Tristan & Isolde is the latest period flick to hit the theatres. But truth be told, it does not seem like one. Of course, there are the barren lands and the cinematography is pretty ancient, but it is the script and the actors themselves who let the film down.
The film is set in Britain and Ireland in the Dark Ages and naturally has got plenty of action, both in the romance as well as the battleground departments. Swordplay and byplay dominate this classic tale of love and passion. Tristan's (James Franco) family is murdered by Irish raiders.
He is taken away by Marke (Rufus Sewell), an English tribal lord and raised by him. He appears to die in a battle, but actually drifts to the stupendous coast of Ireland, where he is rescued by the Irish princess, Isolde (Sophia Myles), who nurses him back to health without revealing who she actually is.
When her father (David Patrick O'Hara) is about to discover their forbidden love, Isolde sends Tristan back into England. But that is not the end, Tristan wins his lady love in a tournament and without actually seeing her commits her to his friend Marke as a peace offering. Isolde marries Marke, but nurses a secret love for Tristan. How this zany situation resolves is dealt with in the film.
The complaint here is that though the setting is ancient, the actors seem pretty modern. There is no coyness that was the hallmark of women in the Dark Ages in Isolde and Tristan seems intent on carrying on his role in a business-like manner. Somewhere down the line, the movie's byline "before Romeo & Juliet there was Tristan & Isolde", fails to jell with the viewer and that is the tragedy of the film.
