Black Death

Release Date: March 11, 2011 (limited)
Studio: Magnet Releasing (Magnolia Pictures)
Director: Chris Smith
Screenwriter: Dario Poloni
Starring: Sean Bean, John Lynch, Jamie Ballard, Andy Nyman, Johnny Harris, Tygo Gernandt, Emun Elliott, Eddie Redmayne
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
MPAA Rating: Not Available

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Sean Bean stars as Ulric, a grim emissary from the Church, who leads a young monk (Eddie Redmayne) and a band of violent vigilantes and war veterans through the English countryside. Armed with blood-chilling torture devices, their mission is to stamp out suspected paganism in a village that remains untouched by the black plague, even as the rest of Europe grimly succumbs to the pestilence.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXycl0ohLto

a likely under-budgeted movie emulating similar recent releases that doesn't look too exciting

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their mission is to stamp out suspected paganism in a village that remains untouched by the black plague

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except for the fact that 'paganism' (more correctly the original ancient/pre-christian habits/beliefs/traditions) was a target of persecution wherever the church had significant influence, so no special investigation or unusual events were needed to start weeding it out, the only necessary 'emissaries' were those of some level of religious authority to authorize the torture/execution of those who weren't already killed in imperialistic military invasions or similar attacks on local population, the most popular targets being local spiritual and healing practitioners as well as other undesirable elements/members of the society

as for the plague and similar major diseases, they were mostly caused by inadequate sanitary measures, especially in areas of larger population density - as the health improvement measures increased these diseases slowly faded away, proving a timeless truth about the importance of individual hygiene and/or more importantly of the need for a strong individual immune system, which even today is the main factor that ensures personal health (not the vaccines or similar medical poisons)

To be honest i liked this little film and especialy i liked Sean Bean's character...i mean, look at Season of the Witch and compared to this, is a "got nothing to do with history" simple action flick. Black Death has a good story behind it and it keeps you interested till the end. The best comparison i can make is with The 13th Warrior, another underrated movie.