| Ironclad | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Jonathan English |
| Produced by | Rick Benattar Jonathan English Andrew J. Curtis |
| Screenplay by | Jonathan English Erick Kastel Stephen McDool |
| Story by | Jonathan English |
| Starring | James Purefoy Brian Cox Derek Jacobi Kate Mara Paul Giamatti |
| Music by | Lorne Balfe |
| Cinematography | David Eggby |
| Editing by | Peter Amundson |
| Studio | VIP Medienfonds 4 Rising Star Silver Reel Premiere Picture The Wales Creative IP Fund ContentFilm International Molinare Perpetual Media Capital Mythic International Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. (United Kingdom) ARC Entertainment (United States) |
| Release date(s) | 4 March 2011 (United Kingdom) 26 July 2011 (United States)[1][2] |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million |
Ironclad is a 2011 action film directed by Jonathan English. Written by English and Erick Kastel, based on a screenplay by Stephen McDool, the cast includes Paul Giamatti, James Purefoy, Brian Cox, Mackenzie Crook, Jason Flemying, Derek Jacobi and Kate Mara.[3] The film chronicles the siege of Rochester Castle by King John in 1215.[3] The film was shot entirely in Wales in 2009, produced on a budget of $25 million.[4]
Contents |
The film opens with a prologue describing how the barons of England, aided by the Knights Templar, rebelled against King John in a war that lasted three years and ended with King John signing the Magna Carta ("Great Charter"), a document granting equal rights to all Englishmen and reducing the power of the monarchy. Not long afterwards he breaks his word and begins a bloody campaign of revenge against the barons who humiliated him, commanding an army of Danish mercenaries to whose leader he has promised that the Pope would keep his missionaries out of Denmark.
The abbot Marcus, leading three Templar knights who have taken vows of silence, shelters from a storm at Darnay Castle on his way to Canterbury for pilgrimage. Abbot Marcus speaks with Thomas Marshall and promises he will secure Marshall's release from the Templar Order once they reach Canterbury. The next day King John arrives with his Danish army. John orders Darnay's execution by hanging, and Abbot Marcus has his tongue sliced off by the Danes when he tries to intervene. Marshall and the two other knights fight the Danes, during which Marshall manages to escape the castle on horseback, carrying the abbot but the other two knights are slain. The abbot dies of his wounds shortly after and Marshall breaks his vow of silence to swear that his sacrifice will not be in vain.
Once he has reached Canterbury, Marshall meets with Archbishop Langton, the author of the Magna Carta, and Baron William d'Aubigny, a former soldier turned wool merchant. Langton reveals that the Pope has sided with King John and that he himself is to be excommunicated for writing the Great Charter. The three men agree that John must be stopped, and that the place to do it is Rochester Castle, a strategically important stronghold that controls the route from southern England.
Aubigny persuades three of his men to join him, including his squire Guy, but a fourth turns down the baron's call to arms. A party of seven finally leaves for Rochester where, on arriving, they discover six of the King Danish mercenaries have already claimed the castle after the fourth man had betrayed them to the king. Aubigny's party fights and kills the Danish scouts and then claims Rochester Castle in the name of the rebellion. When John's army finally arrives and lays siege to Rochester, the garrison holds fast and manages to beat back the initial Danish assault. In the aftermath, Aubigny offers his men the chance to leave if they wish; none accept.
For the second assault the Danes build a siege tower, but the defenders destroy it with a makeshift catapult and the attackers are repulsed again. The King's army holds back and begins to starve the defenders out. The Archbishop is informed that Prince Louis is biding his time in France and negotiating with John, and sets off immediately to expedite affairs. As weeks become months the hunger and suffering of the castle's occupants increase, Marshall leaves under cover of night and steals food from the Danish camp, making it back just ahead of his pursuers. The defenders' morale is bolstered for the first time in months, and Marshall finally succumbs to Isabel's advances, breaking his Templar vows.
The Danish leader, Tiberius, adopts a different approach in his next assault and manages to sneak a small force of men over the walls before dawn to open the castle gates from within. Guy discovers the infiltrators and sounds the alarm, but it is too late. Tiberius leads the charge into the castle grounds while his Danes slaughter the garrison. During the chaos d'Aubigny is wounded and falls off the garrison. Marshall recovers in time to don his knight's battle armor and charge the Danes on his war-horse, buying time for the survivors to pull back to the keep.
Aubigny is dragged before the King and forced to watch as the hands of two prisoners are chopped off. After a defiant verbal exchange with John, he is subjected to the same fate and then killed by being flung from the makeshift catapult against the keep walls. Cornhill tries to surrender but after being stopped, he goes upstairs to his bedroom and hangs himself instead. John's royal engineers then collapse part of the keep after tunneling under its foundations, and the final assault begins.
The last defenders are killed except Guy, Marshall and Isabel. Guy goes out to die fighting where he encounters Tiberius and is almost killed until a recovered Marshall intervenes. Tiberius challenges Marshall to single combat, and Marshall triumphs after an exhausting duel. Horns are heard in the distance as the combine English rebel and French army arrives at last, and the Danes disperse in panic. Marshall meets Prince Louis and Archbishop Langton at the castle gates; the latter tells him that he is now free of the Templar Order. Acknowledging England's new king with a nod, Marshall rides off with Isabel, while Guy tells his dead baron that "We held".
The film ends with an epilogue describing King John's death during his retreat and the reconstruction of Rochester Castle, and how it, like the Magna Carta, still stands today.
Actress Megan Fox was attached to the film when the film's production company, Mythic, began promoting it to investors at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Fox left the film and was later replaced by Kate Mara. Due to the decreased amount of credit and financing available in 2009, the budget of the film was reduced and the entire supporting cast was changed, with the exception of actors James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti. Producer Andrew Curtis described the financing of the film as "more complex than a London Underground map" to Variety magazine; the film ended up crediting 18 executive producers.[4]
Principal photography for the film began at Dragon International Film Studios near the village Llanharan in Wales on October 9, 2009. A replica of Rochester Castle was built on the studio complex.[6] Producer Rick Benattar strove to make the film as historically accurate as possible, recreating the historical violent siege of Rochester Castle, and letting viewers experience the battle as if they were there.[7] Ironclad was the largest independent production that has been filmed in Wales,[3] and was among the largest independent films shot in Britain in 2009.
The film is only loosely based on reality.[8] William d'Aubigny commanded the garrison but contemporary chroniclers do not agree on how many men that was. Estimates range from 95 to 140 knights supported by crossbowmen, sergeants, and others.[9] John did take the castle, most of the higher nobles being imprisoned or banished; and the French did not arrive in England until some six months after the siege had ended.[10] Characters departing significantly from the historical record include William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke who was not a Templar Knight at the time (he was knighted on his deathbed), William d'Aubigny who was not an ennobled wool merchant (nor was he tortured and killed in the siege).