Jade_chan

We had a very crowded showing of this movie at my local queer bar last night. Been a while since i've experienced a crowd laughing, hooting and hollering like this, the movie was such a blast from start to finish. Now that's what a good documentary can be - entertaining, real, energizing and profoundly moving. Hats off to the movie makers who managed to find all this footage (movie clips, audio clips, photographies, zines, artworks...) of a bygone era that, to our pretty sanitized and commercialized queer landscape of the 2020s, feels alien and tantalizing. Humbling to acknowledge the continuity of fights, both inwards and outwards. The interviewed people were such wonderful personalities, each given room to shine their own special spotlight on this troubled era. I already want to rewatch this!

So much to see! Wonderful costumes, sceneries, shots! But the entire first half is sadly hurried. No sooner have we learned a new information / met a new character that we're (literally) galloping to the next tidbit of info. I groaned in annoyance several times at perfectly, lavishly set-up scenes being cut abruptly short. The character's relationships suffer from it too, since it's often hard to tell who's who (so many brothers to remember!) and what their deal with each other is.

Apparently the first cut was 4 hours long, well i want at least one of those back! 120 minutes didn't do the story justice and made it lack the gravitas and heart it so evidently had in store. We stay on the surface of those complex historical events and don't reach the depth that was in reach.

Why the good rating despite this pacing issue you might ask? Well what we get is SO VERY GOOD. The production value is off the charts and i'm starved for medieval content that DOES feel medieval - religious chants, dancing, foreign codexes of honour, ruthles swordfights, and a staggering disregard for the life of the common folk (you do NOT want to live in 14th century Scotland...).

The toll of war feels heavy and bitter, and so do the fights. The last battle scene alone makes the movie worth the watch.

The entire production feels lived-in, functional, real - no leather armor or stupid haircuts/make-up in sight, no cheap modern fabrics, no huge improbable armies, that's the kind of time-travel cinema offers and i love it! Especially when we get such beautiful vistas of my beloved Scotland as a backdrop.

In the moments that do not feel rushed, Chris Pine makes for a fantastic lead and his co-stars are very compelling too (special mention to King Edward, Angus and Black Dougal). Some scenes (especially on the West Coast Isles) were so humane and fond, it made me desperately crave a much longer, fuller movie. Photography and cinematography were gorgeous throughout.

I'll keep my eyes open for an extended edition that gives the movie the meat it needs and slows the pace down.

What can I say, I had a blast. Lawrence is, of course, perfect, but her co-lead has a lot of moments to shine too and was genuinely adorable.

The comedic timing of this movie is spot on and made me laugh out loud multiple times, i had to pause i was laughing so hard. The gags are varied, the conflict and plot felt surprisingly real and wasn't too contrived, the characters were genuine and layered...

A movie with heart, not dumbed down too much, sentimental but manages not to be cheesy. So yeah, big recommendation! One of the best romcoms i've seen in recent years. Lawrence is perfect in comedies!