Black Death
Evocative of The Wicker Man... a fascinating, beautiful and gripping thought-provoker that lingers long in the mind.
At risk of drowning in a sea of gritty historial epics, don't let this marvellous film sneak by.
Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance, Triangle) puts his horror skills to good use in this pestilence-riddled drama, knowing exactly how to rack up tension and empathy. Sean Bean is the knight Ulric in a 14th century England ravaged by the bubonic plague, and Eddie Redmayne shines, if that's the right word, in his first leading role as young monk Osmond, torn between his genuine devotion to God and his real-life love of a local girl. In this literal God-fearing environment, envoy to the bishop Ulric sees it as his mission to rid an unaffected village of its paganism and a suspected necromancer - one who can raise the dead. He recruits Osmund to guide his bunch of unmerry men and their iron-maiden style death trap to capture those responsible for such godless acts, and restore Christianity.
John Lynch stands out as Wolfstan in this this savage group. He brings into context their bloodlust, which in the eyes of Ulric is for a good cause. The mercenaries are not represented as mere brutes, with Dario Poloni's sharp script and an intense supporting cast making you understand, if never sympathise, with these men. The convincing Bean does his noble Boromir act, which, let's face it, he was born to do, and Redmayne carries the film in his terrified, naïve eyes, always believable as the sad and tortured monk.
The hypocrisy of religion is present, but never in a patronising way, with Smith ensuring an authentic representation of a desperate period in history. Martyrdom is a constant black shadow, with the bonny health of these villagers despised and resented. Black Death takes the viewer on an unpredictable journey when we reach the village in question; Ulric and Osmund are placed in terrible positions, where their faith is tested by an ambiguous leader, eagerly played by Carice van Houten with a wicked glint in her eye.
Smith is wise to keep the simmering threat of violence largely unseen, bar for a few gory moments, and the strength of this drama is the conflict between religious zealots and pagans. Your sympathies can go either way, and the overall feeling is of unsettlement and danger. The photography and production design is strikingly bleak, with costumes and make-up more realistic than any other big budget films. Evocative of The Wicker Man, Black Death is a fascinating, beautiful and gripping thought-provoker that lingers long in the mind.
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