Ladyhawk - A forgotten Fantasy Gem

Usually I am not a friend of remakes, but I wouldn't mind seeing a remake of Ladyhawk. Not because the old movie isn't good but because today's visual effects techniques could make this an unforgettable fantasy event.  

But let's start with the classic version. The built of the story as a medieval legend was done so perfectly that many people believed it was truly inspired by an ancient story, which could also be due to the fact that initially it was promoted as if it was. In reality however that story was written by Edward Khmara.

The plot is marked by its simplicity without ever being boring: A dashing knight and beautiful noble woman fall in love and then are cursed by an evil man. They pair can be close without ever being together. She is hawk during the day, he is a wolf during the night. But thanks to a solar eclipse and two good friends they get the chance to break the curse. Of course their way is full obstacles and there are challenges to be mastered. 

The story worked perfectly in the medieval french setting and with a great cast, which was led by Rutger Hauer as Etienne de Navarre and Michelle Pfeiffer as Isabeau d'Anjou. It was completed by Matthew Broderick, Leo McKern and John Wood.

The real lead is actually Matthew Broderick as Philipp as he carries the story and in a way he functions as the narrator, especially when he speaks to god. It is only through his eyes, that we experience the story. Navarre and Isabeau always remain distant to the spectator emphazising the impression, that we are watching a truly ancient legend. They always remain as mysterious as the curse that was inflicted upon them.

The story works without epic battles or major special effects,. Actually the only effects are the transformations of the leads. In this way it is different from today fantasy movies, which are more of a spectacle than a movie. This gives Ladyhawk a personal quality as we care about every single character. In comparison in today's movies we see so many deaths that we actually stop caring.

Although it has been critized a lot I think the music sets this movies apart. Instead of using the expected classical music soundtrack director Richard Donner choose to combine traditional gregorian chants with progressive rock from Alan Parsons Project. The result was a strangely fitting musical composition that at the same time distanted the movie from a merely historical setting to something else.

These days we are used to movies getting bigger and bigger and it is only due to its magnificent story and execution that Ladyhawke remains a classic. As mentioned before I am not a fan of remakes but I believed a modern intake could be quite interesting and visually stunning, although it might lack the charme of the original. In case Ladyhawks remains a fantasy gem.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Character Analysis - Hayley Marshall-Kenner (The Originals & The Vampire Diaries)

Since some people have told me, that I always write these about characters that I like I have decided to change that and pick a character I don't like: Hayley Marshall-Kenner. Before getting into the character in details, let's clear something up: While I dislike the character, I find it is very well crafted and Phoebe Tonkin portrays her excellently. She is a stunningly beautiful woman yet manages to believably pull off the tomboy and though girl. She also does justice to the emotional range of Hayley. But let's take a closer look at the character itself.  When we meet Hayley in "The Vampire Diaries" we learn that she has helped Tyler break the sire bond, meaning that although she grew up outside of the werewolf community she has learnt about the supernatural world. Not much is known about the family that adopted her only that when she turned into a wolf her parents kicked her out.  Hayley is what can be called street smart, which makes sense since she spend time...
Read more

Science Fiction & Fantasy - Escaping Reality

When talking to people I often get the question: "Why do you write Science Fiction and Fantasy?" This is usually followed by a tirade that they don't like it, because it is so unrealistic. What they don't get: That is the point! With these two genres the fact is that the only limit to your writing is your own mind. While in reality we are limited by physics, biology or simply life. This became very evident to me when my mother, who loved those genres probably even more than I do, fell severly ill. At one point it became evident that there was nothing the doctors could do for her. My reaction was the same one as for everybody who is loosing a loved one: I tried to find a solution and went through the five stages of grief. I spent hours on the internet researching her illness and looking for the latest breakthroughs only to come to the conclusion that medicine was not yet ready to safe her. The feeling of helpnessless was overpowering especially since my writer...
Read more

11 Errors in The Hunger Games (Books)

Don't get me wrong, I love "The Hunger Games" trilogy and believe the stories are great. This is however also the reason why all the errors upset me.  To be a good writer you don't need 'just' a good story but you also need an eye for detail and sometimes is means to painstakingly comb trough your own story to eliminate flaws, no matter if they involve grammar and syntax, characters acting ilogical, plot holes or continuity errors.  "The Hunger Games" trilogy  is full of them and because of these errors instead of being an incredible book it seems like a wasted oportunity.  Of course you can ask how a non published writer dares criticizing a bestselling author. Well, just read my list and you might decide if I am right and by the way: Once my book is out I welcome all the detailed analysis as it will help me improve my writing.  Repetition: In each of the books she keeps repeating "he says", "she says", "Pee...
Read more