****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
'Flesh And Blood' was made in 1985, so get ready for a VERY young Jennifer Jason-Leigh as Agnes, a maiden of noble blood on her way to her fiancé. Nobleman Arnolfini (Fernando Hilbeck) has decided its time for his book-headed son, Stephen (Tom Burlinson), to wed.So much for love, but on the war side, Arnolfini has used a rowdy band of commoners and mercenary peasants led by Martin (a very young Rutger Hauer) to clear his city of miscreants. The peasants present a problem in and of themselves, so Arnolfini reneges on his promise to them, refusing to pay them for their help.Led by Martin and a mad priest, the band of peasants raid Arnolfini's caravan, wounding Arnolfini and unknowingly kidnapping young Agnes. As the peasants celebrate their spoils, Agnes is discovered hiding underneath a pile of clothing and is pulled out and raped. Yes, the rape scene is pretty graphic, but it actually blends with the movie. The surroundings of Flesh And Blood are not the pretty castles and noble knights and clean cities of LOTR. The women are prosties, course and vulgar, the speech is rough, the landscape mud and blood and hanged men.Agnes, however, is a selfish girl, spoiled and used to getting her way. She manipulates Martin into choosing her over his wanton wench, so that he would keep her to himself and not share her around the group. At first reluctantly, and then with more vigor, she joins with the marauders as they raid and capture a castle.Stephen finds he must pull his head out of his books and rescue Agnes, so he gathers and army to assault the castle the peasants have barricaded themselves in. Using engines and structures of his book's designs, he lays siege to the castle, including flinging corpses riddled with plague over the walls.Agnes, it seems, is torn. Who should she back in this battle to the death? He betrothed nobleman? Or the wild mercenary who has shown her the pleasant things in life?'Flesh And Blood' is gritty and visually real, though there are flaws in the film as well. Such as, the speed in which plague takes to infect and sicken a person, but its flaws do not detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. Especially if you like medieval type flicks.There is violence, nudity, and blood, so this isn't an LOTR kind of movie made for kids. The supporting cast, especially Brion James, performs extremely well. The film has excellent cinematography, a good script, great acting, superb costume design, and lots of grittiness. Enough to keep this horror/fantasy girl quite happy. Definitely a 'Buy'. Enjoy!
