From a novel by Kate Mosse with a plot derived directly from Indiana Jones on the Last Crusade and that awful da Vinci code (we even have a self harming RC fanatic!) with a lot more medieval gore and some nudity - yes, it is the Holy Grail plot (hunt for over the ages) with mysterious secret societies working outside the law with police connivance pitted against a young woman with Grail DNA all looking for the key which are three ancient books! Lost! Not surprisingly, it's hokum and poor. The story wafts and intersects between now and 1209 as the Albigensian Crusade sweeps through southern France to crush the heretical sect called the Cathars, portrayed as martyrs and liberal Christians with obvious references to religious intolerance over the years. The writing is shoddy, one paced, with useless editing and direction. the locations are excellent and some of the acting especially Jessica Findlay Brown, who suffers her usual fate!, is more than this piece deserved. There is plenty of violence - cue Middle Ages has nothing to learn from Modern Day conflicts - and some nudity (very gratuitous and disappears completely in the second part!!! We learn not much about the Cathars, and the ending owes a more to 'She' - another straight lift. You can even boo the authoress as she appears as tour guide near the end - clothes on, of course!
