The tragic romance of the young warrior Tristan and the Irish princess Isolde is a tale worth telling.
Though little known, their affair rightfully sounds familiar.
It is often considered the inspiration for both Romeo and Juliet and Camelot.
After the Romans left Britain back in the 10th century, the country became a tribal kingdom.
Alone, these tribes were much weaker than the Irish who used Britain as a source of slaves and bounty.
Attempts to unite the tribes continued to fail so the Irish King Donnchadh (David O'Hara) kept raping and pillaging his weaker neighbours.
Not realizing who she is, the young British warrior Tristan (James Franco) falls in love with Donnchadh's daughter, Isolde (Sophia Myles).
Their early affair plays out like the star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
There's even a nurse and a poison that makes someone appear dead when they are essentially in a trance.
After several complicated plot twists, Isolde is betrothed to Britain's Lord Marke (Rufus Sewell), Tristan's stepfather, who is on the verge of uniting the tribes.
Try as they may, Tristan and Isolde cannot deny their passion, so they begin an adulterous affair.
We suddenly have a triangle that recalls Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot.
As was the case with Camelot, the affair is in danger of destroying an ideal kingdom.
As written by Dean Georgaris and directed by Kevin Reynolds, Tristan & Isolde works both as a sweeping action adventure and a romantic drama.
The battle scenes are graphic and exciting and all the political wrangling and deception is intriguing.
The film has a great look with Dark Age landscapes that recall those created for Antoine Fugua's King Arthur.
O'Hara makes the kind of unconscionable villain who uses his daughter as a pawn to advance his career and retain power.
Sewell patterns Marke after King Arthur, who truly loved both his wife and his best friend.
This Marke is not a leering, slavering, older despot.
He is a kind, loving husband and a fair ruler, so it's just as tragic watching him being deceived and manipulated as it is acknowledging Tristan and Isolde's passion is as deep as it is honest.
The biggest problem with Tristan & Isolde is how the young lovers are played.
Franco Zeffirelli got it right back in 1968 when he cast 17-year-old Leonard Whiting as the lovestruck Romeo and 15-year-old Olivia Hussey as Juliet and demanded they play their real ages, if not a bit younger.
Tristan was no older than 19 and Franco finds the reckless youth in him, even if he looks a bit slight for all the swashbuckling.
Isolde would have been 13 or 14, but Myles plays her without real naivete or innocence.
She's too wise and too mature to be forgiven for betraying her husband with her lover.
(This film is rated 14-A)
