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Ladyhawke (film)

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox film

| name = Ladyhawke

| image = Ladyhawke ver1.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Richard Donner

| producer =

| screenplay =

| story = Edward Khmara

| starring =

| music = Andrew Powell

| cinematography = Vittorio Storaro

| editing = Stuart Baird

| studio =

| distributor =

| released =

| runtime = 121 minutes

| country =

| language = English

| budget = $20 million

| gross = $18.4 million

}}

'Ladyhawke' is a 1985 medieval fantasy film directed and produced by Richard Donner and starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. The story is about a young thief who becomes unwillingly involved with a warrior and his lady who are hunted by the Bishop of Aquila. As he learns about the couple's past and secret, he chooses to help them overcome the bishop's forces: men-at-arms, a wolf hunter and an infernal curse.

Plot



In medieval Italy, Phillipe Gaston, a thief known as "The Mouse", is imprisoned in the dungeons of the evil Bishop of Aquila. Phillipe escapes, just in time to avoid execution. He is recaptured at an inn by the Bishop's guards, led by Captain Marquet. The former captain, Etienne Navarre, arrives, rescues him, and defeats Marquet and the guards. As Navarre and Phillipe flee on horseback, Navarre's hawk scatters other guards, aiding the escape.

Navarre and Phillipe stay the night at a farmer's barn. Later, Phillipe decides to run away but the farmer attempts to kill him. An enormous black wolf protects him by killing the farmer. Phillipe looks for Navarre in the barn, but discovers a beautiful young woman, dressed in Navarre's cloak, who walks away with the wolf.

In the morning, Navarre returns, reveals his intention to kill the Bishop, and asks Phillipe to help him get inside Aquila. Phillipe refuses, and Navarre ties him to a tree. That night, Phillippe meets the woman again and tricks her into cutting his bonds. The next day, he is captured by the Bishop's guards, who use him to set up an ambush for Navarre. During the ambush, Navarre and his hawk are each hit by a crossbow bolt, but Navarre manages to defeat the Bishop's guards and save Phillipe.

Navarre orders Phillipe to take the hawk, who is the worse injured of the two of them, and ride to the ruined castle of a monk named Imperius for help. The hawk is sequestered in a room, but a curious Phillipe picks the lock and finds the mysterious woman inside, her chest struck with the bolt. After tending to her wound, Imperius explains that she is Isabeau of Anjou, who had once refused the Bishop's unwelcome advances. After a drunken Imperius leaked the fact that Navarre and Isabeau had secretly wed, the enraged Bishop put the couple under a Satanic curse. Isabeau becomes a hawk by day and Navarre a wolf by night; therefore, despite being always together, they are eternally apart. The ruined castle is invaded just before dawn by the Bishop's soldiers searching for Isabeau. Pursued by the soldiers, she and Phillippe take refuge atop a high tower. On the verge of being captured, she slips from the tower, but Phillipe holds her long enough for her to be saved when the morning sun rises, transforming her into a hawk.

When Navarre catches up, Imperius tells him that the curse can be broken if the couple face the Bishop together as humans on "a day without a night and a night without a day". Navarre stubbornly dismisses Imperius as an old drunk, and continues his way to Aquila intent on simply killing the Bishop, unaware that in doing so the curse will be permanent. Phillipe volunteers to accompany Navarre and "Ladyhawke". After the group's perilous encounters with a wolf-trapper and a frozen river, Phillipe saves Navarre's life and earns his friendship, finally convincing him to listen to Imperius and try to break the curse before killing the Bishop.

At night, Imperius and Isabeau smuggle the Navarre-wolf into Aquila, while Phillipe swims back through the sewers to get inside the cathedral. Still too stubborn to see any divine sign on the day that he and Isabeau are to appear as humans together, Navarre reverts to his original plan to kill the Bishop. He orders Imperius to euthanize the hawk should the cathedral bells ring, which would mean he had failed.

Phillipe infiltrates the cathedral and unlocks its doors. Navarre rides in and duels with Marquet. Amid the bout, Navarre sees a solar eclipse through a broken window and finally realises Imperius was right. He tries to get back to Imperius, but fails to keep the guards from ringing the bell. Believing that Imperius has killed Isabeau, Navarre continues his fight and eventually kills Marquet by impaling him with his family sword.

As Navarre is about to kill the Bishop, Isabeau enters the cathedral and stops him. Together they face the Bishop and break the curse. The maddened Bishop tries to kill Isabeau, only to die by Navarre's sword. Isabeau and Navarre finally embrace in joy and thank Imperius and Phillipe, declaring him the truest friend they could ever have.

Cast



* Matthew Broderick as Phillipe Gaston, a young thief known as "The Mouse".

* Rutger Hauer as Etienne of Navarre, the former Captain of the Guard of Aquila, who is hunted by the Bishop.

:* Akeela, Kollchek, Levi, and Sashaa quartet of melanistic Siberian wolvesas Etienne's lupine form.

* Michelle Pfeiffer as Isabeau of Anjou, the Comte d'Anjou's daughter, who is hunted by the Bishop.

:* Gift (c.19792 or 3 Dec 2014) and Ladyhawke (d. May 2007) (named Spike II until 2000)two female red-tailed hawksas Isabeau's avian form.

* Leo McKern as Imperius, an old monk living in a ruined castle who used to serve the Bishop.

* John Wood as the Bishop of Aquila, who is obsessed with killing Etienne and capturing Isabeau.

* Ken Hutchison as Captain Marquet, the current Captain of the Guard.

* Alfred Molina as Cezar, a wolf trapper who serves the Bishop.

* Giancarlo Prete as Fornac, a guard officer.

* Loris Loddi as Jehan, a guard officer.

Production



, province of Parma, the movie's castle

in Abruzzo, where the priest Imperius hosts the protagonists to heal them.

Richard Donner had attempted to get the film financed for a number of years and came close to making it twice, once in England and once in Czechoslovakia. He eventually got the project up at Warners and Fox, where it was green-lit by Alan Ladd Jr. Originally, Kurt Russell was cast as the male lead alongside Michelle Pfeiffer. The role of the pickpocket was offered to Sean Penn and then Dustin Hoffman, before Donner decided to go with Matthew Broderick. Eventually, Russell pulled out during rehearsals, and Rutger Hauer was chosen to replace him.Tom Mankiewicz, 'My Life as a Mankiewicz' p 260-265

Filming locations



'Ladyhawke' was filmed in Italy; the Apennine meadow of Campo Imperatore in Abruzzo served as a prominent exterior location, while the monk scene was filmed at Rocca Calascio, a ruined fortress on top of a mountain, not far from real-world L'Aquila. In the region of Emilia-Romagna, the town of Castell'Arquato in the province of Piacenza and castle of Torrechiara in the province of Parma were also featured. Other Italian locations used include Soncino in the Lombardia region, Belluno in the Veneto region, and the Lazio region around Viterbo..

Soundtrack



Andrew Powell composed the score, and it was produced by Alan Parsons. Richard Donner stated that he was listening to The Alan Parsons Project (on which Powell collaborated) while scouting for locations, and became unable to separate his visual ideas from the music. Powell combined traditional orchestral music and Gregorian chants with contemporary progressive rock-infused material. At the time, it was part of a trend among 1980s fantasy films of abandoning the lush orchestral scores of composers such as John Williams, James Horner, and Jerry Goldsmith in favor of a modern pop/rock sound. The soundtrack album was released in 1985 and re-released with additional tracks in 1995. On February 10, 2015, a 2-disc set was released by La-La Land Records; it include previously unreleased music and bonus tracks and was limited to 3,000 units.

Reception



Box office

The film was a box-office disappointment, grossing around $18.4 million against a $20 million budget and ranking 48th for the year at the North American box office.

Critical response

'Ladyhawke' has a rating of 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 26 critics' reviews. The site's consensus states: "There's pacing problems, but 'Ladyhawke' has an undeniable romantic sweep that's stronger than most fantasy epics of its ilk."

Vincent Canby in 'The New York Times' called the film "divided against itself," and went on to say that "scenes of high adventure or of visual splendor... are spliced between other scenes with dialogue of a banality that recalls the famous Tony Curtis line, 'Yondah lies my faddah's castle. 'Time Out' called it "all rather facile sword-and-sorcery stuff, of course, but at times very funny... and always beautifully photographed." 'Variety' described the film as a "very likeable, very well-made fairytale... worthwhile for its extremely authentic look alone." 'Siskel & Ebert' both gave the film positive "thumbs up" reviews on their syndicated television show and thought 'Ladyhawke' was beautifully filmed with the potential to achieve lasting success as a classic in its genre.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/bbjYFtSUKZY Ghostarchive] and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20211123172758/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbjYFtSUKZY&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]: Siskel's only major complaint was that Broderick's role was almost anachronistic in his 1980s-style jokes, while Ebert felt Broderick's comedic elements were fitting.

'The New York Times' singled out Matthew Broderick's skill in coming "very close to transforming contemporary wisecracks particularly, his asides to God into a more ageless kind of comedy," and said of Michelle Pfeiffer that her "presence, both ethereal and erotic, is so vivid that even when she's represented as a hawk, she still seems to be on the screen." 'Variety' praised the casting of the lead actors, considering Pfeiffer "perfect as the enchanting beauty." 'Time Out' called Rutger Hauer "camp" and Pfeiffer "decorative."

Colin Greenland reviewed 'Ladyhawke' for 'Imagine' magazine, and stated that "a singular tale of witchcraft, love and courage, with a fascinating idea that it almost makes the most of."

Accolades



'Ladyhawke' was nominated for two Academy Awards, in the categories of Best Sound (Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore and Bud Alper) and Best Sound Effects Editing (Bob Henderson and Alan Murray), winning neither. It won a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, and was nominated in the categories of Best Actress (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Best Music (Andrew Powell).

See also



* List of films featuring eclipses

References




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