Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Ivanhoe (1982)

I recently re-watched three versions of Ivanhoe, and thought I'd write up my thoughts on each here. The three versions are the 1952 Robert Taylor movie, the 1982 TV movie, and the 1997 TV mini-series. I'm going to start with the 1982 version, as that was the first Ivanhoe I saw. After I've written up each individually, I'll do a compare/contrast.

I did not see it when it aired, but caught it several years later on video. I rented it solely for Sam Neill, and fell in love with the story of Ivanhoe, among other things. I grew up on the Robin Hood legend, King Richard, Prince John, the Magna Carta, and that whole time period, so Ivanhoe was a natural for me. I'm just surprised it took me that long before I saw a version. (I read the book shortly thereafter, loved it too.)

This is a star-studded version, with a decent budget, lots of action and vibrant color, but a bit cheesy and/or dated in places (depending on how you want to look at it). Sam Neill plays Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, the Knight Templar who falls in love with Rebecca of York, whose played by Olivia Hussey. I loved her in Romeo & Juliet, and she did not disappoint here. James Mason plays her father, Isaac of York. Julian Glover is King Richard, Ronald Pickup is Prince John, Anthony Andrews plays Ivanhoe, John Rhys Davies is Front-de-Boeuf, Michael Hordern Cedric, and Stuart Wilson played Maurice de Bracy.


I was surprised by a couple things when I saw this movie. Ivanhoe may be the title character, but he's not the heart of this story. He spends most of it sidelined with injuries he receives in a melee that was unfairly stacked against him. If not for King Richard, he wouldn't have made it out alive! So, while he moans and groans and tries to recover, the other characters take over the story. In particularly, Bois-Guilbert's forbidden love for Rebecca. In many ways, he is the main character. He's also the only character who truly has a character arc, the only one who changes throughout the story. This, naturally, makes him the most interesting character. Well, almost.

I also fell in love with Bois-Guilbert's cohort, Maurice de Bracy (and by extension, the actor that played him, Stuart Wilson. After seeing him in this, I sought him out in other films, and still keep my eye out for him. He has never disappointed me in a role yet.) De Bracy is a mercenary knight, leader of the Free Companions, but he's honorable, and I am always a sucker for honorable men. He also is lovely to watch when he swordfights. He's quick and very graceful, more so than any of the other actors. In an unstaged fight, I think he would have beaten everyone. His fights are too short, but that's what the rewind button is for! LOL!


As much as I love Sam Neill, in this particular film, I liked Stuart Wilson more. Not to say there was anything wrong with Sam Neill. He was deliciously angry, smarmy and condescending, and finally frustrated with the whole unrequited love thing. One of the things I love about this version is that he nearly takes Ivanhoe apart in their final showdown. Ivanhoe may have bested him in the joust, but I think even were Ivanhoe fully recovered from his injuries, this particular Bois-Guilbert is the better swordsman, and the victory is clearly in his hands. I loved that, because it made his sacrifice for Rebecca that much more poignant.



Things I didn't like: Michael Hordern and Lysette Anthony (Rowena). I like both actors in other movies, but they both annoyed me here. Hordern because his Cedric was a whining complainer and a bit of a fool (not the actor's fault, but the script's), and Rowena because her spunk was overridden by her simpering and sad pouting. Hard to explain, but she just annoyed me here. Too bad, because she had some sassy dialogue and showed spirit. The actor playing Ivanhoe was adequate, but his character is overshadowed by the others, so honestly, I didn't pay that much attention to him.


6 comments:

Hamlette (Rachel) said...

I am always a sucker for honorable men.

Completely random aside, but this made me think of a scene from "Dude, Where's My Car?" where Jesse and Chester argue with an old guy about how to pronounce "honorable." One of my favorite bits, and any time someone says "honorable man," it pops into my head.

Anyway, keeping an eye out for this version!

Eva said...

I re-watched this movie partly for Stuart Wilson (after seeing/loving him in Princess of Thieves, I had to see him in something else) and for most of the film, I liked him but not de Bracy himself. But as soon as he yielded to King Richard, I liked him. Because of the whole honorable thing. :)

DKoren said...

Aw! It's a fun one to watch regardless. But yeah, he has his own code of honor and he follows it. When he yields, that might be my favorite moment of his in the movie. Or when he tells de Bois Guilbert that he has yielded. That whole fight/yield thing anyway!!

Eva said...

Yes! :)

jainafel said...

Haha, I just stumbled across this while doing an Internet search for Stuart Wilson. I love Ivanhoe (1982), grew up with it on VCR from 20 years ago. My brothers and I watched it so many times that we could recite the dialogue between the 3 baddies by heart ("What a shame, Brian, now you'll never get your chance!") I agree with everything you've said about this movie. "That's what the rewind button is for!" Completely agree. I was obsessed and spent AGES trying to figure out that little line he said to his horse. Thanks to the Internet now, 20 years later, I finally know that I'm not the only De Bracy fan who exists. :D

DKoren said...

Hi Jainafel! I'm so sorry! Blogger apparently hasn't been emailing me when people comment, so I completely missed this comment until right now!

Yay! Another De Bracy fan! Like you, I also used to watch it on VCR back then. I can hear that dialogue "What a shame, Brian...." exactly as he says it... that's one of the lines I like to quote!

Anyway, so sorry for the delay in responding. Silly blogger.