Harry reports on A KNIGHT'S TALE from Prague

Hey folks, Harry here in Prague... I have not got long to type, I've stolen a computer and a phone line and am currently hidden away from the eyes of man of woman in the editing labs where Leni Riefenstahl used to make all of her propaganda films for Hitler. It's amazing, you hear stories about this place, miles of footage hanging in the rafters, but now... there are AVID machines and high tech equipment from all of the studio films shot here in Prague. By the way, the women here are beautiful.

Anyway, this is going to be a very short report, but I wanted to get something up before I left for the set tonight. I've seen quite a bit of A KNIGHT'S TALE, Brian Helgeland has shown me a great deal of the film. Folks I will be straight with you, the elements I have seen have been very nice. The sets they've built are gigantic. The performances from Heath Ledger, Paul Bettany and Mark Addy have all been note on, but I haven't seen much of the female lead or Rufus Sewell. The 'musical' scenes have a great deal of energy and intensity. When you are watching them, you get that sort of QUEEN/FLASH GORDON kind of feel, but the other scenes don't have that feel yet. Alot of the success of this film is going to depend on who Brian gets to score the film... This isn't like any of the knights in armor films we've seen before... the music makes it feel more modern and vital and cool in the way that Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO AND JULIET felt... but I really hope he's able to get someone like David Arnold, to adapt the Rock-n-Roll into a theme that joins the whole film together with that same sort of groove.

The opening joust/opening title scene is set to "WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU!" and the entire audience for the joust is acting and clapping as though they are at a football game... BUT... you have to understand that the scene was shot with the complete knowledge that that song was going to be playing. As a result... you can not imagine the scene shot any other way. It's choreographed to the music. It's stylized... it's not history, but rather... perhaps the way a modern kid might wish that it had been. WILL IT WORK?

I do not know... It could. Brian is not just throwing this together as some sort of teen schlock fest. It doesn't feel like that. It feels like something new and different. Paul Bettany, who we have been hearing great things about in England's current crime flick, GANGSTER #1, is great as Chaucher. His character isn't really based completely upon Chaucher, but rather... he comes from the imagination of Brian. He's an author with a severe gambling problem, and is an unrelenting showboater. When he takes centerstage at the Jousts before his master and liege fongs the arse of the knight before him, he shines... eloquent in the way that Don King wishes he could be had he been a real poet and literate mind. The speeches he has... are great.

Mark Addy looks good as the 'coach' type character, and Heath Ledger is... well he's being that chiseled knight of olde. The two elements that I have yet to see that will highly highly highly hinge this film is the girl and the heel. If the girl, played by newcomer Shannyn Sossamon (who according to everyone was found as a disc jockey at a party that the Paltrows were throwing in Hollywood by a casting director), sells you on the sweet... I WILL KILL THE WORLD TO WIN YOUR HEART... type of beauty... then you'll believe Heath. The folks around here are really touting her as something really special, she is beautiful... I'll give her that, but I haven't seen her perform really... and neither has anyone else besides the folks on this film. Helgeland calls her his secret weapon. I hope. And then Rufus Sewell... well, I've been a fan of his for a while. I'm sure he can play that dark heart type character with no real problems.

Last night, I was on a small set. It was supposed to be upon the banks of the Thames... a flashback memory of the last time Heath's character saw his father as he drifts into the foggy night. The second take was the keeper... but literally, when you think of how cool a set can be, this had it. Somewhere behind some trees was a fog machine generating a gigantic... cloud of fog that covered this entire body of water. Torch light upon this boat, being pulled by chains back and forth across the Thames. A boy on a pier, being left by his father to be squire to a knight. These men with big plastic barrels being pushed down into the water over and over, to create the lapping waves against the boat. Giant Polish Horses (bred to pull carts of chopped wood) standing about... BATS flying in the night's sky... atmosphere like you wouldn't believe. The shots... well they worked. But will this moody dark atmospheric scene... does it work in the same world that has WE WILL WE WILL ROCK thump... duh duh duh DUH!?

The pieces look nice, lovely shot. Acted with sincerity. Written with solid lines performed well. But stylistically divergent. Will it all come together? Having talked with Brian at length these past couple of days, I've voiced about a thousand concerns. The idea of showing the world of medieval knights and armor and jousting in the light of modern arena sports... to show that the vitality of today can be reflected upon the past... Well, it could work. But it could go the other way as well. Personally, if the world was perfect, he'd have Eric Clapton partner with David Arnold to fill the gaps. Bridge the style together. And if this works, it will work in the musical sense of how FLASH GORDON worked, but minus the acting of Sam Jones. Heath Ledger is quite talented, and his look with the beard and the mop of nearly dreaded hair... it works. I will have more to type about my talks with the producers of the film, Brian Helgeland, my visit to the BONE CHURCH in the Czech Republic, PIVO and more PIVO... as well as my ever so brief meeting with Julianna Margulies and talking with Petr, who is my same age and who grew up on the other side of the iron curtain and the perceptions of events we lived through different political filters.

This will be my last report filed from Prague, the next time you hear from me, I will be in Austin again. By the way... you simply must visit this country if you get the chance. It's amazing.