The Reckoning - Percorsi criminali

The yarn talks upon a priest (Paul Bettany) who is joined with a comedian actors troupe (Willem Dafoe, Gina McKee, Brian Cox , among others). They will arrive in a village with a rousing castle ruled by a tyrant (Vincent Cassel). There happens one murder and is framed a deaf-mute woman (Elvira Minguez). The priest discovers the killing has occurred and attempt to solve it by recreating the crime in a play .

The film deals with Dark Ages , it's time of destruction , hunger, deceases and rampage . It's developed in 14th century , England , during King Richard's time , the Normans vanquished Saxons . War and pest originated millions of deaths . The story mingles medieval set , drama, suspense , sexual situations , a love story and is entertaining enough . The motion picture was in great majority directed in Spain (Andalucia) and has breathtaking scenarios . The movie obtained a limited success , in the United States got a resounding flop and achieved a lukewarm reception by the public ; however Europe attained more box office because is a European film more than American . The picture gets a certain resemblance to ¨The name of the rose¨ , thus the Medieval time , suspense , thrills and intrigue about killing . The main actors are very well , Paul Bettany and Willem Dafoe's interpretations are top notch likeness to support cast as Brian Cox, Ewen Bremmer, James Cosmo, Matthew Mac Fadden , all of them are outstanding . Cinematography by Peter Soba is magnificent and Mark Mancina's musical score is atmospheric . The movie is correctly directed by Paul McGuigan.

Rating : Good. Well worth watching.

A gem of a film. Artistic without being pretentious, moving without being cliché. Paul Bettany is completely believable as a tormented priest, Willem Dafoe is as always intense and a joy to watch. The movie takes place in the dark ages mostly in a small outpost in the English countryside. A woman is wrongly accused of murder and a traveling troupe of actors, lead by Dafoe, enters the town and becomes involved in clearing her name of the accusation.

I was most impressed with the set they used for the village, it's incredible. The set immerses you in the desperate and dramatic feel of the film properly. The film has an authentic theatrical feel to it. More like it's being acted on stage rather than on location. I recommend this well acted tale.

This film was a total surprise for me. I went to see it without any pre conceived ideas; I had no clue what to expect. I based my decision on the the strength of the cast here assembled. It proved me right, as this is a movie that is very satisfying without being pretentious, or preachy.

It is, without a doubt, a major achievement for its director, Paul McGuigan. It probably would be intimidating to undertake a project of this magnitude and still bring together all the right elements to make this film enjoyable. The only sad part is that it seems this film is not getting its fair share the way it's being marketed, at least in this country.

Paul Bettany is amazing as the young priest who commits a terrible sin and has to leave the security of his church. He is fortunate to meet with the kind hearted Martin, and his troupe of players. William Dafoe is very good as the principal actor in this group. Brian Cox's role is brief, but he is very effective. Elvira Minguez has no dialogue at all, but her presence is crucial to the story and her Martha adds another layer to the story.

Despite the different acting styles and accents, the story keeps the viewer engrossed in the story. I do hope it will get the audience it sadly needs, for this is a much better film than the silly stuff being offered these days.

I've watched this movie 4 times in the last three days, and I'm still not sure I've grokked all of its subtleties yet. Beautiful, yes -- the village set is a series of enclosures, mazes within mazes, that contribute to the entrapped mood surrounding the characters. Even in the scenes outside the village, the woods and hills close in around the actors, like the enfolding wings and backdrops of a stage. The closeups are unsettlingly revealing - filthy fingers with smooth nails using a sharp, rough flint to cut hair down to the scalp....dark eyes revealing everything and nothing....a hand laid caressingly near the jugular....strong fingers....and Paul Bettany's disturbing blue eyes. I can't say enough about Bettany's take on the outcast priest -- he manages moral outrage and submissive pathos with equal ease, and his smiles always have a hint of tears behind them. A haunting performance -- I would go across the world to see Bettany play Hamlet or Macbeth.

There were several reasons why I was looking forward to seeing this movie: 1) An appealing genre: It was said to be a movie in the class of 'The Name of the Rose', which is great, 2) an appealing plot, 3) an appealing trailer, which is just mesmerizing, and 4) an appealing cast, with actors such as Bettany, Dafoe and Cassel. I did find it both entertaining and including much of the right, somber mood, but still it missed something as a movie. It was just not convincing enough. I had a strong feeling that quite a few of the actors didn't fit their characters, I didn't feel anything about the characters as a spectator, the setting wasn't authentic enough, and the dramatic development was rather weak. It started out very promising, but somehow it never came to its right. But what I really enjoyed about this movie was that it was a great tribute to the art of acting. Moreover, there are great costumes and music. Actually, I would have preferred it to be a (traveling) play rather than a movie... :-) However, Paul Bettany freaks (like me) should absolutely not miss it.