Arn: The Knight Templar

Sweden in the medieval year 1150: In the Holy Land, the Crusaders are engaged in bloody and seemingly hopeless battles with the overpowering Muslim army. Meanwhile in Sweden, Arn Magnusson (Joakim Nätterqvist), the son of a Swedish noble family, has grown up in a well-protected monastery to become a gifted young man. The future seems to be open to him when Arn becomes the victim of a political intrigue. 20 years of service as a Knight Templar in a foreign land. This is the merciless sentence that snatches the exile from the arms of his pregnant lover Cecilia Algotsdotter (Sofia Helin). Near Jerusalem, the upright knight meets Sultan Saladin, who is traveling incognito, and, unbeknownst to him, saves the arch-enemy's life. As a result, the two men always treat each other with respect in all military conflicts. But the exile's heart belongs to Cecilia, not the war. Arn, now a respected army commander, tirelessly tries to fight his way back home... As the first part of the film adaptation of Jan Guillou's Götaland trilogy, which enjoys cult status in Sweden, “Arn - The Crusader” covers the plot of the first two volumes. With stars such as Mikael Nyqvist, Bibi Andersson and Stellan Skarsgård in the supporting roles, the most expensive Scandinavian film production to date became a veritable hit in Sweden - and immediately led to a sequel: the rest of the novel trilogy, in which Arn returns to his homeland, was filmed a year later under the title “Arn - Riket vid vägens slut”. “Peter Flinth's visually stunning medieval spectacle is less a historical film with the ambition of bringing the period depicted to life or even opening up new perspectives on historical events, and more a lovingly crafted chivalric romance about a sympathetically unpretentious, reserved hero. It is pleasantly noticeable that the plot is much more interested in characterization than in action and monumental battle panoramas. Last but not least, the excellently cast supporting roles - Bibi Andersson as the mean Mother Superior, Vincent Perez as Arn's mentor and Stellan Skarsgård as the bearish henchman - ensure that the adventure takes on vivid contours.” (Felicitas Kleiner, on: filmdienst.de) “An epic saga about war and intrigue, friendship and betrayal, and above all: about love.” (Swedish Film Institute)