History Film / AKnightsTale

* YouKnowImBlackRight: A brief one, when Roland remarks "Women, eh?" to Kate.

* AnachronisticSoundtrack: The soundtrack is filled with 1970s music such as [[Music/{{Queen}} "We Will Rock You"]], [[Music/DavidBowie "Golden Years"]] and [[Music/{{ACDC}} "You Shook Me All Night Long"]] that's deliberately out of place for the 14th-century. The intention was to convey that people of the era felt the same way about their music as a modern audience does about rock music. There's also the fact that the typical alternative, a full orchestral score, would have been just as anachronistic as most orchestral instruments didn't exist in the 14th century.

* HollywoodHistory: Not unusually for Medieval period pieces, the film is ostensibly set during the 1300s but all the knights wear styles of armor that wouldn't be developed until the following century.

* ActOfTrueLove: Having gotten so many declarations of how a suitor will win the tournament for her, Jocelyn gives Will an ultimatum when he does the same in Paris - [[spoiler: that he should ''lose'' to prove his love for her. After he goes through about half the tournament just taking the strikes, she sends word that he's proven himself, and should now fight to win.]]
-->'''Chaucer''': There she is, the embodiment of love. Your Venus.\\

* BattleCry: [[spoiler:[[SayMyName WILLIIIIAAAAAAAM]]]]

* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler:When the truth comes out, Will refuses to run even knowing it could spare him his life. He believes himself to be a knight in his heart, even if he isn't one on paper. His companions agree this may be so but the judges only care for paper.]]
-->'''William:''' No! I will not run! I am a knight!
** The earliest hint of this is when he and his companions compose a love letter to Jocelyn, and he says "With all the love that I possess, William." Chaucer reminds him that he's ''Ulrich''.

** During the Paris tournament, William starts losing on purpose because the LoveInterest told him to to prove that he loved her. This would have been a problem, except that none of the other competitors did particularly well, either, so after the LoveInterest relents, William is able to win despite losing his first round of jousts.

* GenderedInsult: Chaucer and Roland to Wat while they're teaching William to dance.
-->'''Chaucer:''' And one and two and three and four, you can hit me all day 'cause you punch like a what?\\
'''Roland:''' ''[while sewing William's dress]'' A girl!
** Also a slightly unintentional one shortly beforehand:

* MeaningfulEcho: When Will first talks Wat and Roland into his insane plan, the after [[spoiler:Will has been arrested.]]
-->'''Roland:''' ''(exasperated)'' God love you, William--\\

* MeaningfulName: William Thatcher, a Thatcher being a tradesman who makes roofs for buildings out of straw mat, in other words, most definitely not a nobleman by birth. A justified example - in that time period, a person's last name was based on their family's trade. William's father is indeed a thatcher by profession, and William knows enough of the job to repair a leaky roof.

* MotivationalLie: At the second tournament, Roland tells William that his opponent is cruel to his peasants. Wat gives a sotto "It's ''probably'' true" out of Will's earshot.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: A minor example occurs at the ball, when Adhemar asks Will to demonstrate a dance from Gelderland. He's obviously trying to cause embarrassment, but what he accomplishes is to give Will a perfect opportunity to invent a dance and put up any peculiarities to cultural differences, instead of having to try to remember the dances he had hastily learned a few hours before. By contrast, based on his comments in a deleted scene, Adhemar can't dance at all.
** Adhemar also does this several other times before the ball. [[spoiler:His public insulting of William/Ulrich elicts pained sympathy from Jocelyn towards William/Ulrich, and later on, when William refuses to finish off an injured Colville, Adhemar claims mercy is nothing but weakness, drawing further silent disapproval from Jocelyn and indirectly making William/Ulrich look better in comparison.]]

** And the Black Prince and his companions shedding their disguising monks' robes is a clear homage to a similar scene in the Adventures of Robin Hood.

* PowerWalk: William and company do one as they go to the London tournament, [[spoiler:just before William gets arrested. ]]

[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Tagline}} He will]] '''[[Music/QueenBand rock your world]]'' ''']]

** "Sir Thomas Coleville" also wears black armour but is a WorthyOpponent and not a villain, in fact he's actually [[KingIncognito the Prince of Wales in disguise]]. He wears black armour as royal colours or symbols would give him away.

'''Will''': [[ThisIsGonnaSuck And how I hate her]].

* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Edward, Prince of Wales.

* SatelliteLoveInterest: Jocelyn. For most of the film's story, all the poor girl gets to do is stand on the sidelines and then have either a love scene or a fighting scene with Will, though she's lucky enough to get moments of [[DeadpanSnarker witty lines]] and [[PluckyGirl displays of spunk.]] She also kind of lampshades this: her initial rejection of Will is based on him treating her like this trope, as every knight who was smitten with her pretty face has done. She asks him to think of her as a person, not a prize, and when he ''does'', she falls for him. Not that the audience gets to know her very well, she still fits the trope for us, as this is an unfortunate side effect of having to watch the story primarily from William's POV - some characters who might have been more developed individuals had they had more narrative time dedicated to them come off as shallow and unexplored characters, as is the case with Jocelyn.

The film plays like a combination sports movie and romantic comedy, except that the sport is [[TheTourney jousting]] and the setting is TheLateMiddleAges (specifically UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar). Our hero William is a simple squire who, with the help of some lowborn buddies, attempts to make his mark by [[FakeAristocrat posing as a noble knight]], becoming Europe's finest jousting sensation and winning the heart of a fair maiden.

** Before his first match with Adhemar, Jocelyn's aide goes to William to tell him Jocelyn's name on her behalf. Roland watches her walk away, causing Geoff to close his gaping mouth. Roland in turn nudges a distracted William to remind him to concentrate on the match and not the girl.

* PairTheSpares: Roland often becomes a BetaCouple with Jocelyn's handmaiden Christiana in fan fics. There are several scenes in the movie in which one can see Roland and Christiana chatting happily in the background. Made explicit in a deleted scene where Chaucer's wife visits the tournament. Jocelyn and William go off together, Roland and Christiana go off together, and Wat attempts to go off with Kate but she just gives him an apple and walks in the opposite direction.

* BuxomIsBetter: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] when writing the letter to Jocelyn - they spend rather a lot of time discussing whether or not William should mention her breasts. Kate, at least, has an opinion on Jocelyn's.

-->'''William''': No! I will not run! I am a knight!

* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler: The movie of course ends with one between William and Jocelyn after the tournament is won. Prince Edward even plants a big kiss on his wife after the win]].

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: {{Played straight}}, then subverted.[[spoiler: William is stripped of everything, [[StockPunishment put into the pillory]], and humiliated for daring to rise above being a peasant squire. Then the Prince knights him anyway]].
* DirtForcefield: Mostly {{averted}}, as characters appear just as dusty and dirty as they ought (and the Black Prince has a ''bad'' case of Helmet Hair when William reveals him), most of the time. Played straight, though, when Kate is shown working on the below mentioned Nike armour; a blacksmith working in her forge ought to be ''covered'' in soot, while she's just got a little bit of dust on her forehead.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Whilst not evil, per se, merely being on the side of the antagonist, Adhemar's herald nonetheless looks on, ashamed and disgusted, as Adhemar [[spoiler: has Will arrested, instead of facing him fairly in the lists.]]

'''Wat:''' ''[remains silent for a couple uncomfortable {{Beats}}, then gives a faux-nervous chuckle]'' *THWACK*\\
CutToBlack\\

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** William's choice of nom-de-guerre has a certain appropriateness (see AluminiumChristmasTrees above).

* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader - William assumes this role once he starts posing as a knight.
** TheLancer - Roland offers guidance and is the one who frequently calls William out for any idiocy.
** TheBigGuy - Wat has a fiery temper and is prone to violent outbursts. He is, however, the smallest guy on the team, and looks like a piece of wet noodle. He’s surprisingly effective with his fists, though.
** TheSmartGuy - Geoffrey of course is the one who can forge the papers to pass William as a noble, not to mention being a writer. As William's herald, he also doubles as TheFace.
** TheChick: Kate is the only woman in the group, but also a blacksmith and OneOfTheBoys.

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** Widows of blacksmiths and other tradesmen really did take up the job -- not just the PoliticallyCorrectHistory you may have thought ([[AnachronismStew not that it would have been out of place]]). Blacksmiths paid their taxes to the local feudal lord in arrowheads instead of gold, so [[TruthInTelevision nearly all blacksmiths' wives were trained in basic smithing]] so they could make arrowheads and free up their husband to do the earning jobs.
** The real Ulrich Von Lichtenstein -- yes there was a real one! -- was a 13th c. knight who, on one occasion in his career of errantry, rode the tournament circuit in the guise of 'Queen Venus' complete with silk gown over his armor and long braids of false hair dangled beneath his helmet. He was a huge hit and the tour a massive success with a final score of three hundred broken lances without a single fall. Somebody really did [[ShownTheirWork their research]] to unearth Ulrich. That or they read the ''Literature/HorribleHistories'' book on knights.

* AmbiguouslyAbsentParent: William's father, John Thatcher, is seen in flashbacks and reunites with his son near the end. William's mother isn't so much as mentioned. Given the time period, she's likely dead.

* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: Wat does this

* TheStinger: The four non-Will members of the FiveManBand are having a [[ToiletHumour competition]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LYon31qAi8 to see who pays for drinks.]]

** While Anjou (of which the villain is supposed to be the Count of) had once been an English possession (in fact, it was originally the seat of the Plantagenet family, of which the Black Prince was a member), by the time this movie is set, Anjou was a French possession held by the then current King of France John II, who the Black Prince defeated in battle at Poitiers, which is depicted in this movie.

** Modern music is played at frequent intervals in order to convey the feeling that medieval people would have felt the same way about their music as modern people do.