Flesh and BloodIt's not until you're at the mercy of others that you consider what sacrifices you can live with. Flesh and Blood (stylized as Flesh + Blood) is a medieval adventure film set at the beginning of the 16th century in Western Europe, still under the sway of the Dark Ages. Martin (Rutger Hauer) is the capable leader of a band of mercenaries who are betrayed by their employer, Lord Arnolfini (Fernando Hilbeck), and their commander, Hawkwood (Jack Thompson), despite the protestations of the younger Arnolfini, Steven (Tom Burlinson). During a retaliatory ambush on Arnolfini, Martin and his crew abduct Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh)--Steven's bride to be--and she is forced to make concessions to her noble upbringing to stay alive. As she and Martin become more intimate, the question becomes just how much of her game is really an act.
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Flesh and Blood begins on the field of battle, during the siege commissioned by Arnolfini to retake his own city, even if it means he has to employ sellswords and cutthroats to do it for him--like Martin's gang, who are irreverent and bloodthirsty reavers and rapists. Arnolfini tempts these spurious rogues by offering them twenty-four hours to loot and pillage to their heart's content--a strange offer for a lord who is supposed to protect the city and its citizens from the likes of Martin's men. But Flesh and Blood proposes that no one in this world is without sin, and that everyone is a sinner by degrees. Martin's own commander, Hawkwood, is stricken with guilt after accidentally assaulting a nun, and sells out his own men so that he can retire with his afflicted new ward. Steven is a bright young man, but is arrogant and naive; he doesn't even bother to wait until the operator his exploding siege device is clear of it before he lights the fuse. Agnes was raised in a convent, but she exudes sexual frustration and curiosity from the first, imploring her maid to seduce a soldier so she can watch how it's done from behind the bushes. Director Paul Verhoeven claims that he wanted to create a film that portrayed moral ambiguity--where there is no definite moral compass. It could be said that there is no real hero in Flesh and Blood, or that its definition of heroism is multifaceted and relative, instead of being based on simple morality. Martin is irreverent and at home burying his two-handed sword deep in an enemy, but possesses a mercenary's sort of honor, so Martin becomes "sympathetic" from this point of view. But he also equates justice with an ambush to revenge himself on Arnolfini, and takes the virginity of Agnes against her will because he considers himself the most qualified to "protect" her from his colleagues. Agnes considers that the best way to stay alive in such dangerous company is to seduce Martin. By showing him her own strength of will, she negates his rapacious act and claims a position of power for herself. This also accounts for an earlier scene where Agnes begins to seduce Steven, staking her claim as the dominant party in their relationship. When Steven pursues her, he begins to adopt the ruthlessness of his father, even dragooning Hawkwood to come back into service to rescue his betrothed. With this constant moral ambiguity, the audience of Flesh and Blood will often find themselves forced to reevaluate who the "hero" of the film is, as well as their own values and moral objections.
Flesh and Blood earns its visceral title with significant plot-driven sex, violence and nudity, making it a forerunner to the popular TV show, "Game of Thrones". Flesh and Blood also features a predominance of religious iconography and allusions. For example, when Steven and Agnes first meet, they do not hit it off, so Agnes lures him to a grisly site where two people were butchered and hanged. She digs in the soil beneath the swinging corpses and plucks a mandrake root from the earth, and shares it with Steven under the auspices that it will make them fall in love with each other. This recalls the story of the Apple of Eden in the Book of Genesis--Agnes is offering up "forbidden knowledge" to the self-proclaimed scholar. After the ignominious expulsion of Martin and his rogues from Arnolfini's employ, they discover a buried statue of a saint--specifically St. Martin. The saint is seen as the embodiment of divine guidance, which Martin exploits to motivate his men and maintain his position as leader of the gang. Martin's zealous soothsayer--known as the "Cardinal" (Ronald Lacey)--insinuates that Martin is touched by God, emphasized in shots deliberately staged to make Martin resemble his patron saint. Even the golden cross which Steven uses to lower a contaminated bucket into a well is a means to secure his freedom as much as it represents the promise of salvation through Christ. Agnes is like Persephone--from the perspective of Greek mythology; she is dragged into the proverbial underworld by a sinister "Hades" (Martin), a man who has likely spent all his life in the "hell" of war. Just how much of Agnes' act to maintain her safety until Steven can rescue her is one of the most beguiling questions in Flesh and Blood. There are moments that suggest that among this gang of bandits and thugs she has the opportunity to release her repressed feelings and urges--or is this merely a case of Stockholm Syndrome? Martin drags Agnes along with him to infiltrate and capture a castle; she doesn't try to escape or betray Martin, but actually aids him in the act, or at least not hinder him. When they eat, she uses silverware--a far cry from the savage devouring by her captors--but proclaims when she wishes to sit next to Martin that she is "one of them". There is no evidence at this point to support the conclusion that Steven has any inkling as to where she is or that he is even coming to her rescue--but she persists with this behavior anyway. Is it enough to say that it is just "an act", or is this the awakening of her primal self, emerging after being forced into this savage environment? Just as Steven adopts a war-like disposition, becoming more like his father and Hawkwood in their company--like his clever besieging of the castle--Agnes becomes more like Martin--an opportunist and "mercenary", willing to compromise virtue for survival. Flesh and Blood reveals that it is easy to moralize and judge characters who do not conform to our standards of heroism, but those who survive are those who adapt to their environment, even if it means getting dirty in a dirty world.
Recommended for: Fans of a brutal medieval adventure film with morally gray characters and scenarios. Flesh and Blood will shock audiences expecting a subdued period piece, but its refusal to reduce its characters to convenient archetypes makes for intriguing viewing.
Flesh and Blood earns its visceral title with significant plot-driven sex, violence and nudity, making it a forerunner to the popular TV show, "Game of Thrones". Flesh and Blood also features a predominance of religious iconography and allusions. For example, when Steven and Agnes first meet, they do not hit it off, so Agnes lures him to a grisly site where two people were butchered and hanged. She digs in the soil beneath the swinging corpses and plucks a mandrake root from the earth, and shares it with Steven under the auspices that it will make them fall in love with each other. This recalls the story of the Apple of Eden in the Book of Genesis--Agnes is offering up "forbidden knowledge" to the self-proclaimed scholar. After the ignominious expulsion of Martin and his rogues from Arnolfini's employ, they discover a buried statue of a saint--specifically St. Martin. The saint is seen as the embodiment of divine guidance, which Martin exploits to motivate his men and maintain his position as leader of the gang. Martin's zealous soothsayer--known as the "Cardinal" (Ronald Lacey)--insinuates that Martin is touched by God, emphasized in shots deliberately staged to make Martin resemble his patron saint. Even the golden cross which Steven uses to lower a contaminated bucket into a well is a means to secure his freedom as much as it represents the promise of salvation through Christ. Agnes is like Persephone--from the perspective of Greek mythology; she is dragged into the proverbial underworld by a sinister "Hades" (Martin), a man who has likely spent all his life in the "hell" of war. Just how much of Agnes' act to maintain her safety until Steven can rescue her is one of the most beguiling questions in Flesh and Blood. There are moments that suggest that among this gang of bandits and thugs she has the opportunity to release her repressed feelings and urges--or is this merely a case of Stockholm Syndrome? Martin drags Agnes along with him to infiltrate and capture a castle; she doesn't try to escape or betray Martin, but actually aids him in the act, or at least not hinder him. When they eat, she uses silverware--a far cry from the savage devouring by her captors--but proclaims when she wishes to sit next to Martin that she is "one of them". There is no evidence at this point to support the conclusion that Steven has any inkling as to where she is or that he is even coming to her rescue--but she persists with this behavior anyway. Is it enough to say that it is just "an act", or is this the awakening of her primal self, emerging after being forced into this savage environment? Just as Steven adopts a war-like disposition, becoming more like his father and Hawkwood in their company--like his clever besieging of the castle--Agnes becomes more like Martin--an opportunist and "mercenary", willing to compromise virtue for survival. Flesh and Blood reveals that it is easy to moralize and judge characters who do not conform to our standards of heroism, but those who survive are those who adapt to their environment, even if it means getting dirty in a dirty world.
Recommended for: Fans of a brutal medieval adventure film with morally gray characters and scenarios. Flesh and Blood will shock audiences expecting a subdued period piece, but its refusal to reduce its characters to convenient archetypes makes for intriguing viewing.