nice popcorn movie with a bad influence

Rating: Null/10 (13 July 2003)

The cinematography and action is indeed impressive, but that's about it. None of the commentators here seems to have noticed the most obvious and ridiculous aberration from the historical facts: Since years before the movie was made, it was discovered that the right of "prima nocte" (first night), in the form the movie depicts it, was a myth. It was completely inappropriate for feudal lords to engage sexually with the 'lesser' people, also, such a right would have caused massive uprisings everywhere. It is said that the parallel to reality is probably that a lord could demand a monetary compensation for someone leaving his reach through a marriage, immediately on the first night after the wedding.
Many of these myths, often dealing with things like torture and oppression, have been established in the 19th century when the people wanted to delimit their time from the "dark ages" by depicting the latter in the most gruesome way possible, thus elevating their achievements and the hope for a better future. I think a movie, fiction or not, should not support these myths. Too many will believe it. The 'prima nocte' scenes from Braveheart have already been referenced to by writers dealing with sexual violence etc., so its influence has indeed spread to serious works.