You sure did beat me to the punch Gaius...I did not see this one coming at all.
I do find it interesting that for this new Daniel Crag film no one is listed as playing the part of William (or did I just miss that?)
There is a little info about this film,
http://www.reverieproductions.com/htmls/press.html
http://www.1066themovie.biz/
The second site does list a part for William but an actor has yet to be cast.
Then there is this MySpace site, but I do not have the time to wade through it so can not say if there is any useful information there or not. It looks like there might be for those with the patience to read through it all.
http://www.myspace.com/haroldgodwinson
On the other hand I did find this site that has a few interesting comments and some footage of the re-enactment staged in 2006.
http://samuraidave.wordpress.com/catego ... -hastings/
Probably the reason for the lack of a good novel, or Shakespeare play, or Hollywood film on the Battle of Hastings is the confusion on how to present the outcome of the battle. Was it a victory or a defeat? Was Harold a tragic hero or an incompetent usurper? Was William the Conqueror a bold leader bringing civilization and culture to backwater England or a greedy grasping in secure invader?
This is an interesting point, but might well be said of many battles throughout history.
After all there are some who believe Caesar was a tyrant who destroyed the Republic, while others think him a true champion of the people against the greedy Senators.
More to the point, there were three films in pre-production on Alexander the Great but Oliver Stone beat the others to the gate and they continue to languish in development hell. (One project by director Martin Scorsese and the other by Baz Luhrmann. Both have said they still want to make their films on Alexander, but as Stone's film was not a mega hit it will be difficult for even these directors to find the money for their versions of Alexander.) It seems unlikely that all three of these 1066 films will get made, but if they do it will be interesting to compare their different takes on the story.
Thanks for the posting Gaius -- yet another film project to keep an eye on.
:wink:
Narukami