Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne’s dark medieval quest in ‘Black Death’
If you hated-then-loved Sean Bean in Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings, you’re gonna hate/love him in Black Death, that opens this week in New York and Los Angeles. I freely admit to tearing up when Bean’s LOTR character Boromir, redeems himself for trying to steal the ring from Frodo and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) forgives him as Bean’s knight dies a noble death. This actor was born to wear armor and swing a sword.
Bean is tested again and gets another shot at redemption (of sorts) in director Christopher Smith‘s riveting new historical horror film.Black Death about religious fanaticism. The disturbing tale takes place in 1348 when the people of Europe are dying by the millions from the bubonic plague. Fear and superstition are rampant and fuel persecution of minorities such as Jews, foreigners, beggars, lepers, and of course, women. Because people were desperate, some did turn to the black arts and away from God and the church. In the film, when rumors spread about a pagan village untouched by the disease and a necromancer raises the dead, the church charges a knight named Ulric (Sean Bean) to leads his crew of torturers to the village. They are guided by an unwitting young monk, Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) to the marshland settlement. Their journey will ultimately test all the men’s faith in God and the Devil.
Watch the trailer and then keep reading for a video interview with director Christopher Smith, who also directed Severance, Triangle and The Creep.