Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2010: Black Death

I’ve got to admit, I thought I was in for something completely different when I walked into Christopher Smith’s

Black Death, however, is as dark as the title suggests. There are short moments of levity but by and large, this is a grim movie in which no character is ‘good’ on any level. Just when you think that a character is seeking redemption, they take a turn back towards some pretty depraved stuff.

The film takes place during the height of the Black Plague in the 1300′s. A monk (Eddie Redmayne) is called upon to guide a group of travelling soldiers, led by Ulric (Sean Bean), who are in search of a town that has not yet been ravaged by the pestilence, though we later find out that the soldiers real motive is to capture a group of witches and necromancers in that town.

The look of the film is a darker, grittier Lord of The Rings with minimal effects outside of the gore sequences, which are well done. If you’re one of the the two people (the other being me) that saw Ravenous, it’s like a more washed-out version of that. This world is dark and the horrors it contains are very much rooted in reality. No dragons and wizards here..Or are they? One scene in particular featuring two horses will make you squirm uncontrollably until its inevitable payoff. I did have a small problem with the setup of one instrument of death that you never actually get to see used, but other than that the sequences are measured and have suitable effect.

The performances by Bean and Redmayne are good enough and carry the film well. Both are tortured and conflicted men of god with wildly different motivations, and this comes across in every line and every nuance onscreen. The female shaman of the village (played by Carice van Houten) is awesomely nuanced and manages to inspire sympathy and malice at once, which is no easy task.

The film’s overall theme of religion vs agnosticism is well-developed and reaches just about the only conclusion one can get from such a debate. I like the direction that the film takes in that regard, even if it fails to make a definitive point. It can be argued that such a point doesn’t really exist, however. I did find that I felt a bit distanced from the conflict because both sides are SO entrenched in their beliefs that it’s hard to find nuance or a middle ground. It’s the same sort of distance I feel when I watch someone like Michael Moore debate Sean Hannity, for example. Neither represents my belief that well because they occupy the extremes rather than where your average person’s opinions lie.

While Black Death never reaches the levels of the best of Smith’s ouvre (Severance, or his first feature, Creep), it’s certainly a decent offering with several great moments throughout. The action sequences and the final fifteen minutes where your assessments of the main characters turn on a dime are well done, and make for a wholly entertaining niche genre film.