The Reckoning

Filmic interpretations of medieval times are worrisome things - how can the technology of modern cinema make such distant times credible - the minimum standards of cinematographic presentability and the typology of screen idolatry alone work against verisimilitude.

This is the case for this murder mystery of sorts, based on a novel, Morality Play, by Barry Unsworth, set in England circa 1380 and concerning a band of travelling players. Paul Bettany's smoothly shaven face and Gina McKee's lipstick are just a couple of incongruities that keep us firmly in the 21st century. In this respect the book o doubt was more effective in transporting its audience to different times but when Willem Dafoe is talking about theatre that "touches us directly" and Brian Cox wants to hear "every sordid little detail" about Bettany's adulterous activities one must conclude that the medieval setting is but a form for contemporary sensibilities.

Nevertheless as it is the film is quite engaging. Scots director, McGuigan handles proceedings with workmanlike brio and the performances are strong with the always-watchable Dafoe giving matters some much needed grit (although he doesn't have much luck maintaining his rural English accent) as pretty-boy Bettany's foil. Clearly the makers have studied Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose although particularly in the bird's-eye-views the sets look more than a little Tim Burton-ish.

The most enjoyable aspect of the film however are the scenes involving the stage players' own performances and their asides on their art. Dafoe, who is well-known for his off-screen involvement in small theatre is particularly effective here (we are also treated to scenes of some strange callisthenics by him) and the film deserves preserving under "S"" for self-referential rather than "M" for murder or medieval mystery.

 

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