Black Death is probably the center-piece of my study. Not only does it portray characters questioning their faith and a church committing dubious actions, but the bulk of its religious critique occurs between the characters. And that it's an action/horror film means it lends itself well to these kinds of issues. But to get at the real issues, I should warn, there are major spoilers ahead!
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| Fair warning... |
The story follows the young monk Osmund during the 14th century plague infecting most of Europe. No one, including the monks, are safe from it's reach, except some of the rural villages deep in the forest and marshes. Conflicted between his duties to God and his love for a young woman, Osmund sends her back to their home in the forest. Guilt-ridden over breaking his vows, Osmund prays to God for a sign of which path he should follow. In answer, Sir Ulric, a knight on a holy mission (played by Sean Bean), and his troop of soldiers (of questionable repute) arrive at the monastery. They've been charged by the bishop to investigate a far off, secluded village that has not only been unravaged by the plague but death entirely; they hunt a necromancer. Osmund volunteers to lead them through his forest home with secret intention of reuniting with his love.
Of course, things don't go so well. Osmund finds his love's horse and bloody cloak just before his troop of miscreants is attacked by some crazy barbarian dudes, and a member of their party (the first of many) is killed. And worst of all, when they do find the village, they discover that their church hasn't been used in ages. They pretend to just be seeking refuge as they investigate, and they're wounds are healed by a local woman and her "mysterious" herbs. But the final straw is when Ulric sees one of the young village girls wearing a pendant given only to his order, who sent another knight in search of this village before him. And then he's captured, tortured, and quartered...but not before revealing he has brought the plague to the remote village. Oh, Sean Bean...
The film does an interesting job of continually poking at the Church's ignorance over assuming the plague is wrought by God or witchcraft. The battle scenes are excessively gory; special attention is given to one of the soldiers pissing behind a tree; the city the film begins in is a cesspool. The message is obvious--disease is caused by germs! When our band of heroes arrive at the village, they are immediately given a place to wash up and have their wounds tended by the village leader (a woman no less!) with the use of medicinal herbs. Again, the message is clear: this village is simply so remote from the disease and so cleanly, that not only does no one get sick but no one's dying either. To the stalwart Sir Ulric and the devout, however, only black magic could be the cause!
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| ...Because the plague has nothing to do with rats! |
Of course, none of this is to say that the village isn't evil. The village leader and supposed necromancer is crazy! Upon arriving at the village, she tempts Osmund with the body of his beloved, who she brings "back to life." Osmund, wary of the blasphemous necromancy that must be at play, refuses his newly revived love (who is more akin to a zombie than a person) and kills her to mercifully send her soul to God. Meanwhile, the crazy chick proceeds to have the villagers torture and kill the remaining band by promising them their freedom if they renounce God (only to then kill the renounced) as she preaches to her villages about the evil of the Christian God and His followers. Osmund (who's supposed to be reveling in his reunion with his beloved), manages to sneak in and free the remaining soldiers before chasing after the evil woman. But her torture of Osmund isn't done. She confesses that she is no witch or necromancer, and only used her herbs to make his love appear dead and then alive again--her living stupor only a temporary side effect of the medicine--meaning Osmund murdered her.
The woman manages to escape, and a the film's epilogue shows and psychologically ruined Osmund, now a knight and witch-hunter in Ulric's order. He travels Europe looking for the woman who so wronged him, and every time he finds a suspected which, she appears to Osmund as the one who got away. The combination of his rage, faith, and guilt means he listens to no pleas for mercy or innocence, but instead has each tortured and murdered.
It's kind of a depressing ending. But it drives home the message that religious fervor can be just as terrible as evil as atheistic fervor. And while this sort of strikes a balance between the two, the Church is still to blame for spreading the plague, murdering innocent women, and causing grief where none need be felt. From the time Osmund believes his love is dead, he firmly believes he is being punished, prompting him in one scene to confess to Ulric, "God has punished me for leaving His monastery." Ulric answers right back, "God has better things to think of." This idea that God has more to be occupied with than the petty sins of a lowly monk state that Osmund never need have hidden his love and sent her off alone in the first place. All of this compiled suggests that the film's message isn't that faith or the belief in God is bad, but that the Church itself is responsible for misrepresenting His word.
Questions? Quibbles? Controversies?
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