Tristan & Isolde

Watching Tristan & Isolde is a lot like reading the Cliff Notes of a really great story. You get the general idea of what's going on, and yet you don't get to the real heart or feeling of the story. I kept on thinking there's a great movie somewhere in what's up there on the screen, but the movie kept me at such a disappointing distance that I had no real emotion or reaction to what was going on before me. Perhaps it's the fault of director Kevin Reynolds (best known for a number of infamous Kevin Costner epics such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld), who seems more interested in showing off the perfectly toned bodies of his two young stars than in actually going into real detail of their love. Or perhaps it's the overly edited final cut of the film which has turned passionate sex scenes and elaborate, gory battle sequences into watered down PG-13 versions of their former selves. Whatever the reason, Tristan & Isolde is dull and dry as a bone when it should be lively and passionate.

Set during a dark time when Ireland and England were at war with one another for England's future (the country was divided into different sections and lorded over by the cruel King of Ireland), our young lovers first meet when Tristan (James Franco from the Spider-Man films), a soldier serving England, is wounded and poisoned in battle. Mistaken to be dead by his fellow comrades, Tristan's body is set adrift on a small boat where he washes up on the shores of Ireland and is discovered by Isolde (Sophia Myles from the Thunderbirds movie), the gentle daughter of the Irish King who has been forcefully engaged to a man she does not love. Isolde does not know that her intended fiance was killed by Tristan in the earlier battle scene. What she does know is that a hunky guy has washed up on the shore, he's poisoned, and she's got a knack for potions and medicines. So she hides him away in a small shack and nurses him back to health without her father's knowledge. Although both Tristan and Isolde know that their love can never be, what with their countries trying to kill each other and all, they defy their titles and are making love in that run down little shack before long.

Tristan is eventually forced to return to his home country, and the two think they are never to see each other again. Fate steps in when Isolde is given to the future King of England, Lord Marke (Rufus Sewell) after Ireland loses a duel between the two countries. Lord Marke is not just a future King, he is also the man who has raised Tristan since he was a boy after his parents were murdered in an Irish raid. Tristan has no choice but to watch the woman he loves marry another man. As the two young lovers try to keep their relationship alive in secret behind the Lord's back, an evil plot is brewing within that may threaten the recent treaty between the warring nations.

With doomed lovers, nations at war, epic battle scenes, and an overall lovely (if not sometimes a bit too dark) look by cinematographer Artur Reinhart, Tristan & Isolde certainly has all the makings of a passable period drama. The big problem here is that the two title characters just are not very interesting to watch. Tristan says very little during the movie, preferring to spend most of his scenes silent, and looking like he's having deep thoughts. It gets even worse when he discovers Isolde has been promised to another man, since then he spends most of his time standing silently, pouting his lips, or kicking the ground like a dejected child. When he's not doing one of those things, he's usually taking off his shirt for the teenage girls in the audience to oogle over. Isolde is the more interesting of the two, but even she seems a bit underdeveloped. Most of her dialogue is spent lecturing to Tristan about the value of love, and how it should be held above duty and country. Oh, and she also takes her shirt off quite a bit too, though we don't get to see quite as much as Tristan's partially bare package for the sake of the "golden" PG-13 rating. I really saw no connection between the two, other than the fact that Tristan looks like a Dark Ages version of an American Idol contestant, complete with perfectly white teeth and hair that hardly ever gets out of place, while all the other men in this movie have mangy hair and scruffy beards. They're a pair of young, hot supermodels in a world full of Renaissance Fair rejects, so of course they're going to be drawn to each other!! As much as I try to think back on the movie, I can't recall the moment that led from their secret doctor-patient relationship to making forbidden love.

It's a shame that the overall storytelling of Tristan & Isolde is so emotionally shallow, because there is lots of potential for great drama here. The main aspect that keeps the movie from sinking like a stone is that of Lord Marke, and his relationship with Isolde. I liked that the filmmakers made Marke and sensitive and even likeable character who is truly in love with Isolde, and wants nothing more than for her to be happy. Instead of making him a pompous lout that tries to control Isolde, he is as caring and sympathetic a husband a woman could hope for. His only crime is that Isolde does not love him. The movie does kind of toy with the idea that Isolde is somewhat torn between the two men. She knows Marke is respectful and kind toward her, and can offer her a life of peace. Yet, her heart lies with pouty Tristan. Unfortunately, the movie does not go deep enough into this potentially interesting angle. We almost get a sense that Isolde is actually sort of enjoying her time with Marke, and the only thing holding her back is her memory of Tristan. We never truly know, because the movie doesn't care about its characters as much as it should. Rufus Sewell probably makes the best impression as the fated to be heartbroken Lord Marke. He actually comes across as more personable and interesting than Tristan, which all but makes you wonder why Isolde doesn't realize the same thing.

Aside from the film not going deep enough into its own story and characters, it also suffers from an overly edited and sanitized tone. Although many people are depicted being tortured or killed, no actual violence is shown. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't exactly want a bloodbath in my romantic period piece drama, but it just seems kind of cheap that every time a character is killed, the camera quickly cuts away at the very last second, or focuses on something else nearby. This is especially glaring in the film's first half hour which contains no less than 3 separate battle scenes that feature bodies dropping left and right in a strangely bloodless massacre. Perhaps the editing also leads to the somewhat empty feeling I had toward the two main characters as just when the two are about to get passionate, the film cuts to the next scene, showing just enough skin and touching to give its teenage audience what it wants. The movie seems to be afraid to show us any real passion, only hinting at it, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of the story if you ask me.

I have never heard the original story of Tristan & Isolde, so I do not know if this film is a faithful adaptation of the source material. All I do know is that I felt like I was only getting part of the story. Kevin Reynolds has given us plenty to look at, but there's very little underneath. The film is far from terrible, and definitely nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be after hearing that it's been sitting on the studio shelf for over a year. But it's just so dry and lifeless that it's really hard to get excited about anything while you're watching it. I personally think the movie needed to dig deeper and have a more centralized vision. All I know is there's a really good idea for a movie buried somewhere in here.

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