Arn: The Knight Templar

Wow, what a great movie/series. Mini-series would seem to be the appropriate term. I can't believe I'd never heard of it before. Thank you Amazon for having such an extensive collection! Usually I just ignore their suggestions. Sure glad I didn't this time. This little Scandanavian gem blew me away with its storyline, acting and cinematography. I love it when a movie is both entertaining and educational. After watching it I had to hit wikipedia and learn more about the subject matter because it was so interesting. Arn of course is a fictional character used to tell the story while actual history unfolds around him. Anyway, the story begins in 12th century Sweden with our hero Arn as a boy. We see dynastic feuding between his clan (the Folkung) and the evil Sverkers amid the snowy Swedish landscape. We follow him as he learns both the spiritual and martial arts. He finds love, then has it taken from him. As penance he travels to the Holy Land where he becomes a respected and feared Knight Templar. He protects the pilgrims and fights the Arabs. Then he comes back home to fight injustice and reclaim his love. This is obviously just a short summary that does no justice to the story. Its got everything: battles, love, loss, redemption and Swedish! Its such a fun language to listen to. Subtitles are provided for those of us who don't speak it. This was a big budget undertaking for the Swedish film industry, and I think it outdoes anything Hollywood has made for a long time in this genre. If you enjoy crusader/medieval films you will love this one, and will learn many things about this period of Swedish history(I know I did). It was certainly a worthwhile addition to my movie library and would be to yours as well.

Based on the well-written Crusades trilogy by Jan Guillou, a respected Swedish author and journalist, Arn, the Knight Templar focuses on the life and exploits of one Arn Magnusson, a Swedish nobleman born into the Folkung dynasty during the Crusading era. A tale of love and loss, betrayal, redemption, overwhelming triumph and utter defeat- I found myself unable to put these books down once I'd started reading. Mind you, the writing style and dialog can be a bit offputting until you take into account that the characters in the novels do not speak English as we know it, it isn't their first language and their habits and customs, while similar to most Europeans of the time- you get the impression that you've been given an insider's look into a culture much like our own once you get past all the trappings. I wonder if the author had a political message in mind when he wrote these books, but I digress. The author obviously did his research with regard to arms, armor, accoutrements, tactics as well as the complicated political arena of the day- a lot of people will draw parallels between this film and Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven although I must say, the attention to detail is what makes this the better movie. As is usually the case with a film adaptation of a series of books, you can't include everything- but the producers were savvy enough to not take out anything that would ruin the cohesive nature of the story. Keep in mind that I am writing about the Complete Series, not the chopped and formed version that came to the U.S. some years back- as with Kingdom of Heaven, the theatrical version was cut to conform to running time specs and as such, suffered greatly from the pieces that were lacking. This series was adapted from the original Swedish epics and is as complete as you'll find- consider it the Director's Cut if you will. In my opinion, this is the best 'Templar' film I've seen to date, and one of the best medieval epics I've seen thus far. If you have any interest in anything medieval, or just love a good rousing saga, this is a MUST SEE. I encourage anyone who has seen the film and liked it, to read the books as well- they provide a more indepth look into the characters and their motivations that may not be easily identified by anyone who hasn't already read them and is viewing the movie for the first time. I've read the books through twice so far- and I've seen this movie at least three times. It is a favorite and once this collection came available, I jumped right on it.

For those of Swedish descent, this DVD should be must viewing. With great attention to detail, the political intrigues and general way of life are portrayed throughout with great believability. Rarely a dull moment. Based on historical fact - back in the days when family-based neighborhoods passed as "kingdoms" - more than one viewing (along with reading some of the relevant biographies) may be necessary in order to appreciate the character interactions and the wide scope of the drama. Arn may be the central figure in the story, but keep your eye on Birgir Brosa, historically a great peacemaker among disparate factions in Scandinavia. "Brosa" may mean "smiling" but "frustrated" became his attitude as the intrigues escalated. According to history, civil wars immediately broke out upon his death in the early 1200s. My only real quibble with the series concerned the identification of Birger Jarl (the eventual founder of a unified Sweden) as Arn's grandson at the end of the series. Having traced two lines of generations in my own ancestry to the two older, non-fictional brothers in the film, Birger Brosa and Magnus (both surnamed Bengtsson), Arn Magnusson would have been a brother (albeit fictional) to Magnus' son Eskil Magnusson. Magnus' second wife, the legendary Ingrid Ylva (only mentioned in passing in the film), was the mother of Birger Jarl (surnamed Magnusson) who would then be Arn's half-brother. Perhaps the technical matter of these relationships may still be unclear, although Wikipedia and other sources consistently indicate Birger Jarl as a nephew of Birger Brosa. I have just a minor question (not a quibble, really) about the languages. I understand that modern versions of the relevant languages were used along with (thankfully) good English subtitles, but I was a bit surprised to see the occasional speaking of English. There was an English language at the time, and I was wondering if it had some use as a second language in other parts of the world. It's a relatively minor point, and the subtitles are so excellent. Those with hearing difficulties would still get the gist of the story.

ナイトや十字軍の出てくる映画で、 Brave hearet や アーサー王のものや、KIngdom of heavenなどもあるが今回のARNはそういったナイトや戦士の映画のよいところをミックスしたような感じが見受けられる。 戦場のシーンはかなり迫力有り、見応え有り。感動した。ぜひお勧めするしだいである。 ひとつ気になるのはスエーデン語での会話で、まったくわからず、サブタイトルに日本語がなく、英語しかないので 英語読解力の無い人には、シーンでのだいたいの雰囲気で何を言っているのかを想像するしか無い、という残念なことである。

Esta edición de Arn, el Caballero Templario, es una de las series más bonitas que he visto en mucho tiempo. Es verdad que el formato original, no se ha respetado, aquí, se presenta en una pantalla completa 1:78.1,pero la calidad de imagen es apabullante, nunca vi una cosa igual. Y el sonido tres cuartos de lo mismo un DTS-HD, Máster Audio, que parte la pana. La duración exacta es de 265 minutos. La serie completa. Y más de 40 minutos de "tras las escenas". Es pura maravilla visual y sonora. La historia, recuerda mucho a "Los pilares de la tierra" y a mi también me recuerda lejanamente a "Prince Valiant". (La niñez entre la naturaleza salvaje, el aprendizaje de caballero.... las aventuras...), aunque la mayoría, se la ven con "El Reino de los Cielos" de R. Scott. El audio mayormente es en Sueco, Inglés, Árabe, en ese orden, pero tiene subtitulos en inglés. Un inglés nada complicado de entender si tienes nociones. Es un Blu-ray multiregión. Y repito, si entiendes algo de inglés, y te gustan las pelis de aventuras, amor e intrigas.... no te la puedes perder! 265 minutos de pura maravilla, un goce para los sentidos.

A good story line and fun to watch

As Lawrence Welk used to say! All kidding aside, excellent mini-series. Arn is a credible hero, who is compassionate, tough and human. Generally, I am not into romances, but the romance between Arn and Cecillia supports and moves this story along really nicely. I remember that I got the movie before the mini-series and really enjoyed it. This is a more fleshed version of a good movie. The flow is there, the pace is not slow, it is never boring. The action and violence is intelligent, in that it supports and adds to the events. Arn is a good man who seems to finish first in the story. He and Cecillia encounter obstacles and hardships, but battle through them to end up together, their love seems to be genuine and enduring. There are villains in the story who are commanding events from positions of power, with arrogant attitudes. The visuals are good in that one has a nice recreation of medieval scandinavia and the middle east. A really solid, intelligent, story made into an excellent mini-series!

Excellent movie.