Arn – Der Kreuzritter (2007)

Arn – Der Kreuzritter: Directed by Peter Flinth. With Joakim Nätterqvist, Sofia Helin, Stellan Skarsgård, Michael Nyqvist. Arn, the son of a high-ranking Swedish nobleman is educated in a monastery and sent to the Holy Land as a knight templar to do penance for a forbidden love.

“I must admit I am pleasantly surprised by this project. The scope of the story and the cinematic achievement were quite good. Itu0026#39;s true, the story had some holes, big holes in it, but considering the time of the story it covered and the multitude of sub-plots I think they made quite a good job at it. Take into account that the story starts somewhere in rural Gothland, a kingdom before the formation of Sweden, then stretches for many years.. and distance, all the way to the Holy Land and the fall of Jerusalem. It is a story about the coming of age of a true knight, his unfortunate love story, sibling betrayal and itu0026#39;s consequences, military rivalry among those who should be united and an unexpected friendship with an honorable enemy. I was also pleased with some of the acting (good on the part of Joakim Nätterqvist, good enough for Sofia Helin) although I cannot understand the choice of an actress that looks much older than her charactersu0026#39; love interest. But the fight scenes where decent enough, the battles were made to look quite realistic, even though you can tell there probably werenu0026#39;t enough money for lots of extras to have. What I did not like at all was how much religion was added, but, I guess it all adds to the flavor of the times, supposedly. All in all, a movie I would recommend for anyone who likes historical films and.. Swedish cinema.”