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk, and others became well known. Besides Ledger, Mark Addy was probably the most recognizable actor when this was released. Any less of a cast and this could have been so much worse. In this movie I checked my tendencies to evaluate things by their realism when they had the crowd singing and dancing along with Queen at the very beginning. That said it's great to know that the production appears to have made a lot of deliberate choices in service to the story. It speaks volumes to the adage that movies should show, not tell. Like Jocelyn's way of dressing telegraphs her progressiveness. Fun Fact: The writer and director, Brian Helgeland won both the Oscar for L.A. Confidential and Razzie for The Postman in 1997. He accepted the Razzie in his office and displayed them side by side.
I caught the film late one night on TV and just had to watch it to its conclusion. Its utterly bonkers but definitely true to its own universe. Every aspect of the story seems well thought out in a narrative sense and it pulls all the right heartstrings. I was a little surprised that there was no reference here to the bit about the makers mark on the armour. In context it us quite a good joke.
After “Excalibur” I had no trouble suspending my disbelief for historicity- challenged movies. This is one of those films you decide whether to watch or not in the first few minutes. Like you I was hooked almost immediately and went willingly along for the ride and was glad that I did.
@johnthomas2485 The farrier who makes his armour puts her own mark on it and it is based on the Nike tick. Everyone else is a bit confused by it because they are not familiar with the idea of a logo but it vibes with the use of modern music to excite the crowd. Modern idea transplanted into history.
"modern ideas transplanted into history" The man that Jill has in the video that jousts and explains the historical accuracy of it within the film, comments that some rich nobles would ensure that the identifiable markings on their armor was unique and pay so that no one else would have them, effectively copyrightibg that pattern/style/look. A trademark, if you will. You'd be surprised how many "modern" ideas aren't as modern as you may think.
One of my favorite movies is A Knight's Tale. I am intrigued by the behind-the-scenes details as well. Ruffus Sewel, unfortunately, can no longer visit the Balkans due to his parties shutting down a crime ring. The director lost a tooth while playing field hockey. Paul Bettany spent nearly a month researching Geoffrey Chaucer, only to discover that Chaucer was an unattractive man standing at 5 feet tall. Bettany ultimately did his own thing for the role. He also got the part due to being able to put his nose between his toes. The famous "entrails/extrails" line was improvised by Tudyk during his audition. The movie is fantastic and, although it may be anachronistic, it still has historical authenticity, much like Bridgerton.
“Rufus Sewell can no longer visit the Balkans“ is not the outcome I was expecting from this film. Nor, if I was told that Rufus Sewell cannot visit the Balkans, would I have assumed that this film was the reason. Incredible
Wait, how did Rufus sewlell's partie shut down a crime ring, I assumed you were going to say that he was partying with gangsters, but you are saying he parties do hard that he drove the gangsters away?
@@Bazookatone1 He was importing his own "party supplies" and giving them away, cutting into the crime rings' profits. They gave him a choice, never return after the movie or stop acting, permanently.
I had actually never heard of this film before the first time I saw it. I just turned on my TV one day and was greeted with a jousting tournament playing We Will Rock You and said to myself "I don't know what this is but I know I need to record it!" and it has remained one of my all-time favorite films to this day.
Kate is awesome and only just now do I see the parallel of her squaring up, holding her tools like the Armourer in the Mandalorian (or rather the Armourer doing it like Kate). Kate would make a good Mandalorian.
With exception of Chaucer whole gang would make great Mandalorians. Chaucer in SW universe would obviously be a smuggler. Always in debt, always gambling for the highest stakes and always spinning a yarn.
My personal theory to explain Jocelyn's anachronistic look: she's actually a time traveler who's 'gone rogue' and decided she's not even going to try to fit in anymore. Highly unprofessional for a time traveler, but it does happen from time to time (pun intended).😅
I don't believe they intended to imply that Kate was using a version of the Bessemer Process, which is used to remove impurities from molten iron. She says that she's found a way to heat the steel that makes it stronger at lower weights. That says to me that she figured out a more precise tempering process.
Love, love this film. The bugbear with Will's new armour that always got me is that his shoulder piece (pauldron?) was constantly getting caught under the edge of the frontpiece/top of breastplate so he wouldn't actually be able to move his arm! Plus almost no neck protection is an absolute no no for jousting - brave stunty.
For real jousting, absolutely. But if I ever fell off a horse in my battle armour, I think my gorget would hurt me more than it would protect me. It's fine for taking hits and I'm ok if I get tripped and fall, but coming off a horse in it terrified me to the point that I never got on my own horse armoured up (and I rode her bareback most of the time so I expected "unscheduled dismounts" at least yearly). The only time I ever tried mounting up while armoured was when I paid for a "pony ride" on the joust horses at an event we were both performing at. Getting on was fine but getting my leg back up and over the saddle to get off again was challenging, they eventually had to shorten the other stirrip so I could stand up in it to get the leverage to get my leg up!!
Love, Love LOVE the Knight's Tale movie. It was so quirky, cheeky, and fun. The incorporation of modern music and fashion into a timeless tale of class warfare really kept it light-hearted and immediately let the audience know this wasn't taking itself too seriously. Definitely one of my favorite popcorn films 🥰
I love this movie so much! I love how it starts with Queen right at the start so we KNOW it's intentionally anachronistic and can just go along for the ride. That they were intentionally using modern shorthand because the audience would be familiar with it and would understand it. That even that ridiculous hair (ridiculous even by the standards in 2001) tell us everything we need to know about Jocelyn (manic pixie dream girl done right? I have no idea how to explain her but it fits her so well). I get the feeling they went with Chaucer because he's a name most Americans would recognize from high school English class and Shakespeare would've been too much, but I love his zaniness anyway.
A Knight's Tale is my #1 childhood movie, blending all my favorite themes of class struggle, sports, armor, and historical comedy. And not a single CGI object in the entire film!
Nice that Zac referred to the tilting sockets ("dilgen" in German) fitted to William's saddle to protect his legs. They were very popular in the Holy Roman Empire. The story seems to be set in 1356 - in one scene Adhemar is seen just before (or after) the Battle of Poitiers. A Knight's Tale was one of the first films I bought on DVD - I REALLY need to watch it again!
Yeah, the films setting is pretty firmly grounded in time, they just don't let that stop them from doing whatever they wanted with other elements in service of the story.
Gawd, I so adore this movie. You’ll never see jousting as lovingly shot ever again, and the horses are gorgeous. I love the rest, too, but I love the horses. Love this video, too, but I have to gush about the horses.
I do have a love for films that have the appearance of one genre, while being mechanically a completely different genre underneath. A fun one to check out is 1981 Knightriders, about a group of travelling ren fest hippies and outcasts centered around a series of jousting competitions with homemade armor on motorcycles. The contests also determine who gets to control the direction of the group in a mimicry of feudal hierarchy when a rift forms between the members as money and ambition starts to creep in, while also dealing with out of control townies and corrupt police hounding them at every turn. Mechanically, it is a 70s road movie, even down to the typical bleak and abrupt ending that genre typically has.
Yep, missing a Gorget, his throat his completely unprotected. Eye slits on Helmet are way too big on the close ups, though there may have been two helmets so we could see that it actually was the actor in it, with a different one for the stunt actor, cause on the far away shots they seem smaller.
Fun fact: in the commentary they talk about how it was discovered that there is a roughly 6 month period of Chaucer's life that NOBODY has any gosh darn idea what he was doing, so the film was set during those six months.
Love this film! When I saw it in the theater, I had no idea what to expect--I just went based on the title and the movie poster. The opening scene with Queen's music made it very clear it wasn't intended to be taken as a historical drama, and it only got better from then on. Yes, it spanned multiple centuries, but most "medieval" films do that unintentionally, and it was obviously intentional here. Really well done flick, and a lovely review.
The opening of A Knight's Tale is great. It shows that this is just a fun adventure story, and don't try and take it too seriously. They then go and get a lot of details right, but bend and break the truth when needed for story or character.
As a longtime participant of the Society for Creative Anchronisim, (SCA) i participated in a premire showing of this film in my hometown. It is the perfect SCA movie. It's what we like to think we are doing but usuall fall far short. None if the garbing matches, some having no historical reference at all Ulrich's feast wear, etc etc. It is mentioned in the commentary of the directors cut that they "raided" several local (Chezch Republic) armories for real kit for the jousters guards et.al. the only harness made was Ulrich's. In other words they were using real armor from the late 13 and 14 hundreds for the actual jousts. No aluminum, no plastic real stuff.
Hey, I’m in the SCA too!! Long live Calontir! The Knight’s Tale is the perfect SCA movie. The anachronism in it is forgivable because it’s fun and on theme.
Thank you for creating and sharing this lovely collaboration, it was amazing! _A Knight's Tale_ was detested by many of my geekier and more purist friends but it's an entertaining guilty pleasure of mine. And that cast...THAT CAST! From open to close they have always kept me riveted and laughing. 😁 ps- no mention of the Swoosh? 😜
Somewhere in commentary is a story about one person saying to the writer and director Helgeland, that the line about another Knight admiring the work is genius bc the founder of Nike is Phil Knight. Apparently he just rolled with it despite the wordplay being sheer coincidence.
A Knight's tale is one of my favorite anachronistic medieval films. I have been waiting for somebody to do a review on it. I'm so glad that you reviewed the armor because it is some of my favorite in all of film. Thank you so much Jill!
I love this movie!!! It didn’t even try. Just for fun. I liked it b/c it evoked in modern audiences (using modern music etc) the feelings/ideas that ppl watching a joust would have felt! Totally crushed on Chaucer too. Looooved his coat!!!
I am now watching A Knight's Tale after seeing this a few weeks ago, and I am having SUCH a blast. I'm really glad you put it on my radar ! Thank you, sword lady ! 🧀
One of the grievances I bet is that this Armor he wears is mode made for Hand-to-Hand Combat that Jousting. The deflection-capability is suboptimal and the direction of that "glances" leads to places that are more or less unprotected.
My understanding is that painted armor was seen as declassee because it implied that you did not have the servants to keep it properly polished and oiled.
It's kind of funny how I feel like this film does armor better than most films trying to be serious historical films. Like sure, it's not exactly historical, but the armors are all reasonably functional and sensible, not like, say, a helmet with one side of your face covered and the other exposed. And I love that it's so deliberate with the anachronism. Usually, I prefer period pieces to try to be very period-y, but in this case I love the film for it's very deliberate use of NOT being period-y. I honestly had missed that the blacksmith invented the Bessemer process! I thought she had just developed a new method of forging, not also smelting. Chemistry and materials science is not really my thing, in my defense.
This makes me wonder about the green knight from “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. Was green a possible finish to armour, or was it the whole idea that green armour would be near to impossible to achieve, thereby highlighting the “otherworldly-ness” of the knight?
Two things to consider: First, the Arthurian legends are set around the 5th C., so we're talking about a much lower level of technology; does that affect the colouring of the armour? I don't know. Second, the Green Knight is distinctly fae, and his armour and skin being green reflect that, so the steel would've been coloured with magic instead of technology anyway.
It's also technically possible to achieve a green(ish) finish using linseed oil. I was doing some experimental archaeology and trying a coat on one of my own helmets, and the linseed-based lacquer turned green after about half an hour in the sun. Unfortunately, I had to strip it off (between combats it tends to be left on a display armoury, and while we shouldn't get kids licking stuff and finding out if it's toxic... this is the Great British Public, so I'd rather not take the chance).
tbh I saved only the acting, when I watched the movie but it still gives material for this 10 mins of entertainement and education and I'm grateful for that
the actor who plays Adhemar looked really familiar. I had to look him up. Sure enough, he was in one of my favorite movies from back in the day. He was Seth Starkadder in "Cold Comfort Farm". He was sex on a stick in that movie. I'll have to add this movie to my watchlist.
Rufus Sewell also plays the hero in the very weird movie _Dark City,_ which not only looks a lot like _The Matrix_ and shares some of its themes, was actually filmed at the same time and used some of the same sets. (I also love _Cold Comfort Farm._ )
Thanks Jill, thanks Zac, this is a great little look into one of my favourite movies EVER. As many others have said, including yourselves, the movie works so well because all the anachronisms serve the story perfectly, but are also still pretty realistic within their own eras. It doesn't TRY to be faithful to the one era, it doesn't TRY to pretend it's perfectly accurate in every way, it just exists as a great story. It's the kind of story you might get if someone who knew bits and pieces about armour through the ages, but not enough to place them perfectly, was telling their kids a bedtime story. Also, thanks for reminding me that I need to go find more James Purefoy to watch. I just LOVE his work in this movie.
Great to see a review of the armor from 'A Knights Day'. Such a great fun film. 'Loved' Adhemar's armor...that Armet style helmet and blacking...being a baddie with style!
I loved watching knight's it's one of my favourite movies and I've seen that movie so many times (that movie got me into Midevil stuff like castle's/ knights and other stuff)
My wife and I love KT and have seen it a couple times, so we appreciate this breakdown on the armor. Now I know why my PVC armor in the SCA a long time ago never wowed the ladies.
knowing PVC's propensity for shattering when it fails, I would have been hesitant to wear it. pickle barrel, covered with leather was popular among the lower budget crowd, here. I never went for appearance, primarily because we had a guy who wore full gothic, polished excalibur bright. but to back up what her expert said, my period was 1490s, and the older armor stylings fit right into my period.
@@kenbrown2808 The only excuse was this was during the Dark Ages of the SCA (early '80s) when the prospect of someone making their own armor was a God like advancement. It's astonishing how far the group has come since then.
@@BillPeschel in my area there was a decline that started around the turn of the century. when I hung up my swords, the focus was shifting to politics and debauchery. the competing groups were also coming into play with their style over substance foci, as well. for me the final straw was too many mundane crises to deal with. I just couldn't afford whole weekends to goof off any more.
The "Modern Armor" issues: (I don't really know that much about the specifics of armor, especially jousting armor, but at a glance I would say that the armor has a multiple really bad places where a lance could get trapped and funneled right into a major joint.) - The leg plate with that big lip seems like an issue to me, like, the lance could just ride that channel straight into his lightly protected groin. ouch. - The elbow guard looks like something that would also easily catch a point and do some real... interesting things to a guy's arm. - I could be missing something but, um...WHERE'S HIS GORGET!?!?!? He has NO neck protection!... IN A JOUST!!! That's all I feel reasonably sure of.
@@entropy11 exactly. It doesn't even look like it's a separate plate. It just looks like a little up-armoring around the upper chest but with no neck or throat protection. Which seems like a MAJOR omission in jousting armor.
There's a deleted scene, set in the tournament camp at night, in which Will leaves with Joslyn and Roland takes her maid, leaving just Wat and Kate together. He hopefully extends a hand, she rummaged in her bag for a moment and pulled out a sausage roll, gave it to him and left.
Oh, no! That would have automatically undermined the whole idea of Kate! She's a determined woman who requires acceptance on her own terms, not as an object of lust. That she is able to be a person around them is what makes her stay. Sure, there is some figuring to be done because it'san unconventional situation, and they never really treat her like one of the boys, but that's what makes it good. They are able to realize that her being a woman doesn't detract from her being a cool individual that they enjoy being friends with. To force her into a love interst role would make her Not Kate and it would reinforce the stupid idea that people of different genders cannot be friends. Also, the assertion that "anyone other than Joslyn" (my simplification) would be a better choice undermines both William and Joslyn's characters. They each made a choice to pursue the other despite it being probably complicated and they were willing to communicate and receive cues in their courtship. They were willing to compromise and sacrifice for each other (What are you doing, Will? Losing. + Yes, William, with the pigs). They were forgiving to each other and defend each other and step way out of their respective comfort zones. He went to a dance, knowing he'd be wildly out of his element, simply because she wanted him there. She went to Cheapside and hunted down his father, just to be there for him. Their whole romantic storyline is intended to show a good example of partnership and *it does!* To say that Kate would have been a better choice, when she clearly isn't over her dead husband? Sure, she's got useful blacksmithing skills, but Joslyn has useful social skills, and Kate's already part of the team. Aside from that, they're both practical, both beautiful, both intelligent, both tough, both above Will's actual socio-economic class... what gives Kate the advantage? And the handmaid... there is nowhere near enough character building of her to justify saying she'd be better with him. We know that she's young, genuinely cares for Joslyn, has a sense of humor, enjoys a bit of rebellion. What else? What argument could be made that she is a better love interest than Joslyn? I did not mean to get this into this comment...
@@somethingsomethingsomethingdar She has her own business and financial independence, she's way too pragmatic to give that up for any man, let alone a soppy boy with nothing but big dreams.
I've always had a love-hate thing going with this movie. Some of the anachronisms (mainly the music) really take me out of it, but the core of the movie from the great cast to the action is really enjoyable. Also, hi Zac!
The writer/director is on record stating that he picked the music for modern audiences to be able to get a feel for how the characters would have felt listening to and dancing to the music of their own period. They even went so far to remix David Bowie's Golder Years to better match the tournament feast scene.
Very good to see you post & I'm also happy to hear the pain of writing has been relieved somewhat. Now if we can just back to the important matter of cheese...
In answer to the question about problems with the shiny new armour: throat protection. There are a few unarmoured spots on the inside line of and under the arm, but those aren't as likely to get hit in a joust as in a battle, and similarly the lack of chainmail is probably fine in the circumstances.
The lack of throat protection was my first thought as well. That little lip he has is borderline useless. A particularly poor hit that glances upwards or (more likely) the hail of splinters from a broken lance have full access to his throat. Yikes.
Fun fact: Ulrich von Lichtenstein was a real knight, that wrote stories (in his own perspective) about a knight that loved his lords wife, and she made him loose tornaments to proove his love to her
Fun Fact: Going for your lords wife was actually very common, the "hohe Minne" (high Minne; with Minne being something like 'courtly love'; it was basically the topic of the Minnesang, a sort of songwriting which was practiced by nobles) was aimed at the knightly love for an unreachable woman and his complete devotion to her (the knight would literally call himself her servant) without having his love returned. Like the whole point was that he would do everything for her, write poems ect. and she was supposed to not go for him anyway. And the wife of your lord was often the most untouchable woman you had regular contact with. The idea was that the knight would finally accept and appreciate his unreturned love and grow as a person because of it. Although, it's probably reasonable to assume that at least some of these relationships actually turned into affairs and it wouldn't be so obvious because the knight was supposed to be around her all the time and flirt with her anyway.
Overall a good movie that I revisit regularly. There is one missed opportunity, in my opinion. In the final face off with the baddie Will risks all without armor, likely to show his superiority and awesomeness. Unfortunately it broke my suspension of disbelief, any hit would kill him. They should have had him use his late knight's old shield. It would have made the joust just believable enough and tied his current status back to his mentor as a tribute and a sign of humility, a virtue any knight should display.
I love this movie! I'm so happy you are reviewing it, with Zac's help! By the way, I loved Zac's cameo appearance in your Fantasy Heroine series as the illustrator. His look of surprise was epic! Always excited to hear about progress on the book, too! Good luck!
Glad someone made the exact comment I was trying to create words for! His look of surprise lives rent-free in my head sometimes! Hahah! And I love this film and your cover!
There's only one explanation. Geoffrey Chaucer is an immortal fey, and stopped publishing under that name in the 14th century, taking on various pen names to hide in plain sight through the centuries. Obviously.
Whilst I haven't seen this in years I do remember having a good time doing so ;-) And now I have to ask if Jill has ever covered the 1981 movie Excalibur?
The armor in _Excalibur_ is extremely problematic. Arthur lived in an era prior to when plate armor would even be known, but it has been so romanticized by the various stories written much later that The Knights of the Round Table are now always shown in armor that wouldn't exist for upwards of a thousand years. The brightly polished armor is even worse, and was actually made of aluminum to keep the weight down for the actors. _Excalibur_ is a great movie, but accuracy isn't really it's thing. (Boorman wanted to make a version of _Lord of the Rings_ but couldn't get the rights, so he made a movie about Arthur.)
@@tarmaque I am perfectly fine with anachronisms like that when the movie is set in the "legend" or is a plain Fantasy setting. Now if they had outright stated that it was set in Historical England during the 400s then yes full plate would have been a bit to much but since we have magic I'll give it a pass. And all this doesn't change that I would love to see a video from Jill about the movie.
Good guess with 1370. The film actually takes place in the 1350's, as they specifically mention the Battle of Poitiers which happened in 1356. Still during the lifespan of Chaucer and Prince Edward, just a bit earlier. I may have looked into the historicity of this movie once or twice before.
I love that I came across this video right after spending the weekend watching a medieval tournament event (Turku Castle Tournament/Turun linnan turnajaiset, in Finland). It just feels very fitting to the theme XD
I have always loved this movie: it captures the feel, and the accuracy of the rules of the tournaments and armor appears to be lightyears ahead of most hollywood preceding its release (story concessions notwithstanding).
This was a fun little video about a fun movie. It kinda makes me think that this was made by a bunch of SCAdians working in Hollywood. Also, unrelated, thanks again for your advice about armor for the elves in my novel (now a little bit past half-written). I started them off in basically in swashbuckle clothes while carrying swords for comfort and speed. but after a nasty attack they switch to what we would call Hoplite armor but with variations because fantasy world. I did take into account the fact that they are riding in summer weather an so it's uncomfortable with greater need to rest and replenish bodily needs.
It's funny. A Knight's Tale could have been a disaster. The purposeful anachronisms shocked me at first. But then I just rolled with it. The actors sold the movie. It's sort of, let's treat this seriously, but not too seriously. And what could have been a total mess, turned out fantastic. I know Jocelyn was a part of the "reach for the stars" thing. But honestly I'd rather him be with the blacksmith. She'd keep him grounded. But allow him to keep his head up.
Hope you enjoyed the video! Find Zac here: UA-cam.com/zacevansjouster
Preorder the Just Stab Me Now ebook here!
US: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2
UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2
Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2
Australia: www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2
And have a lovely day!
I hope you have a wonderful day too.
About the Bessemer process. What she does with his new armour is not really that far fetched. Around the late 14th century they were starting figure out that if you take a type of iron high in carbon inclusions and quench it in a certain way it gets really hard. Sometimes it was so hard it would be brittle and break but there was an intermediate stage where it was hard but also springy which made for superior armour. Mind you they would not have known about the carbon, crystalline structures, pearlite, martensite like we do, only that you could sort the metal from the smelter into rough hardness grades. Make Armour from the ‘medium grade’ nuggets, slack quench that armour and it would be much tougher than the air cooled stuff. It’s not even totally unrealistic for a woman to know this because armorers kept this a family trade secret.
I have to say that the insight & breakdown of the accuracy/inaccuracy for A Knight's Tale is *Chef's Kiss* & it puts this film into a whole new light. Btw, Congratulations on finding an editor for One Crisis At A Time! I imagine that it hasn't been the easiest with getting your storyline sorted, let alone written & hopefully it'll be smoother sailing.😊
Very nice video, unexpected. I’d say the movie is set in 1386 as Chaucer hasn’t written the Canterbury Tales, but it’s implied that these events inspired the book. Since you asked:
1.Will doesn’t have a gorget or throat protection.
2. his head isn’t stabilised,
3. the saddle is anachronistic. (It’s a dressed up western saddle)
4. The breaths on the helmet are too large.
The oddest thing that was true to history in this film was the lady blacksmith.
In the middle ages, whenever a woman married a craftsman, she would learn the basics of his craft out of sheer necessity. Labor was short to come by, particularly after the Black Death, and no one but the nobility could afford to have a healthy household member NOT working.
Farmers' wives hoed the fields, tanners's wives worked the leather, coopers' wives bent planks, etc.
Specifically, in England, most blacksmiths would pay their taxes to the local lord in arrowheads, so they'd teach their wives how to do basic forgery and make arrowheads to cover the tax, which freed the master blacksmith up to do the real money-making stuff. Armor.
For a blacksmith's widow to go from making arrowheads and horseshoes to making armor is not actually unrealistic, or historically inaccurate. It was just rare at the time.
I recall reading somewhere that the majority of nails made by hand were done by blacksmith's wives and/or daughters since it's the sort of bulk order item that's time-consuming but technically simple and inherently profitable to keep making.
The whole 'women don't work' was - to my knowledge - a sign of wealth. Nobility could afford to let their wifes do nothing. It became only widespread well after the industrialisation.
I believe they also said in the commentary that the wives would learn the craft so that in the event that the husband dies (as Kate’s did), she could provide for herself and their children until she remarries.
I watched this movie with my dad recently, and Kate the blacksmith was one of the things he grumbled about as inaccurate. It delighted me to be able to say “actually that’s one of the accuracies”.
Also after correcting a few of his grumblings, I teased him with “David Bowie was actually writing songs during the medieval period, he lived for hundreds of years!”
Also if you were marrying a blacksmith they were probably one of your father's journeymen.
So you would have grown up helping your father in the forge with chores and forging little things (as someone else mentioned) such as nails.
Fun fact: I worked on subtitling the director's commentary for A Knight's Tale, in which Brian Helgeland and Paul Bettany heckle themselves for two hours and it is GLORIOUS. My favourite part is that every time some very-obviously-modern music is played, Brian exclaims (extremely tongue-in-cheek): "We must have shown the screenplay to dozens of people DOZENS! And would you believe that not one of them told me that Queen didn't exist in the Middle Ages? WHO WAS TO KNOW?!" 🤣
well, to be fair, lots of queens existed in the middle ages.
what's one more, more or less?
I know EXACTLY THE BIT IN THE COMMENTARY YOU ARE REFERRING TO!!! I poured over that in my VHS copy of A Knight's Tale. And I enjoyed watching it again when a friend had it on DVD. I've also watched the film online with the director's commentary on too. That film was so formative to me as a child growing up and I loved all the behind the scenes extras at the end after the film. I was only sad that my VHS copy didn't have the director's commentary on it (because I knew there would be one) given the way the crew spoke about things in the extras and TV spots. So, I actually went down to Blockbuster to rent it on DVD just so I could watch it with that very commentary you subtitled. I was so impressed with it. The use of the font and the breaking down of the lines and displaying the text on screen and keeping the different italicised forms or not for the different languages, and the different characters and then the different actors and to show if they were making a joke or not or talking to someone else... I absolutely adored it. I can't believe I've found you out in the wilds. Although, that it is on the comments section of a Jill Bearup video makes it seem like this is the most natural of places to find you!
I just want to say, sincerely, thank you for your work. The fact you were so committed to getting it right was an absolute dream to watch and appreciate as someone who did font design for fun and then also in art and design and such in school and loved all the ways you creatively showed intention of speech and originator of the comment and then the different little asterisks and such for when someone else would add in a fourth aside onto an aside or the original commentor would come back in again.
Did you just work with their audio tracks after the fact or did you actually get to meet Brian Helgeland or Paul Bettany? I know sometimes they drop by to see the work that's going on with what they said in post-production. They just seemed like such genuinely nice and down to earth but also fun and kind people to work with. Thanks so much Julie! I am eternally grateful for your work and trade. Serious and deepest of respect and much kudos!
@@niallblack2794 Thank you, that's so kind! I was not at all part of the production -- I was part of a studio that was solely dedicated to subtitles (then called Subtitler, now part of Deluxe Digital Studios), and we got the files to subtitle when it was being prepared for DVD. I can't claim credit for the whole thing; obviously, it was a team effort, with several rounds of editors to ensure quality control. We also had very strict standards for things like the italics, line breaks, displaying speaker names, sound effects, lyrics, etc. But it was definitely one of the more fun projects I'd worked on, especially since I loved the movie so much! (I actually wrote a paper on it when I was doing my undergrad lol.)
Amusingly, it took years after leaving that job before I was able to watch anything with subtitles again. I kept mentally editing them in my head based on the company's standards! (So, so many subtitles are just terrible, and doubly so with the auto-generated subtitles that are common today. I understand why they're needed, but I can't help but throw up my hands and go "this could be so much better!")
@@juliegolick you are most welcome! Okay, I thought you might say that. Yes, I think I actually know a couple of people in the same industry and at least one who worked for Subtitler at one point. Or maybe they just knew of them by reputation? I distinctly remember them all talking about how they wished other firms had such strict standards as them. Am I right in saying that at least to start with Subtitler didn't do non-English language subtitles? I mean, obviously when it would come up in a film that's fine like a scene here or a character there. But more they weren't looking to subtitle films from other languages. Anyway, the person I was thinking of ended up working at Subtitler eventually and that was when the demand for Scandinavian Noir was really taking off. And I remember asking them if they had ever worked on anything I'd have watched like that since me and my family watched alot of those kinds of movies and TV series. And they said it was almost exclusively English language only and they'd just hire a new translator to act as a translator and sort of cultural advisor with the transcription (if one were not provided) and then work in a team on the subtitles themselves. And the pains of having errors or no cultural context for certain things and that making it really hard to know how to follow their policies for r exactness properly because some files were just really messy and choppy and required alot of cleaning up before they could even start trying to subtitle from them. They, unsurprisingly, echoed what you said of maybe once ever having met a star or had a really nice email from a star or their agent when they actually watched the dvd with the subtitles and saw how good a job they had done. Especially noticeable with stars who speak multiple languages and rerecord their own lines. Antonio Bandaras is a good example of that.
Anyway, it reminded me of other translators that I knew who were doing English subtitles for non-English language films. And they were also doing non-English language subtitles for English films. And working on the transcripts of the localised overdubbed new audio. And then eventually had their eyes set on working for Subtitler because their standards were so tight and it made them happy. And they would incorporate those quirks of their style of transcription into their own subtitles for other firms with less strict rules because they felt why not do an even better job than I've been asked to do? Why not get it absolutely perfect.
I remember them talking about when the buyout happened and how worried everyone was. And what it was like being there prior to and during and then after the takeover.
So, I think they were at a small office which was in the UK for their head of UK operations. Although they would get visits from staff from the USA? I think I've gotten this right.
@@niallblack2794 I was there in the late 2000s, and only there for a couple of years, so I only have that frame of reference. They merged with Deluxe after I left -- they were still Softitler when I was there. At the time, I believe we only did English-language films and shows. (Though maybe some of the other offices worked with other languages? I believe we had a Japanese office at the time, so maybe they were working on Japanese-language media.) At that time, our main offices were Bangalore (India), London (UK), Montreal (Canada), California (US - don't remember which city), and I think there was one in Japan also. This was to ensure that we could work on a file 24 hours a day, since the turnaround times were so tight.
Usually a file would start in Bangalore for setting the script to the video (if there was a script) or transcription (if there was no script - like for featurettes or commentary tracks), then it would get handed off to the Montreal office (for a second pass at editing), and then either get handed to California for QA or distributed to our global translation teams for translation. We always used translators who were native to the language / country in which we were translating. There was also a team in Montreal that did "secondary English files," i.e. English meant for hard-of-hearing audiences. (These contained things like speaker tags, sound effects, song lyrics, and sometimes placing the text underneath the speaker.)
One of the things that was very important when working on commentary tracks or featurettes was that when they were using audio from the original film in the featurette / commentary, we had to note which subtitle "box" in the main film's file we were referencing, so that it could always be translated the same way by the translators. One of the challenges with this is that sometimes you'd be assigned featurettes or commentary tracks without having watched the original movie, which could make it tricky to ensure that you really were referencing the right part of the movie. It was harder than it sounds to make sure everything matched up!
Almost all the stuff I worked on was post-release -- so, stuff that had been out in the theatres or aired on TV already, but were now being produced for DVD. Very, very rarely I got to work on a few pre-release shows (most notably Clone Wars and Heroes), which was super-cool, because the post-production wasn't always done and I was watching the rough-cut. It was like a look behind the curtain!
My favorite part of the movie is when the Black Prince essentially goes "I've found historical documents which prove that Will is descended from a noble line. Who has the guts to say otherwise? No? Good. And just to drive the point home, I'm knighting him now."
A knight's tale is really good at what it does. It tells a good story with believable characters and a real fondness for the historical background. It's not anachronistic because it's bad, it's deliberate and that's why it works.
I remember Heath Ledger defending the film by quite rightly pointing out the anachronism in other film.
In a way it isn't historically correct on purpose. Take the dancing and the singing. It's the idea of history mixed with "how would it be done today".
It really leans into the 80's rock culture and reminds the viewer that there were cool things vs old people things then too. It's brilliant
I loved this movie so much growing up, it was the first time I ever dove into the bonus features on the DVD. Listening to, I believe it was the director, Heath Ledger, and Paul Bettany laugh at the idea that they weren't aware things weren't period appropriate was quite enjoyable.
The primary way I try to judge movies is how well they do what they're trying to do (and does it know what that is?). A Knights Tale knows exactly what it wants to be, and it's excellent at it.
The only thing a movie mustn't fail is on entertaining. And entertain a knights tale does :D
@@robertnett9793 Not really. As OP says, a movie just has to know what it wants to be, and be good at being that.
Movies don't have to be entertaining. Movies don't have to be anything. There is no objective standard of quality in art.
@@robertnett9793 Even that is selling it a bit short. It wasn't just trying to be entertaining; it wanted to capture what it would have felt like, and show that to a modern audience in a way they'd understand. And it did that.
I like that Will's helmet only has breathing slits on the right, to minimise the chance of lance splinters getting in his face.
Very common. Even many field helm had breaths only on the right.
And it also serves the anachronistic purpose of of being assymetrical fashion and therefore cool for contemporary audience.
Every time I hear Jill say "The plot goeth thusly" I realize how much I've missed hearing her say it 🤣
I also miss it sometimes, so I was glad to have the chance to bring it back! 🙂
So much so that my first comment on one of her videos was going to be me saying what you said. And now my first is this instead.
It should be noted that Chaucer's first tale is anachronistic also. It places Knights in a Greek setting.
I never realized it was a "Sports Movie" wow.
Jill: knows more about armor and historical accuracy than almost every viewer.
also Jill: lemmee bring in somebody who knows even more than me.
The better you know something, the better you know you don't know enough.
@@pRahvi0 oh, i don't know about that....
Every medieval nerd I know loves A Knight's Tale. As they say here, most of the anachronisms are deliberate and for storytelling purposes. The overall effect really immerses you in the mindset of the medieval characters in a far more authentic way than most films that deliberately set out to achieve an 'historically accurate' look- generally meaning smearing everybody on screen with mud for no reason. It also has lots of little nods and easter eggs related to medieval history and literature.
This is one of my favorite movies. It's really the first time Heath Ledger is the main star and his charisma really shines through in a cast of mostly veteran actors. This is all before Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk, and others became well known. Besides Ledger, Mark Addy was probably the most recognizable actor when this was released. Any less of a cast and this could have been so much worse. In this movie I checked my tendencies to evaluate things by their realism when they had the crowd singing and dancing along with Queen at the very beginning. That said it's great to know that the production appears to have made a lot of deliberate choices in service to the story. It speaks volumes to the adage that movies should show, not tell. Like Jocelyn's way of dressing telegraphs her progressiveness.
Fun Fact: The writer and director, Brian Helgeland won both the Oscar for L.A. Confidential and Razzie for The Postman in 1997. He accepted the Razzie in his office and displayed them side by side.
I caught the film late one night on TV and just had to watch it to its conclusion. Its utterly bonkers but definitely true to its own universe. Every aspect of the story seems well thought out in a narrative sense and it pulls all the right heartstrings. I was a little surprised that there was no reference here to the bit about the makers mark on the armour. In context it us quite a good joke.
After “Excalibur” I had no trouble suspending my disbelief for historicity- challenged movies. This is one of those films you decide whether to watch or not in the first few minutes. Like you I was hooked almost immediately and went willingly along for the ride and was glad that I did.
It's been a bit since I watched it last. What was the makers mark joke?
@johnthomas2485 The farrier who makes his armour puts her own mark on it and it is based on the Nike tick. Everyone else is a bit confused by it because they are not familiar with the idea of a logo but it vibes with the use of modern music to excite the crowd. Modern idea transplanted into history.
"modern ideas transplanted into history"
The man that Jill has in the video that jousts and explains the historical accuracy of it within the film, comments that some rich nobles would ensure that the identifiable markings on their armor was unique and pay so that no one else would have them, effectively copyrightibg that pattern/style/look.
A trademark, if you will.
You'd be surprised how many "modern" ideas aren't as modern as you may think.
The hair isn’t stab me now, it’s cut me down. Lol.
Yes that hair is just...... uh
@@Corrosion15 Jocelyns hair is 90's spice girl and is just stab me now
One of my favorite movies is A Knight's Tale. I am intrigued by the behind-the-scenes details as well. Ruffus Sewel, unfortunately, can no longer visit the Balkans due to his parties shutting down a crime ring. The director lost a tooth while playing field hockey. Paul Bettany spent nearly a month researching Geoffrey Chaucer, only to discover that Chaucer was an unattractive man standing at 5 feet tall. Bettany ultimately did his own thing for the role. He also got the part due to being able to put his nose between his toes. The famous "entrails/extrails" line was improvised by Tudyk during his audition. The movie is fantastic and, although it may be anachronistic, it still has historical authenticity, much like Bridgerton.
“Rufus Sewell can no longer visit the Balkans“ is not the outcome I was expecting from this film. Nor, if I was told that Rufus Sewell cannot visit the Balkans, would I have assumed that this film was the reason.
Incredible
Wait, how did Rufus sewlell's partie shut down a crime ring, I assumed you were going to say that he was partying with gangsters, but you are saying he parties do hard that he drove the gangsters away?
@@Bazookatone1 He was importing his own "party supplies" and giving them away, cutting into the crime rings' profits. They gave him a choice, never return after the movie or stop acting, permanently.
I had actually never heard of this film before the first time I saw it. I just turned on my TV one day and was greeted with a jousting tournament playing We Will Rock You and said to myself "I don't know what this is but I know I need to record it!" and it has remained one of my all-time favorite films to this day.
Kate is awesome and only just now do I see the parallel of her squaring up, holding her tools like the Armourer in the Mandalorian (or rather the Armourer doing it like Kate).
Kate would make a good Mandalorian.
This is the Way.
This is the Way
We have spoken.
With exception of Chaucer whole gang would make great Mandalorians.
Chaucer in SW universe would obviously be a smuggler. Always in debt, always gambling for the highest stakes and always spinning a yarn.
Dang it I knew I recognized that stance from somewhere.
My personal theory to explain Jocelyn's anachronistic look: she's actually a time traveler who's 'gone rogue' and decided she's not even going to try to fit in anymore. Highly unprofessional for a time traveler, but it does happen from time to time (pun intended).😅
I always thought Jocelyn's style was a (successful, in my opinion} attempt to show she is upper class.
I don't believe they intended to imply that Kate was using a version of the Bessemer Process, which is used to remove impurities from molten iron. She says that she's found a way to heat the steel that makes it stronger at lower weights. That says to me that she figured out a more precise tempering process.
PURPLE ARMOUR?!?! THAT RULES
A Knight's Tale is probably my favourite highly-anachronistic-yet-inexplicably-historically-accurate movie.
I love the fact that Knight's Tale is a parody of itself. Even the courtly love stuff that is lifted directly from Le Mort de Arthur
We walk in the garden of your turbulence, Jill
Love, love this film. The bugbear with Will's new armour that always got me is that his shoulder piece (pauldron?) was constantly getting caught under the edge of the frontpiece/top of breastplate so he wouldn't actually be able to move his arm! Plus almost no neck protection is an absolute no no for jousting - brave stunty.
The lances were apparently made out of bundled spaghetti wrapped in paper and painted, so very low risk props and the explode nicely on impact.
For real jousting, absolutely. But if I ever fell off a horse in my battle armour, I think my gorget would hurt me more than it would protect me. It's fine for taking hits and I'm ok if I get tripped and fall, but coming off a horse in it terrified me to the point that I never got on my own horse armoured up (and I rode her bareback most of the time so I expected "unscheduled dismounts" at least yearly). The only time I ever tried mounting up while armoured was when I paid for a "pony ride" on the joust horses at an event we were both performing at. Getting on was fine but getting my leg back up and over the saddle to get off again was challenging, they eventually had to shorten the other stirrip so I could stand up in it to get the leverage to get my leg up!!
Love, Love LOVE the Knight's Tale movie. It was so quirky, cheeky, and fun. The incorporation of modern music and fashion into a timeless tale of class warfare really kept it light-hearted and immediately let the audience know this wasn't taking itself too seriously. Definitely one of my favorite popcorn films 🥰
I love this movie so much! I love how it starts with Queen right at the start so we KNOW it's intentionally anachronistic and can just go along for the ride. That they were intentionally using modern shorthand because the audience would be familiar with it and would understand it. That even that ridiculous hair (ridiculous even by the standards in 2001) tell us everything we need to know about Jocelyn (manic pixie dream girl done right? I have no idea how to explain her but it fits her so well). I get the feeling they went with Chaucer because he's a name most Americans would recognize from high school English class and Shakespeare would've been too much, but I love his zaniness anyway.
Love the quick shout out clip of The Court Jester!
A Knight's Tale is my #1 childhood movie, blending all my favorite themes of class struggle, sports, armor, and historical comedy. And not a single CGI object in the entire film!
Nice that Zac referred to the tilting sockets ("dilgen" in German) fitted to William's saddle to protect his legs. They were very popular in the Holy Roman Empire. The story seems to be set in 1356 - in one scene Adhemar is seen just before (or after) the Battle of Poitiers. A Knight's Tale was one of the first films I bought on DVD - I REALLY need to watch it again!
Farquad liked them for other reasons. just saying.
@@kenbrown2808 I also need to watch Shrek again!😄
Yeah, the films setting is pretty firmly grounded in time, they just don't let that stop them from doing whatever they wanted with other elements in service of the story.
Gawd, I so adore this movie. You’ll never see jousting as lovingly shot ever again, and the horses are gorgeous. I love the rest, too, but I love the horses.
Love this video, too, but I have to gush about the horses.
I do have a love for films that have the appearance of one genre, while being mechanically a completely different genre underneath. A fun one to check out is 1981 Knightriders, about a group of travelling ren fest hippies and outcasts centered around a series of jousting competitions with homemade armor on motorcycles. The contests also determine who gets to control the direction of the group in a mimicry of feudal hierarchy when a rift forms between the members as money and ambition starts to creep in, while also dealing with out of control townies and corrupt police hounding them at every turn. Mechanically, it is a 70s road movie, even down to the typical bleak and abrupt ending that genre typically has.
One of my SCA friends summed up Knightriders thusly: "They got everything wrong except the people."
Thank you Jill. We are all walking in the garden of your turbulence.
... 'RAAAAAAY!
Regarding his armor, it lacks a collar overlapping the helmet, so the lance can deflect up off the chest and "Kebab" your skull
The elbow plate also seems to be well positioned to scoop a stray lance tip into your upper arm.
Yep, missing a Gorget, his throat his completely unprotected. Eye slits on Helmet are way too big on the close ups, though there may have been two helmets so we could see that it actually was the actor in it, with a different one for the stunt actor, cause on the far away shots they seem smaller.
Fun fact: in the commentary they talk about how it was discovered that there is a roughly 6 month period of Chaucer's life that NOBODY has any gosh darn idea what he was doing, so the film was set during those six months.
Love this film! When I saw it in the theater, I had no idea what to expect--I just went based on the title and the movie poster. The opening scene with Queen's music made it very clear it wasn't intended to be taken as a historical drama, and it only got better from then on. Yes, it spanned multiple centuries, but most "medieval" films do that unintentionally, and it was obviously intentional here.
Really well done flick, and a lovely review.
The opening of A Knight's Tale is great.
It shows that this is just a fun adventure story, and don't try and take it too seriously.
They then go and get a lot of details right, but bend and break the truth when needed for story or character.
As a longtime participant of the Society for Creative Anchronisim, (SCA) i participated in a premire showing of this film in my hometown. It is the perfect SCA movie. It's what we like to think we are doing but usuall fall far short. None if the garbing matches, some having no historical reference at all Ulrich's feast wear, etc etc. It is mentioned in the commentary of the directors cut that they "raided" several local (Chezch Republic) armories for real kit for the jousters guards et.al. the only harness made was Ulrich's. In other words they were using real armor from the late 13 and 14 hundreds for the actual jousts. No aluminum, no plastic real stuff.
Hey, I’m in the SCA too!! Long live Calontir! The Knight’s Tale is the perfect SCA movie. The anachronism in it is forgivable because it’s fun and on theme.
Thank you for creating and sharing this lovely collaboration, it was amazing!
_A Knight's Tale_ was detested by many of my geekier and more purist friends but it's an entertaining guilty pleasure of mine.
And that cast...THAT CAST! From open to close they have always kept me riveted and laughing. 😁
ps- no mention of the Swoosh? 😜
Sponsored by Nike 🤣
Somewhere in commentary is a story about one person saying to the writer and director Helgeland, that the line about another Knight admiring the work is genius bc the founder of Nike is Phil Knight. Apparently he just rolled with it despite the wordplay being sheer coincidence.
Goddess of Victory
What a weird coincidence. I rewatched this amazing film like a week or two before you posted this vid. That's kinda neat.
A Knight's tale is one of my favorite anachronistic medieval films. I have been waiting for somebody to do a review on it. I'm so glad that you reviewed the armor because it is some of my favorite in all of film. Thank you so much Jill!
Lady Knight the Brave did an excellent review of it, if you're interested
I love this movie!!! It didn’t even try. Just for fun. I liked it b/c it evoked in modern audiences (using modern music etc) the feelings/ideas that ppl watching a joust would have felt! Totally crushed on Chaucer too. Looooved his coat!!!
But it also got some things right that many films that are trying fail on. Like there not being pews in the church.
Which one? Trick question, both of Chaucer's coats are perfection and I want to wear them every day.
Alas: Australia.
Welcome back to video land. Either the writing is going well or you are eating the best cheese!!!😂
I believe most of the background jousters were actually competitive historic jousters.
I am now watching A Knight's Tale after seeing this a few weeks ago, and I am having SUCH a blast. I'm really glad you put it on my radar ! Thank you, sword lady ! 🧀
Awww - I was expecting Ursa from the past to pop up with a black & white nerdy aside on the Bessemer process.
Especially now you have found the cross.
One of the grievances I bet is that this Armor he wears is mode made for Hand-to-Hand Combat that Jousting.
The deflection-capability is suboptimal and the direction of that "glances" leads to places that are more or less unprotected.
Give us a hand for Siiiiiiir Uuuuuulrichhhhh Von Lichtenstein!!!!
🎺ARE THY READY FOR THIS!?!🎺
My understanding is that painted armor was seen as declassee because it implied that you did not have the servants to keep it properly polished and oiled.
Ah, of course, a practical and stylish solution to a problem derided by the higher ups as not being snobby enough. Love it when that happens.
It was also probably used to hide minor imperfections and smithing accidents.
It's kind of funny how I feel like this film does armor better than most films trying to be serious historical films. Like sure, it's not exactly historical, but the armors are all reasonably functional and sensible, not like, say, a helmet with one side of your face covered and the other exposed. And I love that it's so deliberate with the anachronism. Usually, I prefer period pieces to try to be very period-y, but in this case I love the film for it's very deliberate use of NOT being period-y.
I honestly had missed that the blacksmith invented the Bessemer process! I thought she had just developed a new method of forging, not also smelting. Chemistry and materials science is not really my thing, in my defense.
"I will take any opportunity to talk about armour👁👄👁 " What at mood😄
Thank you Jill and Zack!
This makes me wonder about the green knight from “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. Was green a possible finish to armour, or was it the whole idea that green armour would be near to impossible to achieve, thereby highlighting the “otherworldly-ness” of the knight?
Green paint and dye was entirely available, but you could also copper coat the steel by hot brushing or a similar process and then let it verdigris.
@@CCNorse Thanks, that’s really interesting.
Two things to consider: First, the Arthurian legends are set around the 5th C., so we're talking about a much lower level of technology; does that affect the colouring of the armour? I don't know. Second, the Green Knight is distinctly fae, and his armour and skin being green reflect that, so the steel would've been coloured with magic instead of technology anyway.
@@taylor_green_9 copper (the main component of bronze) was certainly know about and available, so it's theoretically possible.
It's also technically possible to achieve a green(ish) finish using linseed oil. I was doing some experimental archaeology and trying a coat on one of my own helmets, and the linseed-based lacquer turned green after about half an hour in the sun. Unfortunately, I had to strip it off (between combats it tends to be left on a display armoury, and while we shouldn't get kids licking stuff and finding out if it's toxic... this is the Great British Public, so I'd rather not take the chance).
tbh I saved only the acting, when I watched the movie but it still gives material for this 10 mins of entertainement and education and I'm grateful for that
the actor who plays Adhemar looked really familiar. I had to look him up. Sure enough, he was in one of my favorite movies from back in the day. He was Seth Starkadder in "Cold Comfort Farm". He was sex on a stick in that movie. I'll have to add this movie to my watchlist.
Rufus Sewell also plays the hero in the very weird movie _Dark City,_ which not only looks a lot like _The Matrix_ and shares some of its themes, was actually filmed at the same time and used some of the same sets. (I also love _Cold Comfort Farm._ )
Add Dangerous Beauty to your list as well.
LOOOOVE that movie =D Its such a fun ride! Especially love the ladies character. So empowered and confident =D
I've never heard of this movie. I hear of so many movies from this channel. Now I need to find ways to watch them.
Thanks Jill, thanks Zac, this is a great little look into one of my favourite movies EVER. As many others have said, including yourselves, the movie works so well because all the anachronisms serve the story perfectly, but are also still pretty realistic within their own eras. It doesn't TRY to be faithful to the one era, it doesn't TRY to pretend it's perfectly accurate in every way, it just exists as a great story. It's the kind of story you might get if someone who knew bits and pieces about armour through the ages, but not enough to place them perfectly, was telling their kids a bedtime story.
Also, thanks for reminding me that I need to go find more James Purefoy to watch. I just LOVE his work in this movie.
Great to see a review of the armor from 'A Knights Day'. Such a great fun film. 'Loved' Adhemar's armor...that Armet style helmet and blacking...being a baddie with style!
I loved watching knight's it's one of my favourite movies and I've seen that movie so many times (that movie got me into Midevil stuff like castle's/ knights and other stuff)
This article has a lovely story about the cast meeting up ahead of the film and just having a great time.
My wife and I love KT and have seen it a couple times, so we appreciate this breakdown on the armor. Now I know why my PVC armor in the SCA a long time ago never wowed the ladies.
knowing PVC's propensity for shattering when it fails, I would have been hesitant to wear it. pickle barrel, covered with leather was popular among the lower budget crowd, here. I never went for appearance, primarily because we had a guy who wore full gothic, polished excalibur bright.
but to back up what her expert said, my period was 1490s, and the older armor stylings fit right into my period.
@@kenbrown2808 The only excuse was this was during the Dark Ages of the SCA (early '80s) when the prospect of someone making their own armor was a God like advancement. It's astonishing how far the group has come since then.
@@BillPeschel in my area there was a decline that started around the turn of the century. when I hung up my swords, the focus was shifting to politics and debauchery. the competing groups were also coming into play with their style over substance foci, as well. for me the final straw was too many mundane crises to deal with. I just couldn't afford whole weekends to goof off any more.
@@kenbrown2808 I hear you. I grew out of it as well when I moved away. But those are some good memories (like being at Pennsic).
@@BillPeschel yeah, I miss the people I used to hang out with. I never had time to make a major war, but I did AnTir-West several years running.
The "Modern Armor" issues:
(I don't really know that much about the specifics of armor, especially jousting armor, but at a glance I would say that the armor has a multiple really bad places where a lance could get trapped and funneled right into a major joint.)
- The leg plate with that big lip seems like an issue to me, like, the lance could just ride that channel straight into his lightly protected groin. ouch.
- The elbow guard looks like something that would also easily catch a point and do some real... interesting things to a guy's arm.
- I could be missing something but, um...WHERE'S HIS GORGET!?!?!? He has NO neck protection!... IN A JOUST!!!
That's all I feel reasonably sure of.
his gorget just kind of stops at the collarbone. Probably a bad idea.
@@entropy11 exactly. It doesn't even look like it's a separate plate. It just looks like a little up-armoring around the upper chest but with no neck or throat protection. Which seems like a MAJOR omission in jousting armor.
Thank you Zac. A good movie
I love this movie. Part of my childhood. Always angry with him for not dumping the main girl for Kate. Kate was the best!
Honestly, both Kate and Joslyn’s handmaiden both always struck me as the better options when compared to Joslyn
There's a deleted scene, set in the tournament camp at night, in which Will leaves with Joslyn and Roland takes her maid, leaving just Wat and Kate together. He hopefully extends a hand, she rummaged in her bag for a moment and pulled out a sausage roll, gave it to him and left.
Why would Kate ever be interested though?
Oh, no! That would have automatically undermined the whole idea of Kate!
She's a determined woman who requires acceptance on her own terms, not as an object of lust. That she is able to be a person around them is what makes her stay. Sure, there is some figuring to be done because it'san unconventional situation, and they never really treat her like one of the boys, but that's what makes it good. They are able to realize that her being a woman doesn't detract from her being a cool individual that they enjoy being friends with. To force her into a love interst role would make her Not Kate and it would reinforce the stupid idea that people of different genders cannot be friends.
Also, the assertion that "anyone other than Joslyn" (my simplification) would be a better choice undermines both William and Joslyn's characters. They each made a choice to pursue the other despite it being probably complicated and they were willing to communicate and receive cues in their courtship. They were willing to compromise and sacrifice for each other (What are you doing, Will? Losing. + Yes, William, with the pigs). They were forgiving to each other and defend each other and step way out of their respective comfort zones. He went to a dance, knowing he'd be wildly out of his element, simply because she wanted him there. She went to Cheapside and hunted down his father, just to be there for him.
Their whole romantic storyline is intended to show a good example of partnership and *it does!*
To say that Kate would have been a better choice, when she clearly isn't over her dead husband? Sure, she's got useful blacksmithing skills, but Joslyn has useful social skills, and Kate's already part of the team. Aside from that, they're both practical, both beautiful, both intelligent, both tough, both above Will's actual socio-economic class... what gives Kate the advantage?
And the handmaid... there is nowhere near enough character building of her to justify saying she'd be better with him. We know that she's young, genuinely cares for Joslyn, has a sense of humor, enjoys a bit of rebellion. What else? What argument could be made that she is a better love interest than Joslyn?
I did not mean to get this into this comment...
@@somethingsomethingsomethingdar She has her own business and financial independence, she's way too pragmatic to give that up for any man, let alone a soppy boy with nothing but big dreams.
I freaking love this movie and am geeking out about you and Zac deep diving into the armour! 💚💚
I've always had a love-hate thing going with this movie. Some of the anachronisms (mainly the music) really take me out of it, but the core of the movie from the great cast to the action is really enjoyable.
Also, hi Zac!
The writer/director is on record stating that he picked the music for modern audiences to be able to get a feel for how the characters would have felt listening to and dancing to the music of their own period. They even went so far to remix David Bowie's Golder Years to better match the tournament feast scene.
I love the deadpanned, "I'll take any opportunity to talk about armor" at the end :D
One of my all time favourites. I will take any excuse to rewatch. So much fun.
Very good to see you post & I'm also happy to hear the pain of writing has been relieved somewhat. Now if we can just back to the important matter of cheese...
In answer to the question about problems with the shiny new armour: throat protection. There are a few unarmoured spots on the inside line of and under the arm, but those aren't as likely to get hit in a joust as in a battle, and similarly the lack of chainmail is probably fine in the circumstances.
The lack of throat protection was my first thought as well. That little lip he has is borderline useless. A particularly poor hit that glances upwards or (more likely) the hail of splinters from a broken lance have full access to his throat. Yikes.
Thank you so much! I love this movie, too. And thank you Zack!
Fun fact: Ulrich von Lichtenstein was a real knight, that wrote stories (in his own perspective) about a knight that loved his lords wife, and she made him loose tornaments to proove his love to her
Fun Fact: Going for your lords wife was actually very common, the "hohe Minne" (high Minne; with Minne being something like 'courtly love'; it was basically the topic of the Minnesang, a sort of songwriting which was practiced by nobles) was aimed at the knightly love for an unreachable woman and his complete devotion to her (the knight would literally call himself her servant) without having his love returned. Like the whole point was that he would do everything for her, write poems ect. and she was supposed to not go for him anyway. And the wife of your lord was often the most untouchable woman you had regular contact with. The idea was that the knight would finally accept and appreciate his unreturned love and grow as a person because of it. Although, it's probably reasonable to assume that at least some of these relationships actually turned into affairs and it wouldn't be so obvious because the knight was supposed to be around her all the time and flirt with her anyway.
Overall a good movie that I revisit regularly. There is one missed opportunity, in my opinion. In the final face off with the baddie Will risks all without armor, likely to show his superiority and awesomeness. Unfortunately it broke my suspension of disbelief, any hit would kill him. They should have had him use his late knight's old shield. It would have made the joust just believable enough and tied his current status back to his mentor as a tribute and a sign of humility, a virtue any knight should display.
This was an early DVD purchase for my family and I've watched it many times. 😊
I love this movie! I'm so happy you are reviewing it, with Zac's help! By the way, I loved Zac's cameo appearance in your Fantasy Heroine series as the illustrator. His look of surprise was epic!
Always excited to hear about progress on the book, too! Good luck!
Glad someone made the exact comment I was trying to create words for! His look of surprise lives rent-free in my head sometimes! Hahah!
And I love this film and your cover!
Love this movie! Definitely one of my guilty pleasures!!!
I love this movie. What a great take on the whole armour situation!
There's only one explanation. Geoffrey Chaucer is an immortal fey, and stopped publishing under that name in the 14th century, taking on various pen names to hide in plain sight through the centuries. Obviously.
This take requires much Vision.
Whilst I haven't seen this in years I do remember having a good time doing so ;-)
And now I have to ask if Jill has ever covered the 1981 movie Excalibur?
The armor in _Excalibur_ is extremely problematic. Arthur lived in an era prior to when plate armor would even be known, but it has been so romanticized by the various stories written much later that The Knights of the Round Table are now always shown in armor that wouldn't exist for upwards of a thousand years. The brightly polished armor is even worse, and was actually made of aluminum to keep the weight down for the actors. _Excalibur_ is a great movie, but accuracy isn't really it's thing. (Boorman wanted to make a version of _Lord of the Rings_ but couldn't get the rights, so he made a movie about Arthur.)
@@tarmaque I am perfectly fine with anachronisms like that when the movie is set in the "legend" or is a plain Fantasy setting. Now if they had outright stated that it was set in Historical England during the 400s then yes full plate would have been a bit to much but since we have magic I'll give it a pass.
And all this doesn't change that I would love to see a video from Jill about the movie.
@@widgren87 Understandable, but I'm also all about consistency.
@@tarmaque Fair enough.
Good guess with 1370. The film actually takes place in the 1350's, as they specifically mention the Battle of Poitiers which happened in 1356. Still during the lifespan of Chaucer and Prince Edward, just a bit earlier. I may have looked into the historicity of this movie once or twice before.
Delightfully informative as is so often the case with your videos Ms. Bearup. Many thanks 😊
I love this movie, it's so much fun. Thanks for reviewing this.
Man I loved that movie soo much!
Interesting. Adding this to the possibly useful for writing projects pile, particularly the bit on modular armour.
I am finally young enough to have seen this one as a child - and I loved it since then :)
I enjoy you intelligent & witty posts.
Congrats on finding yourself a great editor!
I love that I came across this video right after spending the weekend watching a medieval tournament event (Turku Castle Tournament/Turun linnan turnajaiset, in Finland). It just feels very fitting to the theme XD
More Zac! And I love your takes on armor as part of the storytelling.
The great thing about this movie was how much fun it was. The anachronisms were placed so as not to break the storyteller's spell.
5:36 iPhone may not have released until 2007, but the *iPod* was unveiled in 2001. So there!
Thanks for the rundown of the movie's armor. A Knight's Tale is an entertaining movie.
Legit one of the greatest movies of all time.
I have always loved this movie: it captures the feel, and the accuracy of the rules of the tournaments and armor appears to be lightyears ahead of most hollywood preceding its release (story concessions notwithstanding).
I absolutely love this film. It's one of my favorite films of all time. Great episode!
How did I miss this??? Where was my notification? I adore this movie!!
This was a fun little video about a fun movie. It kinda makes me think that this was made by a bunch of SCAdians working in Hollywood. Also, unrelated, thanks again for your advice about armor for the elves in my novel (now a little bit past half-written). I started them off in basically in swashbuckle clothes while carrying swords for comfort and speed. but after a nasty attack they switch to what we would call Hoplite armor but with variations because fantasy world. I did take into account the fact that they are riding in summer weather an so it's uncomfortable with greater need to rest and replenish bodily needs.
Will's final armor is missing a gorget. He's likely to catch a lance with his neck.
It's funny. A Knight's Tale could have been a disaster. The purposeful anachronisms shocked me at first. But then I just rolled with it. The actors sold the movie. It's sort of, let's treat this seriously, but not too seriously. And what could have been a total mess, turned out fantastic. I know Jocelyn was a part of the "reach for the stars" thing. But honestly I'd rather him be with the blacksmith. She'd keep him grounded. But allow him to keep his head up.