Pilgrimage: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
Ireland, 1209. An island on the edge of the world. A small group of monks begin a reluctant pilgrimage across an island torn between centuries of tribal warfare and the growing power of Norman invaders. Escorting their monastery’s holiest relic to Rome, the monks’ progress is seen through the eyes of a pious young novice (Tom Holland) and a mute lay-brother (Jon Bernthal), who form an unlikely partnership to lead the quest after their group is ambushed leaving only them left alive. As the true material, political and religious significance of the bejewelled relic becomes dangerously apparent, their path to the East coast becomes increasingly fraught with danger – not least from enemies, including Sir Raymond de Merville (Richard Armitage), determined to thwart their progress. The monks belatedly realize that in this wild land of ancient superstitions, the faith that binds them together may ultimately lead to their destruction.
Pilgrimage is one of those movies that feels and seems like it should be an epic presentation but in fact it’s not. It’s a film that has those tendencies but on a much smaller scale and its because of that vibe that the movie comes across as a lot more intimate and powerful with its themes. This film has a bit of everything in it. There are religious aspects, fantastic drama and violent battle scenes which makes this a really interesting film that definitely kept my attention. Holland completely owned his role in the film and it’s easy to see why he’ll have a very long career. Bernthal really impressed me with his performance here. There’s no question that he’s a great actor but to give an awesome performance without saying anything at all and being able to tell a story just by facial expressions and actions surprised me. This was a very solid film that everyone should definitely pick up and check out as soon as you can. 7/10
Special Features:
The Making of Pilgrimage – The usual behind the scenes feature with interviews with the cast and crew as well as film clips.
The Dance of War: The Fight Choreography of Pilgrimage – A look at some of the fight and battle scenes in the film.
Building an Army: The Visual & Make-Up Effects of Pilgrimage – These are the kind of features that I love. A nice look at how the crew created the look of the film and how they managed to get each actor in character.
Sounds from the Past: The Languages & Music of Pilgrimage – An interesting look at the music and how important it is to the film as well as needing to get the dialogue right for authenticity.
Setting the Scene: The Locations of Pilgrimage – This feature focuses on the need to have proper locations to bring the film to life. Very interesting!
Photo Gallery
Poster Gallery
