Forgotten Films: Ladyhawke (1985)
This is the 50th in my series of Forgotten Obscure or Neglected Films
I am not sure how forgotten this film is these days. I certainly have never forgotten it but when I mentioned it to a few folks the other day, they were like “Oh, yeah! I sorta remember that one.” And that convinced me I was on the right track.
While far from perfect, this remains a pretty fine fantasy film. It is set in some medieval land where Phillipe “Mouse” Gaston (Matthew Broderick) is a thief and pickpocket who has escaped from the dungeons of Aquila, something no one has ever done. As he is fleeing the country, he encounters a roaming knight, Captain Etienne Navarre, formerly of Aquila’s guard. He rides a huge horse and swings a mean sword. He is accompanied by a hawk on which he dotes. Phillipe is rescued from the pursuing guards by Etienne and rides with him. At night, Phillipe stays indoors while Etienne remains outside. On one of the nights, Phillipe meets a beautiful young woman, Isabeau d’Anjou (Michelle Pfeiffer). He speaks to her and in the morning she is gone. One night as he is out, he encounters a giant wolf from which he barely escapes.
Phillipe and Etienne make their way to the home of a drunken priest, Father Imperius (Leo McKern). Here Phillipe hears the tale of the knight and his love, Etienne and Isabeau, and the Bishop (John Wood) who loved Isabeau and of the priest who mistakenly betrayed the true love and the curse laid upon them. Etienne is cursed to be a wolf at night and Isabeau remains a hawk during daylight. Always together and always apart.
Etienne is determined to kill the Bishop while Father Imperius has other plans. If Etienne succeeds, they will never be able to be together, while Rather Imperius’ plan may break the curse. But they are impetuous and cannot be told what to do.
It is pretty well thought out and acted. One of the great fun things in watching this again was seeing Alfred Molina in a very early role. I always seem to like the roles he portrays.
I really enjoyed this film when I first saw it, when it came up again on cable and just now as I saw it again. It may not be perfect but there are few better fantasies around. Check it out for the first time if you have not seen it or watch it again if you have. You will not be disappointed.
Series organizer Todd Mason hosts more Tuesday Forgotten Film reviews at his own blog and posts a complete list of participating blogs.
Hard to believe it’s been so long since this one was released. Judy and I both enjoyed it back in ’85. Haven’t seen it since.
I remember liking it too. But it didn’t stick much.
It was a story that could have been written for Jim Henson’s The Storyteller. Fun stuff. Good cast and a good movie.
Alberto Ramirez
This is Yet Another of those films I’ve seen about five minutes of, then switched off so as to wait when I could see the whole thing. There are a number of high fantasy films of that sort from its era that I can describe thus, including the Henson DARK CRYSTAL. But given it’s Michelle Pfeiffer, it’s really past time.
My Mum’s favourite movie and she is not really a fan of sword and sorcery either. But it’s so beautifulyl shot in Italy that, despite the oddball anachronisms (probably not th right word in a fantasy movie) and with the help of its cast it really does have a special kind of charm, especially the scenes between Broderick and Mckern, a pair of inveterate scene-stealers!
Cheers,
Sergio
[...] this week’s column and this one literally fell off the shelf and landed at my feet. And, since my forgotten film this week featured a character named Mouse, it is only fitting that the forgotten book should feature a [...]