Black death 2010
Director: Christopher Smith
Writer: Dario Poloni (screenplay)
Runtime: 102 min | UK: 101 min
Cast Of Characters:
Sean Bean – Ulric
Eddie Redmayne – Osmund
Carice Van Houten – Langiva
David Warner – The Abbot
Kimberley Nixon – Averill
Johnny Harris – Mold
David Masterson – Man In Village (as Blayne Edwards)
Tim McInnerny – Hob
Andy Nyman – Dalywag
John Lynch – Wofstan
Marianne Graffam – Dark Haired Woman
Emun Elliott – Swire
Tygo Gernandt – Ivo
Martin Hentschel – Bailiff Villager Man
Nike Martens – Elena
Storyline:
Set during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague in England, a young monk is tasked with learning the truth about reports of people being brought back to life, a mission that pulls him toward a village ruler who has made a dark pact with evil forces. Written by Anonymous.
The DVD Archive Storyline & Synopsis:
At the height of the Bubonic Plague England, the church send out a small group of Christian soldiers to find a guide who will lead them to a rumoured village of miracle work. Ulric (Sean Bean) is the leader of this group of true faith men.
When they come across a monastery on the way to the village, a young Monk, Osmund (Eddie Redmayne), volunteers to guide the soldiers across the marsh. Of what miracle is it that rumours speak of the village being a place of god, while others believe that it is the work of a rogue necromancer. Whatever the truth lay in the village, it is the fight through hell that the soldiers have to go through before they can return to the Bishop with the Heretic that has brought the Plague to their world. What is in the village? Is it an act of God? Or is it the work of the dark arts?
DVD Archive Said: First of all, it was very hard not to see Sean Bean as his character in LOTR’s, especially as in this film, too, he wears the silver armour and wields a big sword. Overall, it is safe to say that once the film reaches the introduction of Osmund (Eddie Redmayne), the young Monk, you soon forget that Sean Bean was ever in Lord Of The Ring’s, respectively.
The tension within this film is high, either when cutting to the battle scenes or when all is quiet and calm around the group. With not only one top English actor at the helm of this movie, we have Tim McInnerny (Hobb), who plays a quite perturbing character. And, with something as ironic as McInnerny in a period horror, as to playing his character in Black Adder and Black Adder Goes Forth, the set is almost complete.
Black Death is, most likely the one film that although shot on a small budget, has exceeded in many points of bringing the interaction of the church into what was one of the deadliest diseases known to man. Some points raised in this movie are argueable, while at the same time they are incognito of research and facts. Very enjoyable to watch, if just to know what the villages secret is and what the result of the soldiers quest comes to be.
DVD Archive Rating: 7/10 [8/10 If a more solid cast was included]
© DVD Archive 2010/GWN.2010
