Tagline: Rule Your Destiny.
King Arthur movie storyline. Historians have thought for centuries that King Arthur was only a myth, but the legend was based on a real hero, torn between his private ambitions and his public sense of duty. A reluctant leader, Arthur (Clive Owen) wishes only to leave Britain and return to the peace and stability of Rome.
Before he can, one final mission leads him and his Knights of the Round Table – Lancelot, Galahad, Bors, Tristan, and Gawain – to the conclusion that when Rome is gone, Britain will need a leader to fill the vacuum – someone not only to defend against the current threat of invading Saxons, but to lead the isle into a new age. Under the guidance of Merlin, a former enemy, and the beautiful, courageous Guinevere (Keira Knightley) by his side, Arthur will have to find the strength within himself to change the course of history. Thrilling adventure, edgeof- your-seat action and historical grandeur come together in this unique look at the origins of one of the greatest legends ever told.
King Arthur is a 2004 Irish-British-American historical adventure film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Franzoni. It stars Clive Owen as the title character, Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot and Keira Knightley as Guinevere. The film is unusual in reinterpreting Arthur as a Roman officer rather than a medieval knight. Despite these departures from the source material, the Welsh Mabinogion, the producers of the film attempted to market it as a more historically accurate version of the Arthurian legends, supposedly inspired by new archaeological findings. The film was shot in England, Ireland and Wales.
About the Film
Let me sing with inspiration
Of a man born of two nations
Of Rome and of Britain
Declaring his kingly rule and rightful place
Among the defenders of the Wall.
-6th century A.D. Celtic poem
“`King Arthur’ is the definitive story of the leader and warrior who emerged to lead the Britons against the Saxons. It is the story of the man who became King Arthur,” says Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Black Hawk Down.” “That’s what excited me about this film – it’s a new look at a tale that we thought we were familiar with. The truth is that King Arthur lived in a much earlier time period than you see in most of the movie versions – the Dark Ages. David Franzoni worked out a new approach to the subject matter that offered a more historically accurate story of King Arthur.”
“There’s a moment in history that we can actually pin down,” Franzoni recalls. “There is a name and there is a battle. The name was Lucius Artorius Castus and the battle was the Battle of Badon Hill. This battle changed the face of Britain and created a legend which has survived for generations and has been reinvented many times. I thought it was a great opportunity to go back and try to find out what these people were like and to tell their story realistically.”
“I love going to the movies and watching big, epic films and I also love making films that change your perception through telling a story in a much more realistic way,” Bruckheimer explains. “That is what `King Arthur’ does; it tells you the true story about what was going on during that period.”
“This is `King Arthur’ as `The Wild Bunch,’” says Franzoni. “The Sarmatian cavalry or knights were the last Roman Special Forces unit with Artorius Castus as their commander; they are assigned one last mission in enemy territory. All around them, the Roman Empire is pulling out and collapsing. These men have ruthlessly and brutally suppressed everyone around them for the sake of Rome. There’s blood all over them and their bond is that blood. It’s a bond of what they have done and what they have known.”
To capture the unromantic, harsh essence of “King Arthur,” Bruckheimer sought Antoine Fuqua, director of “Training Day,” a starkly realistic police drama set on the streets of Los Angeles. “I had been a fan of Antoine’s for many years through his videos and commercials,” says Jerry Bruckheimer. “He did a video for us for `Dangerous Minds’ and I always wanted to do a movie with him.”
Fuqua, a native of Pittsburgh, grew up with the myths and movies of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. “I grew up watching stories like `King Arthur’ – the big, epic historical movies,” Fuqua says. “Through the years, I have studied mythology and related matters and specifically the legend of King Arthur. As a kid, I used to play knights with my friends and then as an artist, I wanted to make a film like this. When the opportunity came Jerry Bruckheimer to do this film, I didn’t hesitate to make it.”
“I think Jerry thought I was the right guy for this film because I believe this movie is gritty – you can actually taste and smell the violence and death. You can feel the cold and the despair. It’s very apocalyptic. In the world at that time, there wasn’t a lot of hope – hope is what Arthur represents.”
This was to be the basis of “King Arthur”: an action drama that charted the bloody adventures of King Arthur and his band of knights. “It’s much more reality-based as opposed to the fantasy,” says Fuqua. “It excited me because it’s King Arthur as you’ve never seen him before. What appealed to me was that it was based on a sense of a reality. There was historical research done and there were some facts we found that we didn’t know before. It’s thrilling to discover that there is this hero that you grew up with who actually really existed. That’s exciting.”
Despite his life-long interest in Arthur and the Knights, Antoine Fuqua had never heard of Castus until he read Franzoni’s script. “I didn’t know anything about Artorius or the Sarmatian knights,” he says. “But after reading the script, Jerry and I got together and we did quite a bit of research. We flew to England, visited Hadrian’s Wall and spoke with some Arthurian experts, including John Matthews. I also visited the museums to see what the knights wore. As I researched, I found out that people of any nation who had been conquered by the Romans could have become knights. And I also found out that chivalry didn’t exist then; these guys were very much about blood, guts, and no glory. These guys were fighting every day in the mud and the cold weather. They must have been the toughest guys alive.”
“I believe that `King Arthur’ will give people a sense of the reality of the man; the person behind the legend,” says Antoine Fuqua. “Arthur wasn’t just a legend, he was a real man: someone who sacrificed himself to become a leader and earned the right to be called King.”
“The reality of it is that it only takes one person to stand up and fight against evil,” Fuqua continues. “`King Arthur’ is essentially about good against evil; it’s basic mythology. You have to face the demons, you have to slay the dragons. You cannot run away. To me it’s important that we stand up as individuals, as human beings. We have to face evil.
“You can’t run away from who you are,” concludes Fuqua. “It only takes one person to step up and be ready to do battle and you’ll be surprised at how many people will follow you. That’s why I respond to this kind of material. Take `Training Day’ and Ethan Hawke’s character: someone had to stand up to Alonzo at some point. Otherwise you get beat down and we get dictators. As an actor, Clive Owen gets to the heart of what Arthur is about.”
“Arthur is the one who feels a sense of unfairness, a sense of responsibility to intervene and make the world a fair place. The knights, as loyal as they are to him, are much more like military machines – they want to do their thing and move on,” says Owen. “But that’s why Arthur is the leader – they all recognize that there’s something different about him and they can’t help themselves from following him. Arthur has a line in the film: `You have your deeds, but deeds are meaningless unless they serve some higher purpose.’ That’s really what shapes Arthur: everything he does has to be for the greater good.”
King Arthur (2004)
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, Hugh Dancy, Sean Gilder, Stephen Dillane, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Winstone, Til Schweiger, Mads Mikkelsen
Screenplay by: David Franzoni, John Lee Hancock
Production Design by: Paul Cross, Dan Weil
Cinematography by: Slawomir Idziak
Film Editing by: Conrad Buff, Jamie Pearson
Costume Design by: Penny Rose, Louis Joon
Set Decoration by: Olivia Bloch-Lainé
Art Direction by: Yann Biquand, Conor Dennison, Anna Rackard
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense battle sequences, a scene of sensuality, language.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: July 7, 2004
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