In the cinema, everything is not the same as in life for various reasons. It is frankly stupid to find fault with some things in a dramatic work. However, cinematography often flies away to the country of "Fantasy" when it comes to depicting certain things. Worst of all things are with a variety of historical films. Often, film producers either do not invite or simply do not listen to the recommendations of consultants.
1. Chain mail and armor are easily pierced with cold weapons
How things really are: chain mail is pierced with great difficulty. What is there, even good tight clothes (in fact, a quilted jacket) without any good steel can become a serious obstacle to weapons. A person receives an armor contusion (bruise) with almost any blow, however, it is extremely problematic to get the sharp part of the weapon to the body. It is even more difficult to break through metal armor than chain mail. Even a spear blow from a horse at a gallop can not always cope with this task. There is an excellent book on the penetration of different means of medieval protection with different weapons - scientific Alan Williams' study The Knight and the Blast Furnace: A History of Armor Metallurgy in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern time". Alas, the book is only in English: "The Knight and the Blast Furnace: A History of the Metallurgy of Armor in the Middle Ages & the Early Modern Period», Alan R. Williams BRILL, 2003.
Why the movies are not like real life the desire to show the bloody massacre and horrors of war. Medieval warfare had enough horrors, but most often they consisted of something else.
2. Helmet is optional
How things really are: complete nonsense. A medieval and ancient warrior might not have had protection for his chest, legs, arms, or even a shield. However, head protection has always been strictly mandatory. To go to war without a helmet is to buy a one-way ticket. Even a blow with a flat sword on the skull will most likely be enough to inflict injuries on a person that are incompatible with life. Especially in the conditions of medieval field medicine.
Why the movies are not like real life because the actor must continuously play the face. In addition, there is a deep-seated belief in film and theater that the use of helmets on characters will confuse audiences. It is for this reason that in the feature film "Black Hawk Down" about the operation of US troops in Somalia, inscriptions with their names were stuffed on the helmets of all the heroes. Although, what prevents each character from making his own helmet in a film about the Middle Ages and declaring the item of uniform in the frame is a mystery.
3. graceful swordsmanship
How things really are: fencing with bladed weapons appeared thanks to a non-chivalrous, petty-bourgeois culture. The first fencing books are a kind of instructions for self-defense in urban environments. Fencing penetrated into knightly culture only at the end of the Middle Ages, when the culture of duels began to take shape in the course of the process of impoverishment of chivalry and the collapse of the old order. Moreover, even at the beginning of the New Age, many knights considered fencing to be the lot of commoners, since it has no practical use in a real war on the battlefield. In real battles, the simplest (and therefore the most effective) ways of handling melee weapons are used.
Why the movies are not like real life well, it's beautiful. In addition, there is a whole section of theatrical choreography, which is dedicated to stage fencing. Well-executed swordsmanship in cinema and theater can reveal the characters and images of characters no worse than many other elements of the craft, such as face acting or dialogue.
4. Main weapon - sword
How things really are: among the nobility, swords were indeed widespread. However, they have never been the main weapon of the knight. The sword became a symbol of chivalry already in modern times in the era of romanticization of days long gone. Not the last role in all this was played by fiction and the fine arts of the 19th century. The sword is a rather specific weapon, intended mainly against a weakly protected opponent. The main weapon of chivalry from the era of Charlemagne to the Italian wars at the beginning of the New Age is a spear. At the same time, chivalry used a huge arsenal of much less romantic weapons, including halberds, clubs and maces, and battle axes. Many knights, for example, carried an ax with a two-handed shaft as an auxiliary weapon in the saddle, in addition to the sword.
Why the movies are not like real life the sword looks beautiful and elegant. The literature of the 19th and 20th centuries had a huge influence on the romanticization of this elegant weapon. As a result, a historical stereotype was formed.
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5. A wound with an arrow or a crossbow bolt is a mere trifle
How things really are: any stab wound is extremely dangerous. Especially if in the process of injury a foreign object enters the body and remains in it. In the case of wounding with arrows and crossbow bolts, things are just as bad as with wounding with bullets. Such a wound will constantly bleed and hurt terribly, restrict movement and cause increasing discomfort. Most likely, a person will be incapacitated after the first hit, not even in a vital place on the body. Worst of all, a foreign object in the raft is very likely to lead to blood poisoning. In the Middle Ages, when there were no antibiotics, only prayer and hope for good immunity could overcome blood poisoning.
Why the movies are not like real life the desire to show the dashing hero, his strength and the moment of overcoming "contrary".
6. An arrow or crossbow bolt can be easily pulled out of the body in the event of a hit.
How things really are: Do you remember how in the frankly strange 1999 film "Joan of Arc" by Luc Besson, either an arrow or a crossbow bolt was pulled out of Jeanne? So, what is shown there would lead to only one result - death. It is impossible to pull the arrow out of the wound back. Because in this case, the tip with a probability of 9.5 out of 10 will separate from the shaft and remain in the wound, and after some time it will go even deeper along the wound channel.
In reality, the arrow was either carefully cut out by a field surgeon using a special tool, or it broke off at the very wound, and its remains they were pushed through the part of the body into which it hit, and taken out in the opposite direction, after which the through wound was already processed and sutured surgeon.
Why the movies are not like real life you need to show the hero's dashing, ignorance of the materiel of medieval medicine.
In continuation of the topic, read about why medieval warriors often walked fight with an ax, not a sword.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/101221/61518/