Black Death (film)

Black Death is a 2010 movie from Christopher Smith (director of Creep, Severance and Triangle), starring Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne and Carice van Houten.

In 1348 the Bubonic Plague sweeps through England. Frightened, many people blame witches or their own sins. Osmund, a novice in a monastery volunteers to guide knight Ulric and his men to a village, which the plague has not reached at all and is therefore suspect. What the knights do not know is that Osmund volunteered to have a chance to see his girl.

One of the primary themes of the film is total uncertainty with how one interacts with the world. The whispers in the woods may be demons, it may be highwaymen. The village witch may be in league with Satan, she may just know how to brew poisons. The town may be warded, it may just be isolated. The plague may target the unrighteous first, everyone may be damned together.

Whether or not Langiva actually practices magic or is just a keen judge of character and manipulator of desperate people remains in doubt. Certain circumstances support either idea.
Tropes used in Black Death (film) include:
  • A Father to His Men: Wolfstan
  • The Atoner: Ulric probably. As it is likely that he had been at the battle of Crecy, where their opponents had been slaughtered instead of being given a mercy strike. He does give one to the woman accused of being a witch.
  • Awesome but Impractical: The saw-toothed short sword wielded by Mold would get stuck in someone's ribcage; not what you'd want to happen during a melee. However, short, similarly notched daggers called sword-breakers were present during the period, usually as a main-gauche in place of a parrying dagger. The notches are meant to catch an opponent's blade in order to follow up with the main weapon.
  • The Black Death obviously.
  • Burn the Witch
  • Blood From the Mouth: The symptom indicating that Griff has been infected. Subverted in that, he doesn't die but is finished off by his friend.
  • Came Back Wrong: Subverted, because Averill was set up to seem this, while she actually wasn't. Maybe. It's hard to tell.
  • Celibate Hero: Averted. Even though Osmund is a monk, he secretly has a lover.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The cage.
  • Christianity Is Catholic: Justified in that this is fourteenth century England.
  • Crapsack World: If the plague doesn't get you the bandits or the witch-burners will.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Perhaps not so unusual for the period, but Ulric's death (torn apart by horses) is horrific.
    • Very unusual. Such punishment or its equivalent was reserved only for grand treason and regicide mainly because it was considered extremely cruel.
  • Daydream Surprise: When praying, Osmund sees dead Averill calling his name, then he broght back to reality by Ulrich, who does the same.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Osmund certainly suffers one of these as a result of his journey.
  • Downer Ending: Good God, yes.
  • The Dung Ages: A believable version of this trope. The village is suspiciously idyllic, but during most of the other scenes you can practically feel the dirt under your fingernails.
  • The Dragon: Hob is this to Langiva.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Ulric.
  • Genre Busting: A horror-action-period piece drama.
  • Grey and Gray Morality: The movie goes out of its way to show cruelty on both sides.
  • The Heretic: A whole village filled with them.
  • The High Queen: Langiva is this to her people.
  • Holier Than Thou
  • Human Sacrifice: Not played entirely straight, as the "witch" knows full well she cannot perform magic and only kills people to keep the villagers in line. Perhaps, witches lie and we can never be quite sure of what exactly Langiva does is magic or chemistry, if she was a true witch then lying to Osmund then she contributed to his corruption, a witchy goal..
  • Idiot Ball: The knights deeply distrust the villagers, know their leader knows her way with herbs and still drink and eat what they offer.
    • Justified in that they are told not to raise any suspicion. And they are most likely unaware of potency of some natural poisons and hallucinogens.
  • Karma Houdini: Osmund ends up torturing and killing countless innocent women for her crimes, but Langiva gets off scot free.
    • Although Wolfstan (the narrator)also says that he heard Osmund eventually caught Lagiva. The movie remains ambigious as to whether or not Langiva got away
  • Kill'Em All: Out of the entire band of people they started out with, only Osmund and Wolfstan survived until the end of the movie.
  • Knight Templar: Ulric. Later, Osmund.
  • Lady Land
  • Mercy Kill: Wolfstan gives one to Griff when he reveals that he's got the plague. Characters also discuss the use of misericorde at the battlefield.
  • Mission from God: Ulric.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: A woman who tried to protect her village with a blessing got accused of being a witch.
    • Doubles as Idiot Ball, as even pretending to use magic is a bad idea among the superstitious folk in the times like this.
  • Nothing Is Scarier: No demons, no witchcraft (maybe), just people turning on people in times of desperation. The ending is a crushing example of this.
  • Only in It For the Money: Word for word quote from the Squire.
  • Ragtag Band of Misfits: Ulric's retinue consists of two war veterans, mute soldier, crazed murderer, professional executioner and a mercenary.
  • The Ophelia: subverted in that Averill was drugged, perhaps.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Osmund, at the end of the movie.
  • See You in Hell
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Wolfstan appears to be heavily shaken by the events he witnessed at Crécy.
  • Shoot the Dog: Ulric mercy-kills an accused witch instead of leaving her to a horrible death by burning. Also serves as his Establishing Character Moment.
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The group arrives to the village and discover the inhabitants are actually pagans. They are then drugged and when they wake up the whole group is killed off one by one in horrific ways and Osmund is tricked into killing his lover. In the end only Osmund and one other member of the party survive with Osmund's faith horrible shaken.
    • But wait! It gets even better! We discover the whole film was probably Osmund's Start of Darkness as we get an epilogue showing that Osmund abandoned being a monk to search the land for the main witch, torturing and killing any girl that looks like her, and even one's that definitley don't.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Far on the cynical side.
  • Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty: Way, way, way on the side of gritty. In fact, when the company eventually reach the the village after days trudging through mud and grime, it is alienating in its cleanliness and serenity.
  • The Speechless: Ivo had his tongue taken out by the French while a prisoner.
  • Start of Darkness: Turns out the whole movie is effectively Osmund's.
  • Taking You with Me: Ulric, who revealed he had the plague just before he was killed.

Ulric: I am Death. Vengeance is mine.

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