Reckoning (The)
- Director: Paul McGuigan
- Writer: Barry Unsworth; Mark Mills
- Producer: Mark Albela; Stephen Evans
CGiii Comment
The play's the thing - fairly similar to The Name of the Rose - this thoughtful and beautifully filmed story will have you absolutely seething by the end.
Perfectly pitched and performed, McGuigan makes this an intimate experience with controlled, atmospherical direction...it will get your blood boiling.
Impressive to say the least.
Deserving of more praise and attention.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
In 14th-century England, a young monk breaks his vow of chastity and flees the wrath of his bishop and fellow monks. A fugitive priest, he then witnesses the murder of a traveling performer--and subsequently, the mourning of actor by his fellow troupe members. He eventually becomes initiated into the troupe as a player, replacing the murdered man. They travel from town to town performing their standard morality play. They arrive in a town where a boy has been killed and a young deaf-mute girl has been imprisoned for the crime--sentenced to death for witchcraft and murder. Discarding the expected bible stories, the actors stage a performance based on the crime. Through the performance of the play, they discover that the townspeople know the young woman did not, in fact, commit the murder. The stage becomes a place where vital human truth is told. Thus, simultaneously, the fugitive priest comes to terms with his own crime and makes a powerful sacrifice, thereby redeeming himself.
Cast & Characters
Paul Bettany as Nicholas;
Marian Aguilera as Nicholas' Lover;
Trevor Steedman as Jealous Husband;
Simon McBurney as Stephen;
Tom Hardy as Straw;
Brian Cox as Tobias;
Willem Dafoe as Martin;
Gina McKee as Sarah;
Stuart Wells as Springer;
Vincent Cassel as Lord De Guise;
Elvira Minguez as Martha;
Richard Durden as Town Justice;
Ewen Bremner as Simon Damian;
Mark Benton as Sheriff;
Hamish McColl as Innkeeper