Brian Helgeland, writer/director of the medieval action film A Knight's
Tale, won an Academy Award for his screenplay of L.A. Confidential
and directed the Mel Gibson film Payback (which he says was NOT his cut).
When we spoke to him in Los Angeles, the director had just broken his arm while
jumping on a trampoline with his kids the previous weekend.



FILM FESTIVALS: What happened?



HELGELAND: I was giving my kids a safety demonstration on how not to get hurt
on a trampoline.



Well that worked out real well! Have your kids seen the film?



Yeah. My older one likes it more than the younger. Not enough action for the
little one. He likes WWF (World Wrestling Federation).



Is that the inspiration for some of the heraldic introductions at the jousts
in the film?



In the movie it's like that ring announcer in boxing at Ceasar's Palace… "Let's
get ready to rummmmble!!"



Talk about the artistic choice you made to use pop/rock music in the film instead
of a symphonic score.



Whenever I start to write a screenplay I get a lot of inspiration from music
and I try to pick a kind of music that relates to whatever I'm writing at any
given time. In the end it seemed to be a movie about youth and identity and
personal expression and freedom. That, to me, seemed to be rock and roll. While
I was writing it, I thought, hey, I could incorporate this into the film. Try
to get that idea across, even if it was subliminally. It actually reached the
point where I couldn't think of any other song that worked.. like the Bachman
Turner Overdrive "Taking Care of Business" over the swordfighting, I don't know
what it could be besides that. I know you wonder if it's gonna work or not .
I decided that it's not really historical convention you are fighting. It's
really a movie convention because the reality is that in 1370, the instruments
that make up an orchestra didn't exist. No brass, no violas and cellos. So it's
the movie convention (to have symphonic scores) that you are fighting.



But most people are expecting to hear a "Shakespeare in Love" type of score.
Do you feel that it somehow removes the audience?



I think in some cases it may but I hope that it would take the audience in more
because the music is something they could relate to, more modern. The costume
design for example, if I wanted to be more historically accurate, I'd have the
guys in tights and the girls in those cone-shaped hats which, to me, is distancing
for an audience because you have to get past that. I tried to bring the period
more to life. I brought in modern elements to make it more relatable. The production
design is more historically accurate. That kind of research is taken from paintings.
We tried to create a world where you could make your own rules.



What about actor Paul Bettany as Chaucer? He's quite wonderful.



When I sent him the script I told him, you're gonna be Chaucer and he said great.
Then he called me up and said, "You bastard" and I'm like "What?" and he said
"I'm naked all the time". I said "Can you do it or can't you"? And he said yeah.
(Note: Helgeland's Chaucer is constantly gambling and forfeiting his clothes)

Why Chaucer?




HELGELAND: Partly because he was alive around then and he worked with my story.
Chaucer's always presented as this dusty old librarian or professor, this venerated
character from English literature and then when you read "The Canterbury Tales"
and they're sort of raucous and wild and you think, that guy isn't the guy who
wrote these stories. So the idea was to lighten that character. I have no idea
if he was any of the things I (created) but I think he was a much livelier person
with a lot of lust for life.



There are a couple of nods in this picture to classic films. The Errol Flynn
Robin Hood and Ben Hur. Were you aware of those when you wrote
it?



Oh, absolutely. That's trying to be true to movie expectations and conventions
which have proved true and worthy for 70 years. But absolutely.



What about casting newcomer Shannyn Sossamon in the movie?



She came in to read with no expectations that she would get the part. I had
seen a lot of actresses up to that point and no one seemed noble to me. It was
the way she sat in the chair. She's very casual and relaxed in person but she
sat down and her back didn't touch the chair and the way she held her neck,
it was very noble and she wasn't even aware of it. And then she read. She was
raw but very good and it just seemed like the right person for the part.



Any challenge working with a newcomer?



She just literally didn't know things abut the lens and film acting and how
to play things. She had good instincts but even just finding her mark in her
scene, I had to throw out takes because she's looking down for her mark. It
was physically getting her used to the camera.



How was it working with horses?



I don't like horses and they knew it. 'Nuf said.

Lynn
Barker

Ms. Barker is an MPAA-accredited film critic and entertainment writer based
in Hollywood.