Robin and Marian
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Movie Reviews of Robin and Marian
Movie Review: A good movie is still the best DVD feature.
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, first a bit of DVD speak. The special features advertised on the box include sound in English (and only English). I didn't know that sound in movies had been a special feature at any point since the 1930s. Oh well.. as with most scaled down DVDs, it advertises the standard menus, scene access and trailers as being special features. No matter. The film is a very nice transfer, and the movie itself is pretty special.The script is by James Goldman, who also wrote the medieval character piece The Lion in Winter. And if anything, the writing here is even sharper than his early film.
Many people have noticed the 1970s Vietnam era feel. And it's true that Robin as a returning crusader certainly taped into the mood of the decade the film was made. But it's more than that. Most Robin Hood films end with Robin being pardoned by the king. And this happens in one of the earliest ballads too.
But the part of the ballad that is cut out of most movies is that Robin Hood eventually left the king's service and returned to his outlaw ways. And then he died at Kirklees Priory. And these final years of Robin also appear in many of the children's novels. This movie -- like very few other filmed versions of the legend -- shows the end of Robin's life.
After the death of King Richard, Robin returns to Sherwood. He has a lot of regrets -- leaving England, leaving Marian, participating in senseless slaughters like Acre. So, a much older Robin seeks a second chance. In his twilight years, Robin tries to recapture the best days of his life. There's something very sad and tragic about it -- but it's also wonderfully human.
The acting in the film is first rate -- Sean Connery makes a very believable Robin. Nicol Williamson is an interesting older Little John. Screen legend Audrey Hepburn plays a very changed Marian. And finally Robert Shaw is the best sheriff of Nottingham in all the Robin Hood movies. An older, more patient, likeable man. The sheriff hasn't been promoted because "I can read and write. It makes you suspect. Not a duke in twenty can read a word. Correct, my lord?" "Books are for clerks."
As he waits for Robin to invade Nottingham, he explains "He's a little in love with death. He flirts. He teases. I can wait."
I think those quotations should give you some idea of how good the writing is and also something of the film's mood.
It is a rich and interesting character piece of people who are very human, but who also formed the basis of legend. ("They've turned us into heroes, Johnny.") It's not an action film, not swashbuckling adventure. There is some romance, but it both a mature and immature romance of older people trying to recapture lost glories.
A smart, sombre -- but also witty -- film. As others have said, it is very much underrated. When I bought this DVD, the store owner was impressed. "Now that's a cool choice," he said.
And so it was.
Movie Review: Beautiful tearjerker
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to start this review by saying I am a huge Audrey Hepburn fan and have made it a point to collect and watch every movie she's ever made. That being said, they don't make movies like this anymore.
This isn't a sweeping drama like "Prince of Thieves" or even a fun take on it like the Disney version. This is about what happens after a legend has become a legend - and what it means to accept that your time is coming to a close.
After serving King Richard for twenty years in the Crusades, an older, battle-weary Robin Hood returns home to England with his best friend Little John. He's kind of shocked at how things have changed - of his band of Merry Men, only two are left, and his former love, whom he left rather abruptly for the Crusades, became a nun out of sorrow over Robin's leaving. But some things are still the same - Robin is still a hero in the eyes of the oppressed peasantry, and his old nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham, is still around and both are looking forward to a final confrontation with each other.
Sean Connery's Robin still wants to flirt with danger and have the grand adventures he did when he was young. It may be foolhardy, especially after witnessing the Crusades and at his age, to confront the Sheriff, but he's still going to do it - he wants to "win the day." But Audrey Hepburn's Marian recognizes that sometimes it's better to let the past go - some things aren't worth dying for and some things are definitely worth living for.
If this movie was made today, it would probably not even make it past the initial screening. Unlike today's movies full of special effects and sweeping cinematography, "Robin and Marian" relies mostly on dialogue to carry the movie - you really have to pay attention to what the characters are saying through their words and body language to understand their personal demons and dreams. Pay close attention, and have your tissue ready for the bittersweet, tragic ending.
By the way, apparently there is some truth to the ending, with Robin's last words to Little John and his final arrow shot. Kudos to the writer for trying to stick close to the actual legend.
Movie Review: One of the latest classics in film history
Summary: 5 Stars
Tremendous cast, work perfectly, the three of them. This may be a rare case where a mediocre director produces one great work of art out of the blue, way above his talents.
The story no need re-telling. Bottom-line, it is a love story, emphasized by the beauty of the (Spanish landscape, curiously enough) that pushes this movie beyond the ordinary Hollywood detritus.
There are probably more subjects entangled into the plot, say religion, social struggles, and what have you, but there's no need to even get into that (so secondary to the main story are they).
I say it's a modern classic because it's so hard to make a film so deep nowadays, about LOVE, without falling into ridicule and hyperbole, the kind of 'Romeo and Juliet' story on film, that being this a rare case, it deserves the honor full-heartedly. There are a couple of moments though that the scriptwriter is on the brink of becoming 'melodramatic/soap-operish', but (in my opinion) it saves itself from this ignominy.
There's an impromptu statement made by Marian, at the end of the film, where she declares to love Robin so much, and then she adds... 'more than God.' Which sentence, I believe, may have been introduced by the scriptwriter in order to summarize the anti-religious viewpoint of the film (and Marian being an ex-nun, more so). But I'd like to rescue this film from an apparently blasphemous impulse by way of quoting I John 4:7-8:
"and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."
but also John 3:12 "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things (Marian)?"
So, even though this film may have been intended to sow incredulity and narcisism among the viewers (surreptitiously), it can still be redeemed through God's grace, because in matters of love, no one knows better than God Himself.
It's a beautiful film, and it will make you cry more than think, which is fair enough for me.
Movie Review: realistic and captivating
Summary: 5 Stars
This 1976 movie takes up well beyond most other movies about Robin Hood and his love for Maid Marian. The story here has more to do with them both in their later years, describing what it is like to be in the twilight of your life instead of the vigorous vibrant and happy times of young adulthood as portrayed typically by Errol Flynn in the 1938 version of Robin Hood. Robin and Marian has an older version of Robin Hood, Little John, Tuck, and Will Scarlet, along with the older version of Maid Marian of course, and catches up with them all reuniting accidentally and for a while the movie is almost a comedy. Having always been a fan of the story because it is the ultimate underdog story where the good guys triumph categorically over the bad guys, I have a great appreciation for this movie with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn - quite surprised to see Richard Harris and his well-done performance of a despotic monarch whose time has come and gone, and none too well. The ending of this movie is pretty much how I had always pictured in my own mind and is believable and likely to have been the final chapter for Robin and Marian. Although there is substantial realistic violence in this movie, it is as it should be and actually fits the story. The elements of adventure, romance, tragedy, and ancient history all blend together wonderfully in this movie that has the most realistic characters, architecture, and landscapes of any Robin Hood movie I've seen. Robert Shaw is quite convincing as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and his mannerisms were exactly as I have always pictured such a character to conduct himself by. If you like the story of Robin Hood, you'll like this movie. James Goldman wrote the story, and Richard Lester directed it; neither of whom owes anybody any apology whatsoever for this movie. I say yes, definitely yes, buy this DVD.Movie Review: connerys finest
Summary: 5 Stars
this must be the most under rated movie of its time. The film features a great cast, apart from mr legend himself, theres the brilliant robert shaw in one of his finest performances, audrey of course who is on top form in what can be described as her most moving role of her career, an absolotely electric cameo from richard harris who proves for the second time that he can match connerys screen presence pound for pound and then theres a galaxy of british talent headed by nichol williamson (little john), delhom elliot, ian holm and even ronnie corbett! This is the best film to be made about the stocking clad legend with connery proving that there has never been an actor who can match his toughness, wit, looks and at the same time display a vunerabilitly that can only fail to move the coldish of fish. A film that will be recognised in years to come as a masterpiece, please lets rush the studios to release it on dvd with some great features. by the way the brilliant soundtrack by the greatest of all film composers john barry has just been released. You must watch this film!!