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Medieval (film)

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Wikipedia article


{{Infobox film

| name = Medieval

| image = Medieval-1.jpg

| caption = English poster

| director = Petr Jkl

| producer = Cassian Elwes

| story = Petr Jakl Sr.

| screenplay = Petr Jkl

| starring =

| music = Philip Klein

| cinematography = Jesper Tffner

| editing = Steven Rosenblum

| distributor = Bioscop

| production_companies = WOG FILM s.r.o.

| released =

| runtime = 125 minutes

| country = Czech Republic

| language = English

| budget = K500 million
($20.3 million)

| gross = 'Czech Republic:'
K18.8 million
'United States:'
$1.1 million


}}

'Medieval' ('Jan ika' or 'Warrior of God') is a 2022 English-language Czech historical drama film directed by Petr Jkl. It is about the life of Jan ika, a Bohemian military commander who never lost a battle. The film is set prior to the Hussite Wars (14191434), when ika was young. It tells the story of how ika became a famous military commander. With a budget of K500 million ($20.3 million), it is the most expensive Czech film ever made.

Plot



The plot of the film starts sometime in the 14th century, when Wenceslaus IV is the king of Bohemia and Roman emperor at the same time. Wenceslas has received the throne after his father Charles IV, but his reign is not as successful and the kingdom seems to fall apart under his weak rule. The most powerful nobleman in the country, Henry III of Rosenberg, keeps seizing properties of lower nobility one after another, until one of them starts resisting. The brave hero is young Jan ika, a knight and mercenary, future leader of the Hussite army. Rosenberg had almost all his family killed and ika wants revenge. Rosenberg's fiance Katherine falls in love with the warrior and hands him the text between Rosenberg and the League of Lords planning to dethrone the king. Although the plot is revealed, the League succeeds in kidnapping the king. The king's troops manage to make Wenceslas free, but he has to accept a humiliating peace. Thus ika has to choose between two alternatives: give up the fight for justice and receive a higher rank at the royal court, or keep fighting, though alone and abandoned.

Cast



Production



In 2013, Petr Jkl announced that he was preparing to make a film about Jan ika. He estimated a possible budget of 85 million Czech koruna. During 2014, it was scheduled for a 2016 release. Work on the film started after Jkl finished Ghoul in 2015. American agency William Morris Endeavor has assisted with recruitment of actors for the film. Jkl stated that ika would most likely be played by a foreign actor.

In August 2016, the process of recruiting extras for battles was started. The first round of recruitment concluded in January 2017, with thousands of volunteers.

In July 2017, Jkl announced that shooting would start in Spring 2018, and that it would take place in South Bohemia and Central Bohemia. He also stated that ika would definitely not be played by a Czech actor, saying that his USA contacts were talking with the agents of some American actors. Cassian Elwes became the film's producer on 6 March 2018.

Ben Foster was announced to be cast as Jan ika on 24 August 2018. Shooting was scheduled to start on 17 September 2018. Michael Caine was announced on 7 September 2018 to be cast as the fictional character of Lord Bore. Matthew Goode was cast in November as King Sigismund.[https://www.screendaily.com/news/matthew-goode-joins-historical-epic-medieval-exclusive/5134169.article Matthew Goode joins historical epic 'Medieval' (exclusive)]

The film was officially announced on 13 September 2018. The main cast included Til Schweiger, Marek Vaut, and Sophie Lowe, among others. The final budget was announced as 500,000,000 CZK (23,000,000 USD). Shooting started on 17 September 2018, continuing near Prague until October 2018. Shooting then moved to various Czech castles such as Kivoklt Castle before concluding in December 2018. Shooting took place primarily in Central Bohemian and South Bohemia.

Themes and inspirations

The film is based on the youth of the famous Hussite commander Jan ika, one of the most successful military leaders of his time, who had never lost a battle. Director Petr Jkl (who had been known to film audience especially thanks to the popular thriller 'Kajnek' about a well-known Czech prison escapee) said he wanted to promote Czech Republic in the world and so this time he chose one of the biggest Czech national heroes as the main character for his film. Unlike other auteurs, he chose the early period of ika's life because he wanted the audience to see how his character was formed. At the same time it allowed him to make the film different from his predecessors (for example a well-known 1955 film 'Jan ika' by Otakar Vvra) which focused on his glorious Hussite period. Jkl admitted that although he tried to be faithful to the facts, cooperating with the Czech historian Jaroslav echura, he did not consider them as important as the overall impression, especially as many facts of ika's early life are not known at all or are a matter of dispute among historians. Thus also a love story was added.

Release



The film had its premiere on 5 September 2022 in Slovansk dm. It was attended by members of film cast and production such as Til Schweiger, Sophie Lowe and Petr Jkl. Michael Caine sent a video greeting. The film was released into theatres on 8 September 2022.

Home media and streaming

It was announced that Medieval will be released on VOD services such as Google Play or iTunes on 31 October 2022.

Reception



On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on 23 reviews, with average rating 5/10. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." The film has a score of 58% based on 12 reviews on Czech website Kinobox.cz.

Box office

The film opened in the Czech Republic with 114,244 spectators during previews and 104,921 spectators during first weekend. It grossed 18,825,068 K as a result. It is the fourth best opening of the year.

In the United States the film grossed $810,000 finishing fourth. The film opened in 1,311 theatres.

Video games



Director of the film Petr Jkl mentioned on 21 April 2022 that the film will be accompanied by two video game adaptations. One would be released for PC and video game consoles while the other one for mobile phones. 'Medieval' is an Action-adventure game in development by Cypronia while mobile game 'Medieval AR' is in development by More.is.More.

See also



* Jan ika (1955 film)

* List of most expensive Czech films

References




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