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Tristan & Isolde

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6.7/10 • 802

2006-04-072h 5m

DramaRomance

Fighting countries can still love...

An affair between the second in line to Britain's throne and the princess of the feuding Irish spells doom for the young lovers.

Directors
Kevin Reynolds
Writters
Dean Georgaris
Editors
Peter Boyle

Top Billed Cast

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  1. James Franco

    James Franco

    Tristan

  2. Sophia Myles

    Sophia Myles

    Isolde

  3. Rufus Sewell

    Rufus Sewell

    Marke

  4. David O'Hara

    David O'Hara

    Donnchadh

  5. Mark Strong

    Mark Strong

    Wictred

  6. Henry Cavill

    Henry Cavill

    Melot

  7. Bronagh Gallagher

    Bronagh Gallagher

    Bragnae

  8. Ronan Vibert

    Ronan Vibert

    Bodkin

  9. Lucy Russell

    Lucy Russell

    Edyth

Reviews1

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

May 22, 2025

9/10

One of the Best Medieval/British Isle flicks Remember the three such movies of 1995: "Braveheart," "Rob Roy" and "First Knight"? "Tristan + Isolde" is better than all of them or, at least, on par. It shares plot elements of "First Knight" with the king's trusted protégé playing around with his young wife, but "Tristan + Isolde" is just overall superior. James Franco plays the brooding Tristan, who has good reason to be sullen, except when he escapes into Isolde's arms in secret. Sophia Myles works well as the Irish princess, Isolde, who's given as a gift to the king of the Brits, Marke (Rufus Sewell). Also on hand is Marke's nephew, Melot (Henry Cavill), who's passed up by the king for Tristan; David O'Hara as the wicked Irish king, Donnchadh; and the ignoble Wictred (Mark Strong). These are all strong, memorable characters. Although there are some contrived plot elements, the story (based on the medieval romantic legend) is coherent and pretty compelling. Meanwhile the locations (Ireland) and cinematography are breathtaking. The score's good too. Yet this isn't just a film that's beautiful in appearance & sound, it's beautiful period, despite the brutal violence, bloodshed and betrayal. The general ambiance is similar to, say, "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992) and lacks the crude elements of "Rob Roy." Some complain that James Franco is too selfishly sullen as Tristan, but that's a big part of the story. Should he have played Tristan as elated that the one & only woman he's ever loved has become the king's wife, a gift from Ireland? The whole adulterous tangled web could have probably been avoided if either Tristan or Isolde simply told the truth about their relationship BEFORE Isolde married the king, but it's not always easy to do this, especially when you're so young and dumb. By "dumb" I don't mean stupid, but rather naive and lacking the life-skills that only come with age & experience. There's also a lot of good stuff to glean from the tragedy: Everyone wants someone to believe in them; never trust a proven scoundrel; humble confession, remorse & repentance; the natural desire for freedom and "true love," etc. Despite its early 2006 release date, it was shot over two years earlier in September-October, 2003. It runs 2 hours, 5 minutes, and was shot in west-central Ireland at Connemara, County Galway. Exterior shots were done in the Czech Republic at Pruhonice Park and Castle, Krivoklat and Prague. GRADE: A

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$31,000,000.00
Revenue
$28,000,000.00
Keywords
in love with enemyhostilitycastleloversrevengemurderknightbattlemiddle ages (476-1453)star crossed lovers6th century