Knights of Malta on hold
Production of the film 'Knights of Malta' had been scheduled to start in Malta close to three years ago after director Guy Ritchie finished the filming of 'Swept Away' starring his wife, Madonna. It was then pushed back over a year to the summer of 2003. Greg Dean Schmitz states that this project is still currently on hold. According to this report reprinted by IGN FilmForce, Ritchie's top choices to star may be Sir Anthony Hopkins, as Jean Parisot de la Vallette, Grandmaster of Malta, and Robert De Niro as Turkish leader Dragut Reis:
The Express also reports that Sir Anthony Hopkins and Robert De Niro are two top contenders for Knights of Malta. Hopkins might play Jean Parisot de la Vallette, the Grandmaster of the Knights who heroically defended the Maltese during the Siege. De Niro is up for the part of the great Turkish pirate Dragut Reis, who advised the Turks during the battle. A source told the Express that "Guy [Ritchie] has always been fascinated by the Middle Ages and wants to make a real blood-and-guts epic. Swept Away is a small, personal film, but this is going to be a major blockbuster."
The Great Siege of Malta - 1565 - by Ernle Bradford
Knights of Malta permanent exhibition in Valletta
posted by Robert Micallef at 2/12/2005 04:58:00 PM
No doubt that in this forthcoming film the Maltese people and their participation in the siege will once more be ignored. The Maltese soldiers and the ordinary people will be invisible like in all the sagas and stories published to date. The Knights naturaly wanted to promulgate their own glories around Europe and they had their spin doctors to ensure this. This was done out of knightly vanity and also to serve a political purpose to ensure the support of the European Kings and the Vatican for future adventures.
An exception to the self promoting accounts commissioned by the Knights, was the story told by Francesco Balbi di Corregio (translated by Ernle Brdford). This is the eye-witness story of a private soldier. Francesco was a humble soldier of fortune wo tells the story in his own words giving equal credit to the courage of the knights, Maltese ad other soldiers and the grim determination of the Maltese civilians.
Also the part played by Geronimo Cassar the Military Engineer of the Order at that time was never acknowledged in these stories, when the maintenance of the integrity of the bastions, the building of connecting bridges etc was crucial in the defence of Senglea and Birgu. However, de Valette himself acknowledge the debt owed to Cassar by admitting his two sons to the Order. One even became a Commendatore.
Thanks for sharing this useful information. I agree with your view that most historical accounts don't do justice to the role of those who were not part of the ruling elite. A Maltese history with a people perspective is long overdue. A Maltese former education minister Evarist Bartolo has raised this issue a number of times. I will post about this later.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home