Everyone is Equal in Kingdom of Heaven

It’s a movie on the Crusades and is generating quite a bit of controversy. Christian conservatives are outraged at so-called biases in Sir Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven. The film tells the tale of a young Frenchman who discovers his destiny as a knight, then lives out what the glorious title really means. Excerpts from an interview with Scott:

Q: What inspired you to make Kingdom of Heaven?
A: I’d always wanted to make a movie about knights and medieval times. The knight represents a person on the leading edge of his culture at a particular time. These figures have always given us opportunities to tell stories that carry the attributes of a hero. One of the most important aspects of the movie is that the character carries his own degrees of fairness, faithfulness, and chivalry.

Q: Your take on Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades.
It’s very interesting because you have a time in this history where you’re actually seeing peace maintained between two separate factions. It’s an uneasy peace but is partly based on the fact that King Baldwin practiced what the Muslims had practiced prior to our arrival or the European arrival in the Holy Land where Muslims would practice. It was an open city. If you examine those 200 years, you will see every possible shade of human behavior.

Q: Why did you choose Orlando Bloom for the lead?
Orlando is a very accomplished actor. He’s very good physically. He fell out of a helicopter for me in Black Hawk Down. I think his honesty and earnestness give him a distinct level of authenticity in the role of Balian.

Q: Kingdom of Heaven has generated quite a bit of controversy. Comment.
Kingdom of Heaven uses historical events as a canvas on which to paint a rich human drama. We’ve chosen a fascinating point in history in which we see a state of peace, which we don’t seem to be able to attain today. That’s what’s fascinating about it. We try to show both sides in a balanced light. The hero, Balian, is a man concerned most with right action and what that means. And one of the strongest characters in the film is Saladin, who is played by a Muslim.