Tristan & Isolde

Last night, the wifey and I went and saw a movie you didn't even know was out: Tristan & Isolde. I am appalled by the lack of advertising for this film. And what's the deal with throwing it in with the January trash?

First, let me say a few things to those who claim the movie is a rip-off of The Arthur Legends or Romeo & Juliet: you're backwards.
The Tristan Legends predate the tales of King Arthur by at least 200 years, and predates Romeo & Juliet by around 600 years. It's also worth noting that the King Arthur legends stole most of the Tristan legends (including Tristan & Isolde) and even have Tristan (or Tristran or Tristram) as one of Arthur's most trusted knights. As for Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare stole it from Arthur Brooke, who stole it from Bandello, who stole it from da Porto, who stole it from Salernitano, who got the idea from the Tristan legend of Tristan & Isolde.

The Tristan-Isolde-Mark love triangle was directly put into the Arthur Legend as the Lancelot-Guinevere-Arthur love triangle.
The warring lands of Cornwall & Ireland from Tristan became the houses of Montague and Capulet in Romeo & Juliet.

There. So shuddup.

On to the movie.

The movie seems to be based on Gottfried's interpretations of the Tristan & Isolde Story, rather than on Thomas or Beroul's works. I suppose that's understandable, considering how "courtly" Thomas' work is and how brutal Beroul's is. But Gottfried's telling varies from the "original" written works in significant areas.

And then the movie takes some liberties with the legend, but honestly, they're mostly good liberties and they play well. The love potion is replaced, the three villainous advisors become one person, Morholt isn't Queen Isolde's brother but is Isolde the Fair's betrothed, and the ending is tweaked.

MAD props to Thomas Sangster in his portrayal of a young Tristan. I expect great things from him in the future.

And please oh please, let this film be the launching pad for Sophia Myles. Although the movie's film editor needs to be banned from ever editing anything again (I'm hoping for a "Director's Cut" on DVD), we could actually see Isolde's (Myles) anguish and despair, and her fleeting moments of happiness & joy all mixed together. Wonderful acting on Sophia Myles part.

As for local boy James Franco, I could have done with a bit more despair and longing and a little less freaky stalker. But this could be director Kevin Reynold's fault. I would have preferred that Ridley Scott stayed behind the camera rather than behind the scenes... but I digress. Franco had his work cut out for him and pulled in a solid performance, rough spots notwithstanding.

If you're a fan of the Arthur legends and would like to know a bit more about where they came from, this is your movie. If you're looking a tragic romance flick, this is your movie. If you're looking for gunfire, explosions, and swearing... uh... how about this one?