Kingdom Of Heaven Themes

Many themes are evident in the film Kingdom of Heaven. One of the more important themes is heroism within the film. The film began by showing how the hero in the film started off with hardship, but then continued to do good as a hero within the film. This film used martyrdom, equality of the people, and moral understanding to create this hero within the film.
Martyrdom means to the characters in the film staying true to one’s self and doing what is right even if it means dying. This is first shown when Balian takes the honor of becoming a knight after finding out that is father is Godfrey. Godfrey’s main ideology is to do what is right and protecting the poor even if it means death. This film never addresses Martyrdom in religion, but in the honor of protecting the people. This was important to the theme of feudal obligation because some of the main parts of being a good knight is upholding nobility, honor, and loyalty. This aided in the filmmaker’s decision to make Bailan the hero in the film. …show more content…
An example of this idea of moral understanding is when King Baldwin wants Balian to marry his sister. Balian refuses because he knows that if he does, that would be the cause of Baldwin’s sister’s current husband’s death. Although Bailan knows what marrying her would uphold, he does not marry her due to his moral understanding. This is important in creating a hero in the film because heroes are usually seen as a person who puts other people before themselves.
In conclusion, thinking of ways heroes are usually depicted in life aids in the way we view the hero in the Kingdom of Heaven. In Balian’s case, upholding nobility, honor and loyalty aided in him becoming a great knight. It is important to depict the hero as someone who is fair and someone who puts others before themselves. The filmmaker did an excellent job of depicting Balian as that character within the