Guillaume le Conquérant

Having just read. The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris I saw this suggested and thought I would take a look. What a pleasant and thoroughly enjoyable surprise. All the more because it is a mainly French.

For those that do not know, the Normans are not seen as French by either side in northern France, not even today. Or in the UK where they came in and conquered. While the Normans did not ethnically clean England they came close, especially in the north.

The show is excellent and I especially like that the production quality is very good. Unlike many such drama based documentaries the VFX is good and represents the main battle well. The only poor part is the death of Taillefer which is comically bad. Later the dramatisation of William in later life is also acted badly. But the information and pace of telling is good.

Cool documentary about William the Conqueror - and the anguish and psycho-historical trauma inflicted upon England through the Norman invasion.

It should be noted though, that the island of Britain was always vulnerable to invasions - from the Romans, the Saxons, the Vikings and the Normans - namely William the Conqueror.

Indeed, this is also the reason why the NGO BTB-GLOBAL PEACEBUIDING was able to take over the UK government in a jiffy :) Because the UK establishment was like a lost puppy, which needed protection and guardianship from the NGO community.

However, now that we have a competent leader in the UK again, I will make a tactical retreat from the UK, and leave the country to its own devices. (In a similar way that Julius Cesar left the UK, after his famous line: I came, saw and conquered :)

So hopefully vital and necessary laws against poverty, pollution, racial prejudice, inequality and gender violence will happen now in the UK - and the world at large. In particular in countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar and China - so that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) can finally be manifested in the International Community.

Notwithstanding all the Medieval-era movies and television shows that have been concocted out of thin air of late, here is the real story of the Norman Conquest and its repercussions. Its juicy detail about bloodlines, banners, battles, and boats is spell-binding! A unique French perspective adds to its intrigue and the music score is superlative. A must-see for all connoisseurs of Medieval history, the re-enactments are humorous as well as informative. Its naturalistic approach brings historical detail to the forefront in a very accessible format. I came away feeling that some very dry history had become enchantingly up-close and personal.

The best part of this film is actually the music, which is very well made by Arthur Shelton, recalling the best days of John Barry. The cinematography is also excellent, the film is all through an aesthetic pleasure, and the actors are splendid, especially Vincent Deniard as William, while all the actors playing him are excellent, the boy, the youth and the man. The script though is very poor. The French have done a great job in investigating and researching the background and history of William, the problems of the fact that he was not legitimate and his rise to power against overwhelming adversities, and the part of his visit to the pagan Normans of his ancestry is very interesting. The dialogue though is almost puerile in its coarseness, which is even worse than from any B Hollywood Western. They fight with their swords over and over again exhausting the audience more than themselves, and the chief crook is ordinarily banal. The entire concept is superficial, as it only sticks to William's early career, completely avoiding the cases of Harold Godwinson and Harald Hardrade, thus entirely ignoring the Norwegian intrigues that led up to the invasion, which was just playing dirty with the blessing of the church: Harald was to attack the English in the north while William was to attack from the south, thus invading England by two fronts. The Norwegians were defeated in the north, which marked the end of the Viking age, which sacrifice made the game easier for William in the south. But the film is more a documentary of the times and their ways than any comprehensive history lesson. It is well made, but all that is missing was more interesting.

Just a heads-up: this film is NOT about William's conquest of England; it's about his life in Normandy. Think Last of the Mohicans in early medieval France, and you're in the ballpark.

I suspect that the high medieval historical genre isn't that popular. Directors and producers wouldn't make a movie in that genre for the money, but because they have a story they want told. That's the exact sentiment I get from this film. It has a shoestring budget and subpar actors but a lot of heart.

The cinematography isn't stellar; I don't remember the soundtrack, and the English dub has one hilarious moment which I dare not spoil. Even with all these flaws, I recommend this highly. It's a love letter from the filmmakers to William the Conqueror, and you can feel every pen stroke.