Drama

Romance

Tristan & Isolde

Franchise Pictures

Scott Free Productions

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

Español

James Franco

Sophia Myles

Rufus Sewell

David O'Hara

Mark Strong

Henry Cavill

Bronagh Gallagher

Ronan Vibert

Lucy Russell

JB Blanc

Graham Mullins

Leo Gregory

Dexter Fletcher

Richard Dillane

Hans Martin Stier

Thomas Morris

Jamie Thomas King

Wolfgang Müller

Cheyenne Rushing

Barbora Kodetová

Isobel Moynihan

Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Gordon Truefitt

Myles Taylor

Jack Montgomery

Marek Vašut

David Fisher

Bronwen Davies

Philip O'Sullivan

Nevan Finegan

Jón Ólafsson

Todd Kramer

Winter Ave Zoli

Miroslav Šimůnek

Kevin Flood

Artur Reinhart

Peter Boyle

Kevin Reynolds

Srdjan Kurpjel

Giannina Facio

Ridley Scott

Mark Geraghty

Hana Kučerová

Johnny Byrne

Lisa Ellzey

Tony Scott

Moshe Diamant

Kate Dowd

Maurizio Millenotti

Elie Samaha

Rory Bruen

Jennifer Leshnick

David Minkowski

Anne Lai

Jim Lemley

Pamela Power

Robert Huberman

John Hardy

Jan Fantl

Morgan O'Sullivan

Christian Frohn

Dean Georgaris

Frank Hübner

James Flynn

Stephen Boucher

Matthew Stillman

Nick Powell

John J. Kelly

Monika Fišerová

Jiří Farkaš

Vít Komrzý

Kevin Byrne

Marius Mohnssen

Tony Devlin

Mariano Tufano

Šárka Zázvorková

Sarka Zvolenska

Helge Felgendreher

Rebecca Higginson

Erwin Lanzensberger

Mirella Ginnoto

Jaroslav Polenský

Kriz David

Mario Michisanti

Anja Dihrberg

Kirsty Kinnear

Giovanni Casalnuovo

David Voborský

Larisa Šrámková

Alena Marečková

David Vondrášek

Ales Dlabac

Adéla Robová

Zbynek Travincky

Nancy Bishop

Marketa Puzmanova

Stefano Ceccarelli

Jaroslav Šámal

Ivo Grešák

Larry D. Horricks

Kacper Lisowski

Miro Gábor

Mandy Rahn

Cathy Smith

Manlio Rocchetti

Jan Vseticek

Pavel Sagner

Anthony Wonsoff

Rico Torres

Peter Crooks

Sophie Cornet

John Warhurst

Howard Bargroff

Roman Rigo

Samir Fočo

Catherine Allinson

Gareth Rhys Jones

Martin Schinz

Jack Stew

Geraint Huw Reynolds

Zeljko Lopicic-Lepierre

Graham Daniel

Sefi Carmel

Peter J. Clark

Lucie Samcova

Anne Dudley

Raicho Vasilev

Jan Petřina

Jakub Švec

Roman Jankovič

Saulius Janavičius

Jan Holíček

Michal Grün

Jean-Jacques Desplanque

**_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

Tristan and Isolde (2006) Trailer

Best Movies

Tristan & Isolde

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

James Franco

Sophia Myles

Rufus Sewell

David O'Hara

Mark Strong

Henry Cavill

Bronagh Gallagher

Ronan Vibert

Lucy Russell

JB Blanc

Box office

More Like This

Edward Scissorhands

K-PAX

The Good German

Lucky Number Slevin

The Name of the Rose

Hotel Rwanda

Boys Don't Cry

The Godfather Part II