Arn

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.

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 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.

I think I partly understand what the film makers tried to do here, but it's nearly impossible to fit 3 books (with a lot of content) in 4,5 h and not make it feel cramped. I like the costume and the scenery and the acting is pretty good. However, it feels like this series missed the very core of the story, which to me is 1) the impact of religion on the characters and society 2) the huge changes in the Northern society which took place during this time. These are the very themes that made the books interesting.

When it comes to religion, I would have loved to see more about the cultural and religious differences and how religion may lead to both demise and growth. For example when it comes to the relationship between Arn and the Saracens, which I think they depicted pretty good with the little screen time they got, but they left out so many important things. I also missed Arns early relationship with the monks at the monastery, and all he learnt there, since these were the relationships that shaped his whole being. It feels like they just rushed through this part, like it's not that important to the character and story.

Another important thing that they almost completely left out is the very main thing about Arn, what makes him both interesting and special: how he, wherever he goes, always is viewed as an outsider, someone who's weird and doesn't fit in (even in his own family). He constantly needs to prove himself and he always manages to prove people wrong. This important key character feature is barely shown in the series.

Moreover, I don't understand why they left out all the important work and influence Arn had on society, like making his home Arnäs the strongest fort in the country, building Forsvik and bringing home crucial war knowledge. (In reality I understand this is fictional, but it's such an excellent representation of how the Northern society grew and evolved at this time).

Another thing I have a hard time accepting is that none of the characters seem to age. They look exactly the same when they're 17 and when they're 50. It's awkward when the parents almost look the same age as their child. I understand that the budget might have been tight or that it's hard to change actors when jumping forward in time 5 years at a time, but at least give them grey hair or something. This might seem like a trifle, but it really ruins the feel and the actuality of the story.

All together the story is so pushed together you never have time to feel for or connect with the characters. It's sad cause these are complex and interesting characters and I really think the actors would've given them credit. Everything happens so fast. The first time I saw it I hadn't read the books and I had a really hard time keeping up with what was happening, with the rivalry between the different houses, who was connected to who, where we are in time and place and so on.

With all of this said, I think it's wonderful that Swedish film makers took the step and did this kind of project, which had never been done before in the country in the same scale. Even if there's so much I think it's lacking it's not a poorly made production and it's not a bad series all together. I think there's a lot of effort behind it. However, I think they should've waited until they had a bigger budget and preferably make it into 1 movie/book, which is usually standard and is also ideal when following the original story's dramaturgical curve. Then I think they would've had the opportunity to include all of the important factors and key elements that make this story so excellent.

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.