Rent Black Death on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Dario Poloni (screenplay), Christopher Smith (uncredited)
Directed by: Christopher Smith
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Carice van Houten
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Set during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague in England, a young monk is given the task of learning the truth about reports of people being brought back to life in a small village.
Verdict
It starts with the plague and only becomes more depressing. Faced with death through an unknown disease, fear breeds contempt and violence. Religion and faith play a big part in this movie, but none of the characters are saints. Everyone is shades of gray. It's easy to read into the commentary on religion this is making. Faith can very easily breed fanaticism, and that leads to violence.
Watch It.
Review
I saw this not long after it came out and remember enjoying it, so when I saw it appear this week I had to watch it since it's been a while. I'm surprised I don't hear about this movie more. The premise is intriguing, and the story provides plenty of depth.
Taking place in 1348, the black plague runs rampant. No one yet understands sanitation. As the voice over states the plague is God's punishment, we see a rat on screen. That's certainly a wink to the audience and an example of a disconnect between the people of this time. Monk Osmund (Eddie Redmyane) volunteers to lead an envoy to a village rumored to be unaffected by the plague. The envoy is dubious, and their hypothesis is that that only way to a village could beat the plague is through some kind of supernatural force.
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| John Lynch, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmyane play Wolfstan, Ulric, Osmund |
These characters want to 'help' a village that is unaffected. It's a mirror to these conflicted characters. Osmund is a monk yet has a secret girlfriend. We're told Ulric (Sean Bean) is the most religious and then we see him kill. He claims it was a kindness. While harsh, we see his point. This disease breeds fear and savagery. People want to blame something or someone and in these primitive times everything is attributed to religion or a perversion of it. It's difficult to muster compassion when you're afraid for your own life.
I want to ascribe parallels to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, but that could just be the setting and monks. This does follow a monk on a perilous journey through trials and tribulations.
When they get to the mysterious village, it's more welcoming than expected. Something doesn't seem quite right in addition to the plague not affecting this place. The envoy becomes suspicious, but the town has a right to be wary when they find a hidden cache of weapons these Christians brought and hid outside. This group had plans of destruction, and they were beaten to the punch.
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| Sean Bean plays Ulric |
This movie is about fear, what it does to people and how it twists them. Fear causes destruction. The envoy was afraid of the village because they're unable to explain why the village avoided the plague. The village is afraid of yet another envoy that suspects them of witchcraft. It wasn't a witch protecting the village, it was the remoteness and the lack of interaction with infected people.Science explains what happened in this movie, and religion is the cause of destruction.
How does a movie open with a town devastated by the plague, get worse and more depressing? By showing us how the fear of an unexplainable blight makes people afraid, desperate, and violent. Originally the script had the second half of the movie as supernatural with the devil making an appearance, but I like that the movie remained grounded. It asks a lot of questions about belief while making conclusions about hope. Belief can be dangerous. Science can explain anomalies, but fear of the unknown is stronger.
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