Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2005 epic historical fiction drama
film called, Kingdom of Heaven. Spoiler’s ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
In the cold winter day in France of the year 1184, a grave is being prepared by two men
and a priest for the corpse of a woman that is said to have committed suicide.
That woman also happens to be the wife of Balian, a black smith and half-brother of the priest.
As the priest examines the woman’s body, he steals the cross necklace from her neck then
suddenly men of crusaders walk past them going to the remote village in the land. The corpse is
beheaded and is given an improper burial because suicide is a grave offense to the Catholic faith.
Balian, who is grieving over the sudden death of his wife and stillborn child, is released
from prison by the command of the bishop priest. Balian visits the grave of his wife and the priest
insults him but he ignores him and dismisses his remark. At home, he finally decides to let go of
his family by burning their belongings and start working again as a blacksmith with his apprentice.
The crusaders alongside Godfrey, the Baron of Ibelin, visits Balian then Godfrey introduces
himself as his father and offers to bring him to Jerusalem with him. Balian refuses to leave and
his rejection prompts Godfrey to leave immediately but still hopes he will change his mind.
The priest heard the conversation between Godfrey and Balian, and later that day he
persistently convinces Balian to leave their village in an attempt to claim Balian’s property.
The priest pushes too far as to reveal Balian’s wife beheaded, a custom to the dead of suicide
that prevents them from ascending to Heaven, which causes Balian to outrage. Balian violently
kills the priest by burning him and takes his wife’s necklace from him. Balian catches up with
Godfrey with the desire of finding forgiveness and redemption for him and his dead wife’s sins
at the Holy Land of Jerusalem. Godfrey takes Balian with him and teaches him swordsmanship.
However, in the middle of the training, Godfrey’s nephew interrupts them by warranting
an arrest for Balian for the murder of the priest. Godfrey refuses to surrender Balian,
hence his nephew initiates the fight brutally killing some of Godfrey’s men and he himself being
mortally wounded. Godfrey defeats them by killing his nephew but suffers the fatal injury of a
broken arrow in his ribs. The crusaders along with Balian continue their journey back to Jerusalem.
As they reach the Pilgrim Camp on the road to Messina, Guy de Lusignan,
Godfrey’s step son and an inheritor to the throne of Jerusalem as the husband of Princess Sybilla,
rudely greets and insults Godfrey while resting at the camp. When they arrive at Messina,
which is the port to Jerusalem, the dying Godfrey grants knighthood to Balian as the
knight and Baron of Ibelin and instructs him to serve the king of Jerusalem and its people.
After the brief ceremony, Godfrey succumbs to his injury and Balian is set to sail a journey
to Jerusalem by the wishes of his father. On the voyage, the raging storm wrecks Balian’s
ship which tragically left him and a horse as the only survivors in a desert land.
Balian takes possession of the horse when suddenly two Saracen horsemen, also known as Muslims,
a master and a servant, appear claiming that the horse belongs to the master because it is in his
land and demands that Balian gives him the horse. Balian refuses to give the horse which causes the
master to fight Balian eventually leading to the master’s death. Balian in dire need
of help to reach Jerusalem spares the life of the servant to help him reach his destination.
Upon their arrival at Jerusalem, Balian kindly offers to give the servant the horse
and the freedom from being a slave. The servant acknowledges Balian’s kindness
and reveals that the Saracen that Balian killed is a known knight among the Saracens and that
he should be careful. As Balian treads his way in the busy streets of the land, the remaining
men of Godfrey stalk him seeing that he carries the sword of Godfrey. Balian immediately notices
them and the men question him to which he replies with familiarity about Godfrey.
Satisfied with Balian’s answers the men accept him as the new Baron of Ibelin.
Godfrey’s servants warmly welcome Balian as he resides in Jerusalem and he wanders around
the mansion admiring the glory of the place. Later that day, Princess Sibylla visits the
mansion looking for Balian, he does not introduce himself to her but rather humbly gives her a drink
to which Sibylla gives him a knowing look and leaves. Balian is soon introduced to Tiberias the
Marshal of the Office of Jerusalem, who is a good friend of Godfrey and they talk about Saladin,
the infamous leader of the Saracens with more than two hundred thousand men,
and the conflicts surrounding the pledge of peace sworn by both the King of Jerusalem and Saladin.
Balian also meets with the leper King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem who happens to be very fond of
Godfrey as his teacher and who also discovered he had Leprosy. The leper king invites Balian
for chess and imparts him the wisdom that the man himself is his own soul’s keeper
no matter who the man serves. The leper king then shows Balian the fortification of the
city of Jerusalem and asks for Balian’s suggestions to improve it which Balian
skillfully gives ways to strengthen the walls making the leper king fond of him.
As Balian steps on the very land of Ibelin which he inherited from Godfrey,
his first mission is to address the problem of drought in his land.
Balian instructs his people to help him build a drainage system as an irrigation to crops
and other resources in the land. Balian’s dedication for his land earns him the respect
from his people, Sibylla visits him again and stays in Ibelin for a few days while his husband,
Guy de Lusignan, travels at the East. With each passing day, Sibylla grows fonder of Balian
because of his nobility and inevitably they spend an intimate night together becoming secret lovers.
However, amidst the pleasant events in Ibelin, Guy conspires with Reynald of Châtillon,
along with the other Templars to massacre a Saracen caravan that killed many of the Saracens,
breaking the king’s pledge of peace. The news reaches Saladin
and they retaliate attacking the Kerak Castle of Reynald to hold him accountable. Balian by
the orders of the leper king, is set to protect the villagers of Kerak, with his men outnumbered
by Saladin’s calvary they still bravely charge at them to give the villagers time to escape.
As the battle intensifies Balian and his men are defeated and they are captured by the enemy.
Balian meets the servant again whom he freed and reveals himself as Saladin’s Chancellor
and repays Balian’s kindness by sparing them. As the calvary of Saladin and the leper king reach
the battle ground, the leper king negotiates with Saladin and promises that he himself
will punish Reynald in exchange that the Muslims retreat to avoid bloodshed which Saladin accepts.
In fury, the leper king commands Reynald to kiss his disease inflicted hand and beats him which
makes the leper king to collapse in exhaustion, Tiberias then arrests Reynald and sends him to
prison. The transpire of events weaken the leper king and he presumes his time is near.
He calls for Balian to conclude his affairs and declares his wishes for
his six-year-old nephew to be crowned king and that Balian be the new commander of the army
of Jerusalem which Balian accepts. The leper king also offers Sibylla’s hand, his sister,
for marriage knowing their affection but primarily with the intent to protect the
throne from Guy as this will inevitably cause a war against the Saracens.
Balian rejects the offer as it will cause the execution of Guy which his conscience cannot take.
Sibylla in disbelief of Balian’s rejection ends their relationship telling him that he
will regret his decision and that there will come a day when he will wish he had done a
little evil to do the greater good and she leaves him heart broken. Soon after, the leper king dies
and the whole city of Jerusalem mourns, Sibylla approaches the corpse of the leper
king and takes off his mask revealing his deformed face which shocks her.
Guy, since the death of the leper king, keeps pressuring Sibylla to keep him at her side if
he wants her son to be safe hence making him still next in line to the throne. Shortly after,
the coronation of Sibylla’s son successfully holds him in the office of the king for a few days by
Sibylla’s guidance but soon it becomes apparent that the new king is infected with leprosy,
a contagious disease that killed the leper king. Sibylla’s son is unresponsive to the reaction
of pain, this fills Sibylla with grief as she is unwilling to accept the fate of her son, to save
him from suffering the disease she poisons him instead resulting to her depression and madness.
Guy in desperate need to take matters at hand, takes the advice from Reynald to dispose of his
competitor to the throne, Balian, and sends his men to assassinate him. Balian in a state of
brokenness is defeated by Guy’s men and collapses. Now that no one is in the way of Guy’s plans, he
releases Reynald to initiate a bloody war against Saladin by killing Saracens and Saladin’s sister.
This heinous act enrages Saladin which becomes a threat to the pledge of peace.
Subsequent to Sibylla’s son passing is the coronation of her as the queen successor and Guy,
her estranged husband, as the new king of Jerusalem where havoc awaits them.
As expected, Saladin sends an emissary and demands the body of his sister,
the heads of the men responsible for her death and the surrender of Jerusalem as to which Guy
arrogantly replies by decapitating the emissary’s head marking the start of a war. As the calvary
of Jerusalem are assembling for battle Balian suddenly appears before the war council to stop
them from leaving the city. Guy refuses to listen to Balian and pushes through for war, Tiberias
sides with Balian and removes his knights from the assembly making Guy even more eager to go to
war to claim the glory and victory. Tiberias’ men and Balian are left behind to protect the city.
As Guy’s calvary march towards Saladin’s encampment, his men become thirsty,
fatigue and even collapse from dehydration as the scorching heat of the desert land overwhelms them.
Saladin takes this as an advantage and mercilessly kills all of Guy’s armed men,
decapitating all their heads including the infamous Reynald but sparing Guy only because he
was unworthy to be killed by a king. Tiberias sees Guy’s fallen men being eaten by a flock of birds,
which makes him hopeless hence his decision to leave Jerusalem for Cyprus. However, Balian
remains faithful and is determined to protect the people of Jerusalem and goes back to the city.
Balian devises a plan for defense in hopes of holding the Saracens long enough for
them to come into terms. Outnumbered and without knights, Balian faces the challenge
of discouragement and criticism from the patriarch to flee instead of fighting Saladin.
Balian with firm resolve ignores the patriarch and knights the men-at-arms and those capable of
bearing arms to make them a better fighter which gives them the lasting impression of knighthood.
Balian predicts that this will be a long fight and is determined to hold it as long as possible.
The war begins with Saladin initiating the attack by throwing fireballs to the walls of the city
causing damages but Balian intentionally does not fight back to reserve their counter attack for the
next day. As three days past, the assaults against Saladin’s calvary become more and
more evident on the side of Balian’s favor, executing each strategic plan each day gives
them the upper hand killing more Saracens than Christians. With Saladin on the losing side he
finally comes to terms as he recognizes Balian’s firm resolve, he offers to safely escort the
people of Jerusalem to other Christian lands but Balian will have to surrender Jerusalem to him.
Balian accepts the offer and as the two retreat to their sides, Balian asks, “What is Jerusalem’s
worth?” to which Saladin replies as both nothing, as a city itself, and everything to the people
bound by faith and devotion to God. Balian returns to the city to declare to his people
the surrender of Jerusalem with the assurance that the people are to be safely transported to other
Christian lands, the people celebrate as Balian successfully defended the people of the city.
Inside the city, Balian looks for Sibylla and tells her that despite the surrender of
Jerusalem to Saladin, the kingdom of her brother remains in the minds and hearts of the people
and that if Sibylla renounces her position as queen, Balian will come for her. As everyone
prepares to leave the city, a humiliated Guy confronts Balian one last time for a duel,
a pathetic challenge to fight Balian which he accepts and ultimately defeats Guy who
is even more ashamed of what he is now, but Balian spares him leaving him these words, "When you rise
again... if you rise... rise a knight." Saladin goes into the city of Jerusalem admiring the glory
and holiness of the place as his people settle in their new home. Saladin sees a cross on the
floor which he carefully picks up and places it on the table with respect to the Christian faith.
Balian bids his farewell to his Saracen friend, the Chancellor of Saladin,
and the Saracen gives back the horse to Balian which he accepts to use for his travel.
As Balian leaves the city he sees Sibylla along the march of the people and offers a ride to his
horse as a queen who should never walk, which she declines renouncing herself from being the queen
of Jerusalem and walks hand in hand with Balian. Upon Balian’s return to his home in France,
he sees that a lot has changed since he left the village and looking back he appreciates the man
he has become molded by the words of Godfrey, the leper king and his experiences in Jerusalem.
Shortly after, the England knights visit Balian’s village to look for him as their aid in conquering
Jerusalem from Saladin, Balian’s reputation as the defender of Jerusalem has spread across Europe,
but Balian only humbly acknowledges himself as a blacksmith. The knight introduces himself
as the king of England and they leave Balian to continue on to their quest.
The film ends with Sibylla and Balian passing by the grave of his late wife where he bids
his final goodbye and respect to her and they leave the village to start a new life together.