Pilgrimage

Out of the creeping faerie mist of a dark age comes an intensely suspenseful tale about why we choose our allegiances. This is the heart of the story - our reasons make no sense.

The drama revolves around a lump of rock. That any other lump could replace it at any time and no-one would notice is openly stated in the dialogue. It's the stark question woven through the plot - is faith taken on faith alone really worth fighting for?

It's a tense film, beautifully written and exquisitely acted. Each viewer decides what the film's about - it doesn't explain itself, it falls silent. Everyone will see something different. Some might conclude we're all compelled towards war whether we like it or not. Some might decide we're all in league with the Devil whether we know it or not. Some might believe we're all still lost in the creeping faerie mist clutching for something to save us.

Some reviewers didn't rate it highly as an action thriller but it's not a superficial movie and maybe doesn't fit into that genre. There's far more being shown in the subtext and the themes than being told in the action. As for the excessive violence, I felt it merely conveyed the grim reality of melee combat. After all, hidden in the word 'Pilgrimage' is the word 'grim'.

It's a mark of a brilliant film when after seeing it once you must see it again. On the second viewing, it bit me deeper on the neck and made me more its thrall.

For me, the main highlight was Jon Bernthal's acting. It was haunting. He played a voiceless man who served the monks as the lowliest of their group and I fell in love with his tragic integrity. He reminded me of another tormented anti-hero of contemporary myth - Angel from 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer': the vampire cursed with a soul, plagued by a weight of remorse for a hellish past. Both crave absolution and will do anything to receive it.

I loved 'Pilgrimage'. It was a strangely beguiling hybrid of superstitious medievalism clashing with an ancient landscape alive with pre-existing belief. And the ending was satisfyingly unsatisfying - like all good fairy tales are.

As far as period pieces set in the middle ages go, this one isn't very glamorous. It's a decently well made film with some strong individual performances that basically carry a mostly disjointed and only slightly nuanced story. My rating for this movie is a fairly weak 7/10. That rating is floated higher than I would have normally given it for three specific reasons.

First, the performances: Holland as the young, pious monk who has never known anything but life in the monastery yet quickly matures when faced with adversity. Bernthal as the obedient and entirely subservient mute with an obviously profound yet mysterious history who becomes the star of the show on more than one occasion without saying a word. Stanley Weber as the Cistercian, the guy the Church sends out to do their dirty work basically and effectively starts the "Pilgrimage" in the first place. Of course, there's also Richard Armitage as the surly French knight commanding his Baron father's equally surly men while throwing surly looks around all the time. This would have been a horribly dull and hard to watch movie if these guys didn't pull off these fairly typical medieval character archetypes well and it feels to me like they did.

Second, the action and set sequences were well done. I tend to be the kind of person who is immediately thrown off by a bad transition or a sequence of shots that just don't really work well together. I didn't see very much of that in this film. Granted, it's not difficult managing scene transition when most every scene is shot outdoors in Ireland but when the action happens, it's brutal and effective.

Third, symbolism. If you are someone who does not like it when a movie expects you to draw your own significance from the story it's trying to tell, this is not a movie you might like. Religion is a central theme in this movie and it is built on a foundation of symbolism that can be taken any number of different ways. If you like diving into the deeper meaning of things, you will actually love this movie. Especially how it ends.

This is very good. far more realistic than Hollywood might produce. it's interesting, much dogma was born of superstition, identifications that without science, were attributed to whatever godly (natural) forces our people believed in at the time. However, belief is a force unto itself and it does serve to manipulate circumstance. that is in here too. well told

I've gone for this movie with no expectations based on its rating ,, but I was really surprised .. This movie is really Powerful that after its end it would make you think for a while about your convictions or the principles of your beliefs . * maybe not going wrong with them but just questioning *

It discusses things not about religion but particularly the way of Religious speech and people who may control the message of religions in general ( Not Christianity in particular ) and how politics also may affect how things work ..

The acting is very good especially that of Jon Bernthal ( The Mute ) .. The music is well played as well as the picture ,, Great Atmosphere of that period of time ( 13th century ) with bloody violent action scenes which were really well performed

This is my first movie of the director Brendan Muldowney and I think it won't be the last .. Great Job

Overall I liked nearly everything about the movie . If you're interested in that period of time and historical movies , Just go for it ..

Yes this film is bloody. For some the scenes might even be shocking, but I really enjoyed this film. Acting was good, the suspense build up was very good. And at no point did it seem the violence was unnecessary. If you enjoy historical type films and don't mind seeing a head bashed in close up, you will enjoy this.