A Knight's Tale: Difference between revisions

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Pretty standard, then. Except... oh yeah, it's set in Medieval Europe. The sport is jousting. The struggling underdog is a peasant posing as a noble knight. The big boss is Edward of England, aka the Black Prince.

Stars [[Heath Ledger]] as William Thatcher, Paul Bettany as [[Geoffrey Chaucer (Creator)|Geoffrey Chaucer]] ([[In the Past Everyone Will Be Famous|yes]], [[The Canterbury Tales (Literature)|that one]]) and a whole bunch of people [[Hey It's That Guy|you recognise from cool stuff and kind of like]], even though they've never quite hit the big time (including cast members from ''[[Rome]]'', ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'', ''[[The Full Monty]]'', ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' and [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Neverwhere]]'').

Stars [[Heath Ledger]] as William Thatcher, Paul Bettany as [[Geoffrey Chaucer (Creator)|Geoffrey Chaucer]] ([[In the Past Everyone Will Be Famous|yes]], [[The Canterbury Tales (Literature)|that one]]) and a whole bunch of people [[Hey, It's That Guy!|you recognise from cool stuff and kind of like]], even though they've never quite hit the big time (including cast members from ''[[Rome]]'', ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'', ''[[The Full Monty]]'', ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' and [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Neverwhere]]'').

A major, completely unashamed [[Anachronism Stew]]. Features 14th-century courtiers dancing to [[David Bowie]] and peasants doing the ''stomp-stomp-clap'' cadence from [[Queen|We Will Rock You]] ([[Throw It In|which was actually filmed by the second unit as a joke]], but was [[Rule of Funny|considered funny enough to use anyway]]).

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* [[Advantage Ball]]: Carefully minded throughout. At the beginning, Adhemar has the advantage by virtue of his greater experience, but once William finds his feet and begins to feel more confident, he begins to win easily. At the end, Chaucer's [[Rousing Speech]] gives him the edge he needs.

* [[Aluminum Christmas Trees]]:

** Widows of blacksmiths and other tradesmen really did take up the job -- not just the [[Politically Correct History]] you may have thought ([[Anachronism Stew|not that it wouldn't have been out of place]]).

** Widows of blacksmiths and other tradesmen really did take up the job -- not just the [[Politically-Correct History]] you may have thought ([[Anachronism Stew|not that it wouldn't have been out of place]]).

** The real Ulrich Von Lichtenstein -- yes there was a real one! -- was a 13th c. knight who, on one occassion in his career of errantry, rode the tournament circuit in the guise of 'Queen Venus' complete with silk gown over his armor and long braids of false hair dangled beneath his helmet. He was a huge hit and the tour a massive success with a final score of three hundred broken lances without a single fall. Somebody really did [[Shown Their Work|their research]] to unearth Ulrich. That or they read the ''[[Horrible Histories]]'' book on knights.

** During the middle ages, blacksmiths paid their taxes to the local feudal lord in arrowheads instead of gold, so [[Truth in Television|nearly all blacksmiths' wives were trained in basic smithing]] in order to make arrowheads and free up their husband to do the earning jobs.

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* [[Hollywood Healing]]: As soon as William wins the championship, he can move his arm without difficulty. And there's no mention of removing the piece of lance stuck in his shoulder, which would be very risky surgery in that age.

** His arm was never the problem, he had no trouble aiming the lance, he just couldn't grip it.

* [[Hot Blooded]]: Looking at him, you wouldn't think William the type. But when he finds out that his current opponent, the man his rival Adhemar withdrew from rather than face, is Prince Edward the Black? His first response is to ''charge'' the man head-on.

* [[Hot-Blooded]]: Looking at him, you wouldn't think William the type. But when he finds out that his current opponent, the man his rival Adhemar withdrew from rather than face, is Prince Edward the Black? His first response is to ''charge'' the man head-on.

* [[Huddle Shot]]: The [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] at the end, spoken by the main characters, in turn:

{{quote| '''Watt:''' You have been weighed...<br />

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* [[Purple Prose]]: Geoffrey Chaucer's job.

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: One way of getting around historical accuracy.

* [[Rich Suitor Poor Suitor]]: William vs. Count Adhemar, though as he keeps winning tournaments, Will gets considerably less poor.

* [[Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor]]: William vs. Count Adhemar, though as he keeps winning tournaments, Will gets considerably less poor.

* [[Rule of Cool]]: Face it, this is pretty much the entire point of this movie. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|Not that we're complaining...]]

* [[Running Gag]]: "Well, maybe not ''you''..."

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** Interestingly enough, William is the one who does it.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|Screw The Rules I Have Nobility]]: The Black Prince pulls one of these. Nice.

* [[Self Proclaimed Knight]]: There are two. One is the classic struggling underdog, William Thatcher, the peasant who's masquerading as the knight Ulrich Von Lichtenstein, and the other is the royal in disguise, Sir Thomas Colville or Edward, the Black Prince.

* [[Self-Proclaimed Knight]]: There are two. One is the classic struggling underdog, William Thatcher, the peasant who's masquerading as the knight Ulrich Von Lichtenstein, and the other is the royal in disguise, Sir Thomas Colville or Edward, the Black Prince.

* [[Shaming the Mob]]: Subverted in the theatrical cut; Chaucer, having previously demonstrated his ability to work a crowd, tries to shame the mob that gathers around William when he's in the stocks. He gets as far as three words in before the mob silences him with a volley of rotten vegetables. However, in the extended cut of the film, Chaucer succeeds in [[Shaming the Mob]] into chastened silence before Prince Edward steps in. This scene was cut to beef up Prince Edward's role.

* [[Shout Out]]: William's choice of nom-de-guerre has a certain appropriateness (see [[Aluminium Christmas Trees]] above).

* [[Shout-Out]]: William's choice of nom-de-guerre has a certain appropriateness (see [[Aluminium Christmas Trees]] above).

* [[So Beautiful It's a Curse]]: Mocked; Jocelyn, admonished for her beauty by a priest, laments it in a deadpan monotone to get him off her back.

* [[Spoiled Sweet]]:

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[[Category:Sports Stories]]

[[Category:A Knights Tale]]

[[Category:Trope]]