BY ROD BARNETT
There
have been entire books dedicated to the cinema of Dutch director Paul Verhoeven
and with good reason. Known for pushing the envelope of what is acceptable
onscreen in both sexuality and violence, his movies have been celebrated and
condemned - often by the same critic at different times! To one degree or another
I have enjoyed every Verhoeven film I've seen all the way back to the brilliant
Soldier of Orange (1977) but it was RoboCop (1987) that stomped across the
world and made it possible for the madman to make nearly anything he wanted. I
wonder what would have happened if this film - his first English language
effort- had not been a huge financial success. Would we have had a series of
progressively worse sequels with Rutger Hauer ravishing maidens and slaying
nobles for gold? Maybe in a better world.....
Flesh
+ Blood (1985) takes place in Western Europe in 1501 and begins during an
attack on a small Italian city by a group of mercenaries employed by the city's
rightful ruler Arnolfini (Fernardo Hilbeck). These soldiers have been promised a
full day of consequence free looting if they succeed in retaking the city
but once the job is done Arnolfini soon reneges on this offer when he sees them
destroying the place. The commander of the troops, Hawkwood (Jack
Thompson), is heartsick over a nun that he mistakenly harmed during the attack
and Arnolfini promises to get medical attention for her if the commander will
use the cavalry to eject the mercenaries from the city without their loot. This
betrayal is not taken well, especially by Hawkwood's former lieutenant Martin
(Rutger Hauer). Soon after the group is run off, Martin is burying his
stillborn child when he unearths a wooden statue of Saint Martin of Tours. This
saint with a sword is seen by the mercenaries' cleric as a sign from God
to follow Martin as their new leader.
Back
in the retaken city Arnolfini's son Steven (Tom Burlinson) has been betrothed
to Lady Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh). They meet for the first time when Steven greets
her caravan on the way to their wedding and love seems to blossom between the
two. But then the entourage is attacked and robbed by Martin's group. Arnolfini
is seriously injured during the raid while Agnes is carried away concealed
among her valuable dowry. That night Martin discovers Agnes and, although the other
men desire to gang rape her, Martin claims her for himself. He first rapes her
but then Agnes starts flirting with him, hoping to gain his protection. She
becomes his concubine after a fashion and is dragged along on the mercenaries'
travels. She easily convinces Martin that he is in love with her and works carefully
on the other members of the band to get them to accept her. She appears to have
completely given up on her former life and forgotten her betrothal.
Soon
enough the mercenaries come upon a castle where, unknown to them, the
inhabitants are infected with the Black Death. The group captures the
castle with the help of Agnes, who proves herself very resourceful in many ways.
But Steven is determined to reclaim his bride to be and turns to Hawkwood for
help. Hawkwood only wants to live a quiet life caring for the former nun he had
injured but Steven uses force and threats against the nun to coerce the old
soldier to help in his pursuit of Martin. Once they locate the mercenaries they
realize that they don't have sufficient force to take the castle and lay siege to
it. Inside the castle Martin asks Agnes where her true loyalties lie but she is
ambiguous hinting that she will be happy with whoever wins. Outside the castle,
the dreaded Plague spreads among Steven's forces and even infects Hawkwood. After
an impressive battle with an incredible siege engine built by the well-educated
Steven, the mercenaries capture Steven and shackle him in the castle's courtyard.
Here Agnes feigns hatred of her ex-groom and even has sex with Martin in front
of him.
By
lancing his boils, Hawkwood is able to cure himself of the plague but he cannot
continue the siege alone. Instead, he catapults pieces of an infected dog over
the castle walls and when one chunk lands near the chained Steven, he flings it
into the place's water well. Agnes sees this happen and Steven tells her that
she can decide whether or not to tell the mercenaries.
With
fears of the Black Death creeping into the castle, the band of mercenaries want
to leave the place but Martin persuades them to stay. Agnes does not warn them
about the well and watches as they drink infected water. However, when Martin begins to drink, she slaps the cup
from his hand. As several of the group start to show signs of the sickness,
they hurl Martin into the tainted well and, as she did after Steven's capture,
Agnes joins in the abuse of Martin. At this point Hawkwood and Arnolfini return
to the castle with an army and attack. Inside the castle, Steven and Martin cooperate
to save each other, but with a fresh siege underway there is no way to know who
will live and who will die.
Anyone
looking for a sweet natured adventure film with noble knights and derring-do would
do well to back slowly away from this movie. Vicious, nasty, violent and cruel
are just a few of the words I would use to describe both the story and the
characters in this brutal medieval epic. All of the people in this story act in
selfish, ruthless ways at almost every turn and only seem driven by the most primitive
of emotions. Even the very few acts of kindness can be seen as self-serving in
a world where everyone is fighting just to survive. That's not to say the film
is not entertaining. Indeed, I would say Flesh + Blood is supreme fun for fans
of the harsher kinds of cinema. The film is one part exploitation, two parts
graphic violence, one part costume drama and one part historical romance - as
long as you don't need the romance to be the chaste kind!
Usually a film this mean spirited and R rated would be a low budget affair with the seams showing at every level but this movie sports a solid script, excellent performances and is a high quality production in almost every respect. There are story missteps and a few glaring historical mistakes such as the speed of plague infection; a bit of looped dialog calling the Black Death by the contemporary name Bubonic Plague and the unlikelihood of Steven being able to build his siege engine so quickly. But these odd bits of storytelling license are lost in the headlong rush of letting such a vital and shocking piece of cinema pummel you into a stupor. And that is what it feels like most of the time- like being bludgeoned by a filmmaker that cannot wait to dazzle you with his next bit of beautiful scenery or stun you with his envelope pushing nastiness. This is Verhoeven in his prime letting his freak flag fly high over bloody battlefields and lust encrusted beds.
But he isn't just a carnival barker trying to entice you with the forbidden sights of sex and violence. Verhoeven always has a story to tell, a moral to impart. And even if sometimes that moral is a simple one- don't trust people who have no reason to tell you the truth- he tells it just as energetically as he can. That he can do it with such skill and style is a wonder and will make this film and his other work interesting for decades to come. Yes, one day even a film this depraved will seem tame, but because it has a crafty yarn at its center, it will remain entertaining. This is something the director understands - blood and breasts might get them in the door but it is always a clever story that keeps them in their seats.
The new Blu-ray of Flesh + Blood from Kino Lorber is a welcome step up visually and aurally for the film. The previous MGM DVD release was good but the enhanced image here is proof that this was a carefully made film. The location shooting in Spain allows for a number of gorgeous vistas with the sun glinting beautifully on every sword and stone in turn. The soundtrack has never sounded better even if the score by Basil Poledouris isn't as impressive or iconic as his work on Conan the Barbarian. It is still a great accompaniment for the tale. An excellent extra finds Poledouris as the subject of a fine twelve- minute interview included on the disc. Called Composing Flesh + Blood, it has the composer relate his impressions of the film and its director but also relate his ideas about how music can and should enhance movies. The most interesting extra on the disc is the commentary track with director Paul Verhoeven himself. This is carried over from the previous DVD and is a fine example of how to do this kind of thing well. He is a fast talking and fun guy to listen prattle on even when he veers off into subjects that are only tangentially connected to the film. Don't get me wrong- he is always entertaining, but who knew this film would have its director and co-writer holding forth on the history of the Christian religion or the seesaw nature of sexual negotiations and power dynamics between the genders? He even gets at the idea of how the only way for the underprivileged people of the world to advance themselves is through theft which does seem to be a more natural part of this film's themes.
If you have read over this review and Flesh + Blood holds any appeal for you as a night's viewing, I would highly recommend you seek it out. Think of it as a very violent, more realistic version of the sword and sandal epics of the 1960's and just hang on for the ride.
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