As a namesake of the love interest in A Knight's Tale, I suppose I could be considered biased toward the film. However, the undeniable truth is that this movie is entirely infectious and loveable. Its unique use of music is an essential piece of its appeal and plays a crucial role in conveying emotions in the film.
Released in 2001 and made with a mid-level budget for the time, this film was written (and the actors’ roles were played) with sincerity. It stars the late Heath Ledger (who was essentially unknown at the time) as William Thatcher–a peasant squire wiggling his way into jousting tournaments for money. There is a crew of other fairly unknown actors playing his friends and his love interest; Princess Jocelyn, played by Shannyn Sossaman. Ledger had not yet broken into stardom, but had the charm to land the role; Sossaman was offered an audition after her name circulated among the celebrity parties she was DJ-ing. This crew of actors melded into a wonderful bunch of friends you can devote your emotions to for 2 hours and 12 minutes. It is successfully a historical-sports-romance-coming-of-age-comedy film set in 14th century England and soundtracked with 70s rock.
This film is written and directed by Brian Helgelend, who had the idea for a jousting movie and created this film based around that. He said that once he learned that you had to be of noble birth to compete in jousting competitions, the movie was built from there. In 14th century England, jousting was a sporting event with similar popularity to that of American football or traditional fútbol around the world. He wanted this competitive spirit to feel familiar to the audience. He even had a cameraman on his team, Allan Graf, who had a history of filming for American football and directing action scenes in sports films.
This was one of many pieces that create an interesting use of 14th century England as a setting to create a fun and warm story. The piece I find to be the most interesting is the use of music in the film. The actual time frame of this setting is the 1370’s, which is why Helgeland chose 70’s rock music for the film. This was an intentional choice: Helgeland even said, “my attitude was, the 70’s have always been the 70’s.”
This decision by Helgeland was met with much backlash from the audience, due to a lack of historical accuracy, but the purpose was to bring the audience as close to the story and its characters as possible. This alone was not the only complaint audiences had: the costuming was criticized as well. Helgelend thought seeing characters in historically accurate tights and what-not might push the audience away from what he felt was the core of the film. (Sticking with the 70’s theme, the costuming was actually inspired by the Rolling Stones 1973 tour).
To circle back to the music, that is the leading factor in my love for this film, this is what coaxes the audience in. It allows the emotion of riding on horseback to a jousting competition, sending love letters via squire and dancing in a tunic at a ball become familiar to its 2001 audience.
In all films, music and sound is an enormous part of conveying certain messages and emotions to the viewer. In this film, ’70s rock is what truly brought the viewer into the palm of the film, grabbing them and pulling them into the story.
The opening song of the film is Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” The characters stomp their feet and slam their fists to the beat of this infamous song, chanting along as jousting commences. It shows the viewer that these characters are hearing this song with us–they are just as hyped up by Queen as the modern viewer would be. While this isn’t historically accurate, this movie is looking to engage with the viewer's emotions more tangibly. It doesn’t want the viewer to just observe as an outsider; it wants them to be a part of it.
My favorite scene in the movie is when at the ball, William and Jocelyn dance to "Golden Years” by David Bowie. As a Bowie fan, this scene indulges my love for film and music in just a few minutes of choreographed dancing. The energy of this scene is full of sincere joy. Watching it feels like everything a film is meant to be. It isn’t worried about being perfectly accurate to history, instead embellishing its setting to engage the audience, communicating senses to the viewer through music and luring them into this exciting medieval inspired world. The song choice here couldn’t be more perfect in terms of feeling and blurring the line between the 14th century and the 21st. William Thatcher is mouthing the words to Bowie's music while wearing a tunic and dancing with a Princess in a castle to celebrate his standings in the jousting tournaments. To deny the beauty due to the lack of historical accuracy is to refuse to be fun and joyous! It is an irresistible song in terms of grooviness and warmth, complimented by stellar actors putting on a dance performance meant to grab the visual attention of viewers, giving a taste of 14th century England celebrations. It works wonderfully.
While 70’s rock was picked specifically for the movie, this is not the sole reason for the choice of modern tunes. The director’s intention was to convey the emotions he had created in the film as seamlessly as possible to the audience. While music of that time is expected to be more classical, this movie wasn’t attempting to pander to audience expectations. The purpose of the recognizable sounds and instrumentals was to allow the audience to understand how the music would feel to people of the 14th century. Modern audiences often wouldn’t have the same fullness in their emotion if the music played was of the 14th century, so in order to bring the audience closer to this understanding it was replaced with Bowie, Queen, Heart, etc. The music played with the Vielles and Lutes of the 14th century would’ve been conveying the emotions of the rhythm guitar and drums of the 20th century.
While the writing may be corny at times, the actors convey it so well it becomes tear jerking. While the costumes may not be colorful tights, they fit in enough to keep viewers engaged; and while Bowie wouldn’t be born until centuries later, “Golden Years” fits perfectly into this 14th century setting. This film is dynamic and re-watchable ten times over, guiding the reader through a hero's journey-romance-found family story of knights and princesses all soundtracked to classic 70’s rock.
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