1000 years ago the world was extraordinarily brutal. In the darkest of ages, in the hardest of times, somehow the art of romance came into being. Defying brutality itself, gentlemen heroically created a sanctuary for noble womanhood. A new world of honor in knightly combat, pursuit of exotic fashion, revival of Romanesque architecture served as backdrop for the discovery of the new behaviors of romance - writing of love letters, giving flowers, singing of love songs, engagement rings, valentines ceremony, courtly manners. For this transition for humanity, the primary creator paid a dear price.
Eleanor of Aquitaine cultivated the romantic Renaissance and it changed human nature. For her belief in the passion of love as the primary motivator of men and women, she was imprisoned. Twice she was Queen and twice she was jailed by her husbands. The King of France bound her during the Crusades. The King of England jailed her for 15 years. Eleanor hearoically imposed her orders against theirs. Her failures were heroically romantic, yet her tragic struggles changed the world. Through her passion in the West and her compassion in the Mideast, our world of romance and chivalry was born. For those who cherish romance and chivalry and those who seek to honor its birth - her story serves a legend, myth and warning.
It is hard to imagine that filmmakers of romantic adventure have overlooked the very origin of romance. Eleanor precedes Joan of Arc, a warrior in the Crusader in the Holy lands who left the world so much more. Eleanor remains an erased face in time. The powerful and controversial legend has now been made into an 0riginal screenplay, ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE which begins in 1137 when Eleanor is 15 about to become the Queen of France.
Her story is epic and personal. For she seduces, gives birth, and generates a rule over four great kings. Opposed by the church and despised by powerful men she becomes Queen of France and then the Queen of England. In a different age with strange customs, this original life builds a complex family of ten daughters and sons. Eleanor's story is how she evolves to become erotic, artful, and powerful in spite of mighty forces, in spite of masculinity and at times in spite of her own femininity. Restrained by her husbands and church she manages to develop the courts of love, the Book of Love, the rewriting of the King Aruthur tales and the great romantic songs and poems of the time. She defines the rituals of romance, chivalry, and produced fantastic courts of love as pageants, then endured the worst. Through patience she triumphantly becomes the grandmother of Europe. She redefines the role of an essential woman - temptress, mother, professional, grandmother - and in so doing redefines the role of man.
Eleanor compels a code of love that stretches from her passion in Europe to her compassion in the Middle East. How does a woman inspire love to be the rule of law, against a backdrop of terror, brutality, oppression, hate and fear? May I submit my motion picture script for your consideration?