Hollywood has been known for years as a culture that knows how to “twist the truth.” From the Outside, A Knight’s Tale is not exactly factual, but trying to use the story to make a Hollywood film does require a certain parameters. Brian Hegeland, the writer/director of A Knight’s Tale has the goal of connecting with his audience and remaining in the storyline of Chaucer’s original writing at the same time. The key piece in that goal is “remaining in the storyline.” Multiple aspects of the story fall out of place or are not included at all, and this ultimately delivers Hegeland a “C-.”

The main problem with the production is it’s abundance of originality which strays far from the original story. To begin with, there is virtually no visible signs of gods or goddesses in the film, even with Emily. The goddess factor that Chaucer presented when describing Emily brings her to a forefront of attention for the reader. In the film however, not only is the actress not very attractive, but the emphasis is put on “pretty boy” Heath Ledger. The changed emphasis completely switches the sympathy that the reader/viewer feels for the protagonist. To accompany the false portrayal of Emily, there is only one (clear) protagonist in the film, which strays far from the storyline between Palamon and Arcite. This character development in the film proves quite distracting when comparing the production to the original piece.

Connecting an “ancient” piece of art to a modern audience actually isn’t as difficult as it may seem. The reason that this story proved to withstand the test of time is that it was a well thought out story, and was quite entertaining to the people of that time. The funny thing about human nature, however, is that it follows similar tendencies. Essentially, a story that was good then, is still good now. A perfect example of this scenario is Shakespeare’s legendary “Twelfth Night” was recently portrayed in a Hollywood production entitled “She’s the Man,” which proved to be a fairly successful and accurate portrayal of the work it replicated. Hegeland could have easily connected a Classic piece to modern times, but failed making the connection accurately.

It is not easy to understand the roles that certain aspects of the film are meant to portray, but the simple fact is, the film did not adapt the film correctly. In order to relate the literature of old times to an audience of new, a producer must make sure to include key elements of the story, and Hegeland did not. And that is why I believe Hegeland deserves a mere “C-.”