Tristan & Isolde movie review (2006)

The movie dumps the magical love potion that is crucial in most versions of the story. This time, when Tristan and Isolde fall in love, it's because -- well, it's because they fall in love. The story takes place in England and Ireland, circa the year 600. The Roman occupiers have withdrawn, leaving a disorganized band of English warlords feuding among themselves while King Donnchadh of the Celts (David O'Hara) rules England from Ireland.

We meet Lord Marke (Rufus Sewell), wisest of the English rulers, who seeks to unite England and repel the Irish. He adopts the young Tristan (James Franco) and raises him as his son. Tristan leads Marke's troops in setting a successful trap for Donnchadh's overconfident raiders, but then is poisoned and falls into a coma resembling death.

Good thing the early Brits don't believe in burial: They put Tristan's body on a boat and push it out to sea, and a few days later, it washes ashore in Ireland and is found by the beautiful Isolde (Sophia Myles), daughter of Donnchadh. Tristan is alive!

All contrived, all melodramatic, yes, but seen in a rugged, muddy, damp, straightforward visual style by director Kevin Reynolds ("The Count of Monte Cristo," "Waterworld") his cinematographer, Artur Reinhart, and the production designer, Mark Geraghty. The knights and ladies don't look like escapees from a Prince Valiant comic strip, but like physical, vulnerable, survivors of the conflicts left behind by the Romans.

The removal of magic from the story grounds it as a realistic power struggle, and although the device of mistaken identity is used to supply the heart of the plot, we can sort of see how things might have worked out that way.

I don't want to betray details that may come as a surprise. So let me comment on what happens without revealing what it is. Tristan and Isolde, who love each other even though they are the children of bitter enemies, are put into an impossible situation that no one really intended for them. The Irish and English lords don't even realize they know each other. Tristan is entered in a tournament and does not know what the prize is. Isolde thinks she knows what the outcome of the tournament means, but is mistaken.