A KNIGHT'S TALE

The movie begins as we see William (Heath Ledger) and his two buddies trying to revive their master after he has passed out after winning another round in a jousting tournament. The man is dead and they are being called back to the arena for the next round. Knowing that he has such a big lead that all he has to do is stay on the horse, William puts on the armor and heads in, posing as the Knight. It's a pretty impressive event going on inside with the fans stomping their feet and clapping to Queen's "We Will Rock You". They're even doing the wave. The event begins and William gets smacked in the face pretty hard but stays on the horse and wins the tournament.

While splitting up their winnings, William decides that since they have all the equipment, they should go on to the next tournament. Only Noblemen can fight in these tournaments so he creates a fictitious name of Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland. Along the way to the tournament they pass a naked man walking down the road. His name is Chaucer (the writer) and after talking with him awhile, they decide that he will write up fake documents for William so he can indeed enter the next tournament. (Chaucer is also a forgerer)

At the next tournament William meets Jocelyn, a daughter of a nobleman and he is overwhelmed by her beauty.

The tournament begins and each fighter is introduced by one of his servants. Chaucer introduces William but not in the traditional nobleman way, but rather like Vince McMahon introducing a wrestler, all that was missing was a "Lets get ready to rumble!" William it turns out, is quite good at Jousting events but can never beat the defending champion, Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell).

In one tournament Adhemar is about to fight "the black prince" in a semifinal match, with the winner to fight William. All of a sudden, Adhemar withdraws from the match. In the finals, William defeats the Black Prince. When the Prince takes off his face shield, we discover that he is actually the Prince of Wales. While most people would never fight the Prince for fear of treason (thats why Adhemar withdrew), the Prince is impressed with William.

There are three or four more tournaments along the way and in one, William's armor is broken. No one will repair it for him except for a female blacksmith who will do it for free just to prove she is better than the men. She has come up with a new way to make the metal stronger and in the end, even puts on her own logo (a double nike swoosh).

Now William is headed off to England to the world championships in his state of the art armor.

When he arrives, he tracts down his father whom he hasn't seen in about 15 years. When he was a young boy, his poor father had given him to the Knight we saw him working for in the beginning of the film.

The night before the tournament there is a festival where William dances with Jocelyn (to the tune of Bowie's "Golden Years") and it is here that Count Adhemar tells William that he is also after Jocelyn and has even set up a meeting with her father the nobleman so he can bid for her.

Just before the tournament begins, it is discovered that William is a fraud. Adhemar had earlier followed him to his father's house and now knows the truth about his background. Jocelyn and his buddies try to convince him to run before he is arrested but he refuses. He is arrested and placed in a stockade for all the town to humiliate him. His buddies try to protect him from the thrown objects but it isn't helping.

Suddenly, the Prince of Wales arrives, has William released and tells William to get on his knees. He pulls out a sword and Knight's him. He is now free to enter the tournament.

William makes it all the way to the finals where he of course will face Count Adhemar. The count had earlier rigged one of his lances with a sharp end rather than a blunt one that in the first two rounds almost kills William. He can now hardly even stand up let alone hold a lance. His wounds have swollen and he can't even fit into his state of the art, double nike swoosh armor.

He decides to do without the armor and to have his buddies tie the lance to his arm.

He looks up to the stands to make sure that Jocelyn knows that "this ones for her."

The two knights race towards each other and William rams his lance right at Adhemar knocking him off the horse while William shouts out...
"W-I-L-L-I-A-M"

The defending champ has been defeated and the film ends with William, his buddies and Jocelyn all celebrating over Adhemar who is lying in the dirt.