Tristan + Isolde

Plot synopsis:
The film is set in Great Britain and Ireland, in the Dark Ages, after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. Lord Marke of Cornwall plans to unify the peoples of Britain – Celts, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes – under himself as high king to resist Irish domination.
Most lords agree to this, as Marke is highly regarded and respected as a fair and courageous leader. The Irish king Donnchadh discovers this and sends troops to attack a Jutish castle where a treaty between the British tribes is being discussed. The raid claims the lives of the castle's lord and his wife, but Marke manages to save their son, Tristan, at the cost of losing a hand. Feeling compassion for the young boy, whose father loyally supported him, Marke welcomes Tristan into his home and regards him as a son.
Nine years later, Tristan has grown into a fierce, courageous warrior whose loyalty to Marke is not that of a knight to his lord, but rather a son to his father. Tristan and other Cornish warriors launch an attack on an Irish slave caravan. Tristan fights Morholt, the champion and leader of the army of Donnchadh, whose lord's daughter, Princess Isolde, has been promised to Morholt in marriage. Though Tristan kills Morholt and Donnchadh's forces are overrun, he is severely wounded in the fight and believed dead, though he is in fact only suffering the effects of Morholt's poisoned sword.
Tristan's body is put out to sea on a funeral boat which eventually washes up along the shores of Ireland. He is discovered by Isolde and her maid, Bragnae, who administer an antidote that revives him. Bragnae insists that Isolde conceal her identity so Isolde tells Tristan her name is Bragnae and that she is a lady-in-waiting. Tristan and Isolde fall in love as she nurses him back to health. The two lovers must separate after Tristan's boat is discovered. Tristan returns to Cornwall and receives a hero's welcome. A confused but overjoyed Marke welcomes him back with open arms.
Plotting to defeat Britain, Donnchadh proposes a peace treaty, promising his daughter Isolde in marriage to the winner of a tournament. Tristan wins the tournament on behalf of Marke, unaware that "the prize" is the woman he fell in love with in Ireland. When he discovers the truth about Isolde, he is heartbroken to see her betrothed to Marke, but accepts it since the marriage will end "a hundred years of bloodshed."
Marke and Isolde are married and there is finally hope that Britain will be united. Marke is kind to Isolde and genuinely falls in love with her and although Isolde grows fond of him, her heart still belongs to Tristan. Isolde tells Tristan that she is his anytime he wants. Tristan is torn between his love for Isolde and his loyalty to Marke, a man whom he loves as a father. Marke is confused over what is tormenting Tristan and disappointed by the distance he is putting between them.
Tristan eventually gives in to Isolde; they renew their love and begin an affair behind Marke's back. The affair is discovered by Lord Wictred, a longstanding dissenter to Marke's leadership. He informs Donnchadh of the affair and they conspire to use their love to overthrow Marke, with Wictred getting Marke's throne in exchange. Marke confides in Tristan that he believes Isolde is having an affair. Tristan is tormented by the guilt and burns down the garden where he would meet Isolde. After Marke and Isolde's coronation, Tristan attempts to end their relationship, but Isolde begs him not to leave her. They are caught in an embrace by Marke, Donnchadh, and the other British kings. Donnchadh pretends to be furious that his daughter is being treated as a whore and ends the alliance. Seeing this as weakness on Marke's part, the other kings also decide to part ways with him.
Marke is hurt and furious over his wife and son-figure's betrayal. He tells Tristan he has ruined everything and that he wishes that he had never saved his life. However, after Isolde explains their history, Marke relents. Tristan is taken to the river and Isolde tells him that Marke is letting them run away together. Tristan puts Isolde in the boat meant for their escape and tells her that if they leave they will be remembered for all time as those "whose love brought down a kingdom." Tristan pushes the boat away from the shore and runs off to the ensuing battle.
At the same time, Marke's nephew and Tristan's old friend, Melot, resentful of his uncle's long favouring of Tristan, shows Wictred an old passage into the Roman foundations of Marke's castle. Wictred had made Melot believe that he will become king when Marke is defeated. Once they are in the passage, Wictred stabs Melot and sneaks his army into the castle. Marke and his forces swiftly become pinned down by Donnchadh's army outside the castle and Wictred's men within.
Tristan sneaks back into the castle via the secret tunnel, which he used to carry out his affair with Isolde. On the way, he finds the dying Melot; the old friends forgive one another before he dies. Tristan emerges from the tunnel and attacks Wictred's men, allowing Marke's soldiers to secure the castle, but he is mortally wounded in combat by Wictred, whom he still manages to kill. Now outnumbered, Tristan, Marke and the soldiers loyal to him emerge from the castle and present Wictred's severed head to Donnchadh. Marke urges the British kings standing with the Irish to aid them in making Britain a single, free nation. Inspired by his words, the British kings and their men attack Donnchadh and his army.
As a fierce battle between the British and Irish erupts, Marke carries a dying Tristan to the river, where they are met by Isolde. Marke leaves to lead the British to victory, while Tristan eventually dies in Isolde's arms after uttering his last words: "You were right. I don't know if life is greater than death. But love was more than either." Isolde sees to his burial beneath the ashes of the Roman villa where they had met to be with each other. She plants two willows by the grave, which grow intertwined. She then disappears from history and is never seen again. Marke, it is said, defeated the Irish, united Britain, then ruled in peace until the end of his days.

Tags: murder, violence, revenge, historical fiction, tragedy, romantic

Review:
While I do not know the actual historical story, I found the storyline highly captivating.I thought James Franco played Tristan brilliantly - broken hearted but not brooding, he seemed to only come to life during battle before meeting Isolde, and then afterward only in their stolen moments together.
As king, he had to walk the thin line between diplomacy and his own frustrations; as a man, he came alive when with Isolde, and so her betrayal was all that more heartbreaking, a scene which he played with focus and power.I thought the fight scenes were very well done, except for the excess of cut shots, jumping from person to person, which moved the action almost too quickly, occasionally resulting in a jagged flow of action.
One of the great love stories from the medieval courtly romances, "Tristan and Isolde" has received many different treatments from medieval poets such as Gottfried of Strasbourg to the haunting opera by the nineteenth-century German composer Ricard Wagner.
In each of the versions of the story, there are new and different plot details in this tragic love story.In Kevin Reynolds' film adaptation, the most intriguing new twist from the traditional story is the way in which Tristan and Isolde meet.
In this film, the young people fall instantly in love without any need of an elixir.In two touching performances, the young lovers are played by James Franco and Sophia Myles.
Rufus Sewell delivers an excellent performance as King Mark caught in the love triangle that recalls the famous story of King Arthur, Lancelot, and Guineviere.
Their fateful meeting and the unfolding of their relationship make this film worthwhile for audiences both familiar with the legend and for those being introduced to this timeless love story for the first time..
The film's main departure from the traditional story is it's decision to leave out the love potion between T+I, which for modern audiences is a smart choice; it makes the whole relationship appear more 'authentic.' This is also one of Rufus Sewell's only' sympathetic roles, and it's a treat to see him play someone we don't automatically hate.
This movie is sure to make the entire female population fall in love with James Franco, and it's story is unforgettable..
I know some people who didn't like it, I won't lie, but if you come to the movie with an open mind and know that some things are going to be different, you will absolutely love it, as I did..
Tristan & Isolde was basically the best Love story that I have seen in a good while.
I did not know that this movie would cause me to sob severely and to really fall in love with Tristan & Isolde.
to keep those action film fans happy, and yet there's a lot of good love stories, and not just between the two leads as you might expect.
Years later, after another attack of the Irish forces, Tristan (James Franco) rescues his people that were captured to serve as slaves and kills the mean Morholt, for whom the beautiful Irish princess Isolde (Sophia Myles) was promised to get married.
When he sees who Isolde is, he has to decide between his friendship and loyalty to Marke and his love for Isolde.This is the first time that I see the poignant story of "Tristan + Isolde" and I loved this movie.
I liked most of the scenes from the very first shot of a rabbit and small Tristan, through the following moment that shows a map of the British Isles of that time moving to Ireland where small Isolde weeps on a funeral of her queen mother to the very last shot when two lovers are separated by death.
Marke's love scenes with Isolde are perfectly contrasted with Tristan's thanks to performances and camera work.
Tristan (James Franco)-Wictred (Mark Strong) fight is lively and natural.Finally, I have to mention one more aspect of the movie that is a pearl to me.
This aspect makes the epic universal and can be admired by different viewers, even the ones who cannot stand sword and sandal productions.TRISTAN AND ISOLDE is a wonderful film that I recommend anyone to see.
They told the story they were hired to tell, and tried to put as much emotion as possible into their character.In the end, Tristan and Isolde is a movie that accepts the fact that it will never be a great movie, and settles for being a good movie.
Like another famous medieval legend, King Arthur, it's got a frustrating but passionate story or forbidden love.
Supporting cast are better with good performances from Rufus Sewell, Mark Strong and the now rising star Henry Cavill.The battle scenes are confusing with everyone looking alike.
She looked exactly the right age, acted the right age and like Sewell, made me feel the emotions of her character, it was easy to see why some of the characters loved Isolde.The flaws?
Like "Romeo and Juliet," "Tristan and Isolde" is a tale of forbidden love set in the Middle Ages (although it far predates Shakespeare's work both in setting and in origin).
running around on screen that it is often difficult to distinguish one from the other and to know just who is fighting whom (or who is allied with whom) at any given moment.James Franco and Sophia Myles make for a fairly bland, conventionally modern young couple, but Rufus Sewell provides a subtle, sympathetic performance as the man who both raises Tristan and marries Isolde.If Medieval romances are your cup of tea, by all means check out "Tristan and Isolde," but there are far better tales of unrequited love around than this one..
There is so much to this movie that is just wrong, the locations are wrong, the costumes are from a different period, the equipment used by the Irish characters is completely inaccurate, and when you take the love story out of the plot it makes no sense even as a war movie it would never have happened.
The love story itself is spot on, it's got all the casual clichés, but as I watched I couldn't help but think, I've seen this before, it's as if the writers took the key to the patents office and thought they might re-write the legend of King Arthur and flog it as something different.
Although the love storyline was quite tried and tested, I believe the movie managed to stand out from most love stories that I've watched lately because of its strong themes of loyalty, honour and duty, as opposed to an indulgent tale of lovers getting it on with wild abandon.
I confess that while Sophia Myles delivered an animated, lively performance in the first half of the movie (as well as the rest of it), James Franco seemed rather vague and faraway in the first half, as if he had not quite settled into the demands and grasped the "feel" of the role.
But later, immediately after he realizes that in a cruel twist that he has actually won Isolde for his very benefactor, and that he must live in the constant torture of seeing his love wedded to someone else in the same household, the pace of the movie instantly picks up and the audience's sympathy is secured permanently.
When Lord Marke, who Tristan has a great amount of respect for, becomes involved with Isolde; it will break your heart to see how Tristan must choose between love or duty.
I'm not trying to be mean about the movie, but Tristan and Isolde's chemistry was negative, it felt like lust more than love.
James Franco as Tristan is bland, Sophia Miles as Isolde is pretty but far too modern for the role of a medieval princess.
The story line seems to move to quickly and it doesn't spend enough time convincing the viewer about the undying passionate love Tristan and Isolde have for each other.
After watching Isolde and King Marke together, it almost made me wish it was a love story on them and not Tristan.
Some of the simple magic of the original story still manages to shine through however, and we at least get some sense of chemistry between the two lead characters and their hopeless battles of conscience as they wrestle individually with dilemmas of duty - Tristan to protect the nobleness of his King and Isolde not to be totally indifferent to Marke's kindness.Could it be that, if 'love can transform destiny and the fate of nations', it is a force for good when it strikes wisely, and can wreak destruction when it affects those whose attraction causes havoc, suffering and all-round evil?
Tristan and Isolde was the best movie i have ever seen in my life.
There are some pretty cool fighting scenes, and if they are soft hearted they will fall in love with Tristan and Isolde.
I think that this was a beautifully done movie, and that the acting was very good.James Franco gives a commanding performance as Tristan, and his cold facial expressions are a realistic representation of the character.
Sophia Myles as Isolde portrays a much softer looking character, but she must, especially when Tristan is not so kind to her.
But, if you stay through the whole thing, I say it is worth it.Tristan & Isolde is a better movie than any Romeo & Juliet interpretation I've seen.
Plus, the actors' looks fit the time period, and it helps that they are both attractive.I disagree with some of the critics and give this an 8/10, since it was a more genuine love story than I've seen in any movie recently..
Basically, the only character that felt real to me was Lord Marke, portrayed by Rufus Sewell, because he actually showed some emotion through his words, his diction, and his acting.Overall, if you had as high of hopes as I did for this movie, I recommend steeling yourself to be let down.
Both Sophia and James Franco did excellent jobs acting.The plot is really interesting, about forbidden love, and I found myself teary or crying more than once during this film.
The costumes and settings are extremely beautiful, and there was nothing confusing about this plot - it doesn't meander with explaining much at the beginning other than that there is war between Ireland and Britain, and then gets on with the great story.Tristan is a very noble, lovable hero - extremely so (and not just because we get to see him without his shirt on).
The relationship between James Franco (Tristan) and Sophia Myles (Isolde) was lacking in the passion that is the supposed foundation for their relationship.
i found this movie to be one the best loves stories that i have seen in along time.James Franco and Sophia Myles were amazing together the love scenes where great they have the chemistry to pull the scenes off.the story wasbrilliant and i like how they've changed the story and the way they put the whole movie together was great.
Franco and Myles made the love look so real and if people say it was a bad movie their wrong because it was a brilliant love story..
Either way Tristan and and Isolde is definitely one of my new favorite movies..
The previews for this movie made it seem like it was going to be about the romance between Tristan and Isolde.
More beautiful than Romeo and Juliet, more passionate than Helen and Paris of Troy, Tristan and Isolde captures the imagination, the heart, the mind, and the sense of longing.
I guess the ending is not bad, a bit touching and certainly not as cliché as other parts of the film (always a good thing)Tristan and Isolde, had potential.
good acting & production thoughIt has many battle scenes with too many closeups,that go so fast you do not know what is happening.Both my partner & I fell asleep, it was so boring.This was supposed to be a tragic love story & it is just tragic.Now if they used Richard Wagner's triumphant opera music It may have been watchable.Do not waste your time on this bore.rating **1/2 out of 4*--- 58 points out of 100--- IMDb 4 out of 10.
Legends normally don't tell you much about the actual historical settings, they use symbols and are allowed a bit of fantasy.The love story of Tristan & Isolde should be a fairy tale for adults, not a pseudo-historical movie for children.
although the directing of this movie is very good, the roles played very good (i loved the King Marke Role by Rufus Sewell) but i have a point of view i 'd like to express; this love story would be much better & get more influence if it's a normal fair, not illegal one.
Last night I went to see a preview of Tristan and Isolde, not being familiar with the stars of the movie.
I am familiar with the original myth of Tristan and Isolde and this movie was a really good adaptation of it.
Because Hollywood is still hungry for medieval adventures with swords and sandals, Prince of Thieves director Kevin Reynolds finally brings us the ancient love-story Tristan and Isolde (2006), after Ridley and Tony Scott carried this project around like a baby since the 1970s and finally gave it up.
For long the film navigates two parallel story lines of sorts  Tristan in England and Isolde on Ireland without bringing the two together.
James Franco is young Tristan, heir to the British throne - and Sophia Myles is princess Isolde of the feuding Irish, so you see the difficulty in expressing their love.
Franco is uneven in his performance, and in his "English" accent.Tristan and Isolde (2006) is classic melodrama, but without the most sentimental emotions, and it has things to say instead of having the characters resort to meaningful glances to convey their agony and love.
Tristan and Isolde is possibly the best love story produced yet.
This movie is sure to make you fall in love with James Franco, and it's story is unforgettable.
Stop trying to analyze whether it's like the book you read or the song you heard, and just enjoy this movie for what it is: a very very good entertaining, sad, beautiful, intelligent and romantic story with very talented actors and a strong script.
when i went to watch the movie i expected a good movie, u know a love story etc like any others, would be cool and i'll like then it's over.
and i also would like to congratulate the actors in this movie for their wonderful performances especially James Franco well done you were amazing and mind blowing (i seriously believed you were the character it self )keep it up OK OK OK OK well nothing else i left to say so bye and good luck all this is to people didn't watch the movie yet rash to the cinemas now except people with heart problems it will set fires in your hearts and you don't need that (: bye.
I hate Romeo and Juliet, I love Tristan and Isolde.
Tristan and Isolde is so beautiful, I watched it three times in one week!I recommend this movie for anyone who loves the whole castle and princesses type of film.
Tristan and Isolde kept me thinking about the movie a week after I saw it.
I thought the story was really good and made sense even though I had never heard of the legend of Tristan and Isolde before.
However, I felt the film was compelling, especially in the performances of the two leads, as played by James Franco and Sophia Myles.There was outstanding chemistry between the two actors, and the best scenes were when they were together.
But "Tristan and Isolde" is a love story, not a big-budget action saga..
But for a female, the raging love and passion that Tristan and Isolde have is clear, but could have not have been done without the tremendous chemistry between James Franco and Sophia Myles.
Overall, I thought the film had strong performances, although James Franco's English accent came and went throughout the course of the movie!!
Tristan and Isolde is one of the best movies I have ever seen!
Tristan is played by James Franco who is like one of the cutest, or maybe even the cutest actor that I have ever seen.
James Franco and Sophia Myles look like they are made for each other in this tragic love story.
Another reason it was good is that it appeals to more then just girls looking for a love story, my boyfriend enjoyed it because of the fight scenes and entertaining violence..
Tristan and Isolde is a beautifully shot movie with a great plot, interesting dialoge, and brilliant acting.
Tristan and Isolde was such an excellent movie.
Tristan+Isolde is the best movie that has been made in many years.
James Franco and Sophia Myles are fantastic as Tristan and Isolde.
Tristan and Isolde is a remarkable movie.
Tristan & Isolde is the BEST MOVIE EVER!.
The love that Tristan & Isolde share is amazing!!
Loved the Movie -Very Impressed with Tristan.
"Tristan and Isolde" is a great story.
That's how I felt about James Franco as Tristan in this movie.
It's a love story and for those who say it's unrealistic....please King Kong might be unrealistic...but this movie is touching and makes you feel.
James and Sophia were just so great in the movie together, you could really see the love through the characters.
I love "Tristan & Isolde" so much!!.
I thought the acting was amazing from all three actors; James Franco, Sophia Myles, and Rufus Sewell.
Although, the legend of Tristan & Isolde is more like the tale of Lancelot & Guinevere, actually it had great influence, if not entire influence, for their whole story.The film was beautifully done.
I watched this movie many times and I always loved it so much!
It is the best love story film for all times, sadder than Romeo and Juliet.