Tristan & Isolde, directed by Political Film Society awardwinner Kevin Reynolds (for Rapa Nui), is not the German opera film that many filmviewers might expect but is nevertheless based on the Tristram and Isolde medieval romance written in 1185 by Thomas of Britain, which in 1210 was translated into German, the version on which Richard Wagner based his opera. In the original version, Sir Tristram goes to Ireland to escort Isolde to Cornwall so that she can marry his uncle, King Marke. However, Tristram and Isolde unwittingly swallow a love potion and fall deeply in love, though later they are estranged. While dying of a battle wound, Tristram sends for Isolde; after being told falsely that she is not coming, he dies of despair; when Isolde shows up, discovering him already dead, she dies of grief alongside him. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1594), in other words, follows the paradigm. The film version begins with titles that focus on a political theme, namely, that Britain disintegrated into rival states (with a phony map of Cornwall, Juteland, Sussex, etc.) after the fall of the Roman Empire, while Celtic Ireland was united, having never been conquered by Rome. Fearing that a united Britain could overwhelm the Emerald Isle, the Irish intervene from time to time to weaken the various rival English states. In about the year 600, as King Marke (played by Rufus Sewell) of Cornwall is attempting unsuccessfully to forge an alliance with other English states that would make Marke king of England, the Irish invade to burn the Cornish castle, Tantalon, but the king saves his nephew, preteen Tristan (played by Thomas Sangster), from the massacre. Nine years later, the orphaned and adopted Tristan (now played by James Franco) is transformed into an excellent warrior; as his favorite son, the king designates him as his successor, which displeases his nephew, Melot (played by Henry Cavill), who soon contemplates plotting with the Irish to overthrow King Marke. One day, an Irish knight named Morholt (played by Graham Mullins) arrives in Cornwall to collect the customary tribute. The Cornish, nevertheless, attack Morholt and his company; in the ensuing battle, Tristan is presumed dead and dispatched to sea on a burial rowboat. The boat, however, ends up on an Irish beach, an unlikely trip of more than 150 miles. Discovering an unidentified man inside the rowboat, Isolde (played by Sophia Myles) hides him in a hut and nurses him back to health along with her faithful servant Bragnäe (played by Bronagh Gallagher) though not telling him that she is the Irish king's only daughter. Although Ireland's King Donnechadh (played by David Patrick O'Hara) makes a promise to his successful general Morholt that he can marry his beautiful daughter Isolde, she is not enthusiastic with marrying an apelike warrior and instead falls in love with handsome Tristan. Nevertheless, Donnechadh offers Isolde as a prize for King Marke in a tournament; Tristan wins as Marke's representative, not knowing what the prize is. Invited to the wedding, Donnechadh brings warriors aboard accompanying ships to take advantage of Melot's perfidy. Isolde and Bragnäe then arrive in Cornwall, stay at the D'Or Castle, await the wedding and coronation, but Isolde secretly has trysts with Tristan that are spotted by Melot. During the coronation ball, Tristan sneaks away to tell Isolde that he cannot continue their secret love affair; however, Melot leads Marke to their rendezvous, whereupon they are both arrested. While in prison, Isolde tells Marke that she has loved him ever since his boat washed ashore in Ireland. Despite the imminent downfall of his kingdom in a showdown with the Donnechadh, Marke then has them released, providing a rowboat for them to return to Ireland together. But after Isolde boards the boat, Tristan refuses to go, shoving the vessel out to sea. Instead, he returns to save the day by killing Melot, who stabs him in the process, and the battle ends when Tristan displays Melot's head to the advancing army. Tristan then goes to the waterfront in order to look to the sea where presumably Isolde has gone as he dies. Isolde now returns to be by his side as he takes his last breaths, anachronistically reading verses a poem by John Donne. Titles at the end assure filmviewers that the Kingdom of Cornwall survived the battle, though of course Sussex later absorbed Cornwall as the petty states of England gradually united. However, the quality of the production does not match the familiar story, with gray tones dominating the landscape to maintain the theme that Britain was in the midst of the Dark Ages, and there is a whispered dialog that is difficult to hear distinctly. The filming is in Ireland and Prague, not Britain. MH
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