Movies
The Reckoning
| Rating: | R (for some sexuality and violent images) |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Release Date: | March 5, 2004 |
| Running time: | 102 minutes |
| Cast: | Paul Bettany, Simon McBurney, Willem Dafoe, Gina McKee, Brian Cox |
| Director: | Paul McGuigan |
| Producer: | Caroline Wood |
| Writer: | Mark Mills |
| Distributor: | Paramount Classics |
Description: In 14th-century England, a young monk breaks his vow of chastity and flees the wrath of his bishop and fellow monks. A fugitive priest, he then witnesses the murder of a traveling performer--and subsequently, the mourning of actor by his fellow troupe members. He eventually becomes initiated into the troupe as a player, replacing the murdered man. They travel from town to town performing their standard morality play. They arrive in a town where a boy has been killed and a young deaf-mute girl has been imprisoned for the crime--sentenced to death for witchcraft and murder. Discarding the expected bible stories, the actors stage a performance based on the crime. Through the performance of the play, they discover that the townspeople know the young woman did not, in fact, commit the murder. The stage becomes a place where vital human truth is told. Thus, simultaneously, the fugitive priest comes to terms with his own crime and makes a powerful sacrifice, thereby redeeming himself.
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