Lihaa + verta

A deromanticization of times when dying a natural death had a slightly different meaning than it does today. The adventure involving jester mercenaries, self-serving signs, torn membranes, and the quest for power doesn’t have a clear protagonist (young MacGyver Arnolfini, who quickly constructs a telescopic siege ladder, doesn’t count), and the film treats its characters with a touch of improvisational chaos. It could have been something like a medieval Wild Bunch, but due to producer demands, a love triangle featuring Lady Agnes—who, due to sword-making, has no iron left for her chastity belt—took center stage. No matter, under Paul Verhoeven, classic romance never blossomed, and he at least knew that there was no room for compromise. (25.04.2023)

A truly humorous take on the Middle Ages with an unusually asinine mysterious “feeling” and wannabe bloody action scenes. I really don't understand the message of this movie because sometimes you have a “WTF feeling” and wonder if the people behind it are right in the head. And believe it or not, this two hours actors bickering feels anything but cinematic. Obviously, there were times when Paul Verhoeven was still wet behind the ears and had a long way to go before achieving shock and chills. At least he practiced on this farce. Unfortunately, it essentially caused the end of Rutger Hauer, who over time started appearing more and more in supporting roles, which is relatively strange because even as a twisted mercenary, he has quite a lot of charisma. (10.06.2008)

The Middle Ages according to Paul Verhoeven. Don't expect any delightful fairytale stylization from it, it's really all flesh and blood. A very atmospheric spectacle for those with strong natures. On the other hand, I feel that the amount of "gore" scenes kind of masks the inability to evoke the cruelty of the times in a way other than this explicit way. But why pretend I didn't like it when the opposite is true :o)... (01.02.2004)

Historical postmodernism that may have set out to de-romanticize and de-mythicize the early modern period, but it did so with such a zeal that it simply exploited it. There's nothing wrong with that, except that sometimes it just stings a little when you see an uncompromising vision hiding behind the caricatures and haste, which are probably the fault of the excessive posturing. It's been a long time since I've been uncomfortable watching a film, but watching the lurid and overt sex scenes with a young Jennifer Jason Leigh, who still looks like a child and whose character in the script is actually supposed to be about 12 years old, makes you wary of whether anyone is looking over your shoulder as you watch the film. But apparently she was 22 when the film was made, so it's all good. (16.04.2021)

I like Verhoeven, but he couldn't have been serious about this pseudo-medieval piece of schlock. Or maybe it was a parody (especially from the second half onwards) and I didn't get it. Paul, you better stop writing scripts and stick to what you do best. And by the way, the brutality wasn't so hot either. (19.11.2005)