Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27814 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-27
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 111 minutes

Synopsis
Set in England during the late 1300s, Paul McGuigan's THE RECKONING follows Nicholas (Paul Bettany), a young priest literally running from his past. After encountering a band of wandering actors, Nicholas is grudgingly allowed into the fold by the good-natured Martin (Willem Dafoe). When the troupe reaches an impoverished village, they get word of a strange murder and look into the story as the basis for a new play. However, Nicholas and Martin uncover more than they'd expected, and soon a deeper mystery emerges. Meanwhile, as Nicholas attempts to find justice, he also struggles to come to terms with his own troubled history.
A medieval murder mystery in the vein of THE NAME OF THE ROSE, THE RECKONING is based on the Barry Unsworth novel MORALITY PLAY. Under the artfully somber direction of previous collaborator McGuigan, Bettany turns in an excellent performance as a guilt-ridden priest struggling to atone for his sins. In addition to Dafoe, the film also features fine supporting actors such as Brian Cox and Gina McKee. Utilising its historical backdrop to the fullest extent, THE RECKONING immerses the audience in its medieval setting, revealing the period's many hardships and enhancing the drama of this intriguing, unfolding mystery.

Customer Reviews

An intriguing Medieval 'Mystery'
The Reckoning is an engaging but not always entirely successful medieval murder/conspiracy thriller that probably aimed to tap into the 'Name of the Rose' market only to be shelved for so long you could have mistaken it for a Miramax movie. I first saw the film in 2001 more than two years before its blink-and-you'll-miss-it theatrical release, and in the interim it went through some tweaking and rescoring, although this is mainly for the better - the ending seems a little tighter (although the fate of the killer still fails to convince) and Vincent Cassell's Norman lord is introduced much earlier into the proceedings, which helps considerably (in the previous cut he was a remote, faceless presence for most of the movie), although Gina McKee's role seems less substantial than I remember.

There are still problems in the film, including a couple of weak performances (the usually reliable Ewan Bremner and a flat and disinterested Matthew McFadyen in particular), and the impressive set still looks more like the Spanish mountains than the Yorkshire Dales, but there's still much to admire in this tale of a priest on the run who falls in with a group of travelling actors only to find a chance for redemption when, while performing a play about a child murder in a village, he discovers that the deaf and dumb healer sentenced to hang for the crime is clearly innocent. Paul Bettany is fine in the lead, although Willem Dafoe inadvisedly succombs to the siren call of attempting a Yorkshire accent and ending up with something very odd indeed (previous victims include Donald Sutherland in 'Revolution'), and you can even spot 'Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg in a brief bit as a gaoler. Despite being a little too fond of overhead shots here, Paul McGuigan's an interesting director with talent to burn who has yet to make an entirely successful film, but this is still well worth a look.

The first morality play and a medieval murder mystery
"The Reckoning" is based on the novel "Morality Play" by Barry Unsowrth. A morality play was a theatrical allegory that was popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. They involved a protagonist who is met by the personification of moral attributes, such as "Conscience," who try to persuade him to live a Godly life rather than follow the path of evil. The morality plays grew out of the religiously based mystery and miracle plays and are important in theater history because they represent a key shift to secular drama. "The Reckoning" is a fictional tale about the first such morality play, so it reminds me of "Stage Beauty," a recent film that depicts the beginning of method acting, as well as older films like "In the Name of the Rose," because of both its medieval setting and the fact that there is a murder mystery at the heart of the tale.

Nicolas (Paul Bettany), a priest who must flee after being caught in the act of adultery, joins a company of players headed by Martin (Willem Dafoe). Martin's father has just died and Nicolas is able to join the troupe because they need somebody to play the bit parts. But when Nicolas is able to give Martin's father a Christian burial (they cannot afford to pay for the rites), a bond is established between the two men. However, the miracle plays they perform are no longer drawing the crowds or the money they need to survive, so Martin proposes they give the people what they might want to see. A dramatization about the murder of a local boy by a witch who has been sentenced to death. The players find out enough about the case to be able to present it to the town, but Martin and Nicolas have suspicions that the woman has been falsely convicted, and when they perform the play it becomes clear the townspeople know more about the crime than anyone is saying. The murder of the boy is but one of several in recent years.

What the players have done is dangerous. Tobias (Brian Cox), the oldest of the players thinks that simply dramatizing something that is not in the Bible oversteps the line. The King's Justice (Matthew MacFadyen) pointedly tells Nicolas to drop the matter and leave town. The truth is out there, but learning it and revealing it could be a death sentence. But for Nicolas it is not just that the girl, Martha (Elvira Mínguez), is innocent and that she has a name. My performing their play Martin has given her hope, and that brings with it an obligation to see the matter through, no matter what the cost to body and soul.

The story told in "The Reckoning" moves along at a nice clip and ultimately the whodunit part of the story overwhelms the lessons of theater history, but the performance of these medieval dramas is quite fascinating (I have seen such a play performed live, "The York Crucifixion," but as theater comes today being able to do so is rare). I also liked that the story is set so far in the past that knowledge about such simple things as what happens to a body when it is hung or after death are vital clues. Nicolas does not know everything, but as a priest he knows more than most people, and seeing a murder mystery in which the clues are so basic at a time when Patricia Cornwell and "CSI: Las Vegas" make forensic investigation cutting edge science was rather refreshing.

Paul McGuigan did this film before he directed "Wicker Park," and he recreates the squalor of peasant life at that period. The final performance of the morality play not only takes place at night by torchlight, but as snow begins to fall. Bettany and Dafoe play well off of each other, representing idealism and practicality that bring out the best in each other, and Mínguez as the mute Martha has a quite effective scene when she is questioned about the murder. However, the casting of this film also gave away a key part of the mystery because the Lord De Guise is played by Vincent Cassel, who played Gilles de Rais in "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc." The latter was a French aristocrat and national hero who was later convicted of torturing, raping and murdering hundreds of children. Seeing Cassel in the role of De Guise suggested an instant connection to me, and while I know my interpretation is idiosyncratic, it did effect how I enjoyed the film. Regardless, this was a captivating film and it easy to see why the talent was drawn to the script.

DARK............................
Paul Bettany shines as the former monk who joins a troupe of actors whilst on the run as an adulterer and murderer.
The film is blased on a Morality Play and succeeds in that, but the English scenery is not convincing and is reminiscent of that in "The Name of the Rose" - so obviously Spanish.
The players find themselves in a village where a woman is awaiting execution for murder. PB does the Brother Cadfaels and in a precious short time performs an autopsy on the victim and proves the maid innocent. What our modern police could learn from these Medieval monks!
All in all, apart from Mr Bettany, the acting is muted and restrained, though Mr Dafoe looks extraordinarily handsome having more hair that usual, perhaps.
I am not familiar with the director's work, but it was a decent film and atmospheric (I had to put on the central heating half way through).
Worth as viewing if you like Ye Anciente Whodunnits.