Arn - Der Kreuzritter

The series does an excellent job in fitting in the most important things from the book to get the feeling of the setting and the characters.

Of course ideally the series adaptation would be more than twice as long with 10 times the budget to really put the books to justice but in the real world, with realistic time and money, they really did a most excellent job with this series and even the movies that are a bit shorter.

Loved the books, loved the series. If there were anything I would like to add to the series is how Arn and his family and friends helped build Sweden, after his return. How he brought along war knowledge and builders and boosted the economy along with his brother and his son.

But maybe there is this room for these adaptations in the future.

The transition of language is excellent. The scenery is sublime. The story in the mini series is far more exploratory than the film.

Like Kingdom of Heaven, the director cut explains a lot more and helps keep the loose ends together.

The mix of international actors is excellent. Moving story in many aspects.

If you're not moved by the storyline.

The miniseries reviewed here is actually a compilation of two feature length movies, which were very successful in Scandanavia, and as a result of that success, were shown on television in the form of a six-part miniseries. But the running time is pretty close to identical. The two films, minus opening and closing credits, run about 257 minutes; each episode (there are six) runs about 43 minutes, minus opening and closing credits, for a total of 258 minutes. So the reason it looks like a feature film is because it IS a feature film.

As to the content, it's a love story, but the lovers are divided by war and circumstance, so the bulk of it is devoted to how they cope even though they are divided. I thought the two leads had marvelous rapport (the two actors actually were in drama school together, and have acted together many times, on film and on stage), and I found their devotion to one another to be wholly believable. Of course, you have to remember that these were very different times. As the author of the original novels has said, this was an age of faith, and that extended to the faith that the lovers had in each other. Ours is a secular age, and so in order to fully enjoy the films, you have to be able to make a leap of faith, to believe that two people could love each other that much. I guess I'm a sucker for a good romance.

But don't go to this series or film expecting a re-run of "Kingdom of Heaven"; it's set in the same time and place, and covers some of the same historical events. The tone and feeling of the film, however, is very different. If it is an epic, and I'm not sure it is or was ever intended to be, it is what might be called an intimate epic. As with "Dr Zhivago," to some extent, history is the enemy of these two, and it constitutes a force that is very difficult to deal with. I can say no more without spoilers, but rest assured, all is not gloom and doom for these two.

it is one of series remembering the history lessons in the most inspired manner. because it contains all the pieces defining the Medieval life. because the heroism has a more subtle definition than the most historical novels and the love story seems be more a slice from the old epics. film of a character, it is not exactly an eulogy to the old virtues but a realistic portrait of ideal and price for become yourself, about the sins and theirs price, about social relations and about the Church . short, just a series who must see.

A librarian friend of mine at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, PA recommended this historical fiction when I told her I was looking for some interesting and engaging to read. Boy! did she hit a home run with this suggestion. And, after reading the trilogy of novels of the life of Arn, from birth to death, following him to his time as a monastic, young lover-husband, penitential Crusader, to death, I truly felt I had to see the filmed version. It was most definitely a well-realized cinematic effort to bring the complex and engaging tale of Knight-Crusaders to life on the big and small screens. Well acted, photographed, costumed and just all in all a great film. Enjoy.