Cinema vs History: why do most medieval movies look so bad?

In this video essay, I discuss the problems of representing the Middle Ages on screen and why historical accuracy is an impossible standard in cinematography. Medieval films always say more about the present than the past, they use tropes and shorthands, references to other films and very selective historical material. Among the examples discussed: Kingdom of Heaven, A Knight's Tale, The Northman, The Seventh Seal etc. Main chapters: Further reading: A. Elliott, Remaking the Middle Ages: The Methods of Cinema and History in Portraying the Medieval World, McFarland 2020; K. Harty, The Reel Middle Ages: American, Western and Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Asian Films About Medieval Europe, McFarland 2006; K. Harty (ed.), Cinema Medievalia: New Essays on the Reel Middle Ages, McFarland 2024; P. Sturtevant, Cinema Medievalia: New Essays on the Reel Middle Ages, Bloomsbury 2018 🖊️ Find me on Substack for weekly essays and notes https://shieldofskuld.substack.com/ Support the channel 🖊️ Buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/irinama 🖊️ Patreon for ad-free videos and bonus content, including lectures and handouts 🖊️ YouTube channel membership for bonus content and updates 00:00 Intro 00:35 Accuracy is impossible 01:19 A Knight's Tale 03:06 Narrative and timelines 06:17 Beowulf 08:00 Semiotic coding 10:36 The Seventh Seal 13:14 Braveheart 16:40 The Northman 19:59 Knights, kings, monks 22:58 Documents on screen 24:42 Modern politics in medieval dress 29:27 The Navigator 30:47 Kingdom of Heaven 35:28 Audience expectations 38:43 Viking tropes 41:54 Conclusion