#Black death 2010 movie review movie#
So long as students are given the "basic facts" about the bubonic plague beforehand, this movie can do much to increase their comprehension and understanding.Black Death is the latest film from British director Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance and Triangle) and stars Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne. Therefore, educators and parents showing this film to students must treat it as a vignette in that it vividly portrays one small part of the whole, yet manages to convey, through its artistic impression, a larger part of this whole. The movie does not give the viewer any history of the plague's spread. There are no scenes to properly illustrate people's attempts to treat the illness. The Church is shown only through the eyes of one character, a young monk who has been questioning his faith. While this movie does a terrific job of showing many of the different reactions Europeans had to the plague, it does not show all of them. A discussion might pose questions such as: In what ways was the Black Death viewed as a punishment from God? Compare and contrast modern and medieval views of witchcraft (i.e., any vestiges of pagan practices or disbelief in God could be interpreted as witchcraft then, whereas today the popular view of witches entails the use of actual magic, and in modern times, witches are often portrayed positively, such as in the Harry Potter books and films). The movie also leaves a lot of room for the discussion of medieval religion and morality. There is likewise a scene, early in the film, where the party of travelers witnesses a group of men whipping themselves in penitence.
#Black death 2010 movie review skin#
Students will also see great depictions of the buboes which infected the skin of the disease's victims. Review: Watching this film, students will gain a good sense of how and why the plague spread quickly in cities, and more slowly in isolated rural areas. The film sets and scenery likewise do an excellent job of displaying how average people lived in the Middle Ages. Important aspects of the era are covered, such as the role of the medieval Church, differing reactions to the disease, as well as the appearance and scope of the plague. These trivialities aside, the film is overall excellent at creating the mood of the pandemic known as the Black Death. Additionally, the story contains quite a bit of "witch hunting" centuries before witch hunting was a "big deal" in Europe (hints of paganism were actually common and well-tolerated in the 14th century). We believe we heard the word "okay" used several times in the film, which of course bugged us because the film is set hundreds of years before this term entered the English language (via the natives of North America, who used it to indicate that a trade was settled). For those concerned about nudity, the most we saw was a brief glimpse of a woman's breasts through her blood-soaked dress.Ĭreators and stars: Carice van Houten, Eddie Redmayne, Kimberley Nixon, Sean BeanĪccuracy: This film is set in England in 1348, when the first bubonic plague outbreaks occurred in that country. That is, it would be difficult to make a movie about the bubonic plague without showing piles of corpses, etc. We would deem it "safe" for high school students (with parental consent) because the violence and brutality depicted fits the events of the story and historical period. Age appropriateness: This film is rated R in the United States for scenes of death and violence.