Ladyhawke

Ladyhawke (1985)

Director: Richard Donner
Cast: Rutger Hauer, Matthew Broderick, Michelle Pfieffer, Leo McKern, John Wood, Ken Hutchison
Writers: Edward Khmara, Michael Thomas, Tom Mankiewicz

Synopsis:
Ladyhawke is the story of a young thief, Phillipe Gaston (Broderick) who is being hunted after escaping from prison. He is saved from recapture by the exiled soldier Navarre (Hauer), who befriends him. Navarre has been on the run from the evil Bishop of Aquilla (Wood) since he escaped the city with his love Isabeau (Pfeiffer), whom the Bishop covets. Gaston learns that the Bishop placed a curse on the lovers that causes Isabeau to become a hawk during the day and Navarre to become a wolf during the night. Navarre seeks Gaston's help to get him into the city so that he can kill the Bishop, while the disgraced monk Imperius (McKern) looks for a way to break the curse.

First Impressions:
Ladyhawke is one of the least well-known entries in Richard Donner's vast filmography and personally, I think it's an underrated gem. I was 10 or 11 the first time I saw this movie when my parents rented it for me and my older brother (remember when renting movies was a thing?). This movie help kindle my interest in swords, knights and the fantasy genre in general. So, needless to say, I have some fond memories of this particular movie and it's been a while since I've watched it (probably 4 or 5 years at least) but I'm going to try and remove the nostalgia goggles and come at it fresh. Let's begin.

Story: - 

"You have stumbled onto a tragic story, Phillipe Gaston and now you are lost in it, with the rest of us."

I read somewhere that the story for Ladyhawke was based on an old German myth. I'm not sure if that's true or not but the movie definitely has a fairy tale feel to it. Like any good myth, the characters are all pretty well-established archetypes, from the noble warrior, to the lovable rogue, to the grouchy wise man. A story like this, that has a lot of background not covered by the events of the film, could easily get bogged down in exposition but Ladyhawke avoids this trap. The viewer is fed just enough information about the story and about the characters to allow them to piece together a lot of the background on their own. When exposition is needed, it seems natural and merely fills in some of the blanks rather than outlines the whole story. Likewise, when the true nature of the curse is revealed about halfway through the movie, it's not played up for shock value because the filmmakers trust the audience is smart enough to figure much of it out on their own.

The story is also interesting in that it's told from the point of view of the sidekick, rather than the hero. Though rarely used in adventure movies, it's an approach that works well here because we get to unravel everything at the same time Phillipe does.

Acting:
Overall, I though the acting in this movie is pretty solid. There are very few that can do intense and brooding, quite like Hauer could and he does that here to good effect. Pfeiffer does what she can with what she was given, which isn't much as she's relegated to only a few scenes. John Wood is particularly skeevy as the Bishop and Ken Hutchison does a good job as his henchman Captain Marquet. Also keep an eye out for a young Alfred Molina, who does a good job playing a creepy-ass fur trapper named Cezar.

The real highlights in the cast, for me at least, are McKern and Broderick, who both really stole the show. Broderick acts as our eyes and ears to the story as it unfolds and with him in the role, Gaston's various quirks - such as his frequent chats with God, his constant lying and of course his kleptomania - come off as charming and endearing, rather than irritating. McKern also really shines here as the gruff priest Imperius, who seeks redemption for betraying Navarre and Isabeau, forcing the pair to flee. McKern manages to hit the right notes as Imperious flips between drunk, sober, lucid and mad. Additionally, the pair of Broderick and McKern had amazing chemistry as the comic relief to a relatively dark story  that needed some levity.

Visuals/Special Effects:
Well, this was made in 1985, so obviously the special effects are going to be a bit rough. In actuality Donner takes the right avenue here with the "less is more" approach. If this movie were made today, I have no doubt that it would utilize a bunch of CGI to animate Navarre's and Isabeau's transformations from human to animal and back again. Donner, though, opts instead to put very little focus on the transitions between animal and human by using dark lighting, lens flares, quick cuts and superimposing images to suggest, but not outright show the mystical goings on. As a result, the SFX in the movie have aged a little better than if they had tried some form of animation or heavy make-up effect.

Score/Music:
Well, every movie has its blemishes and Ladyhawke's is definitely its score. It was written by Andrew Powell, recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and produced by Alan Parson (yes, that one). The score was part of a trend in Hollywood in the late 80s that saw filmmakers give period movies modern rock scores (see Young Guns, Legend). I don't think it works all that well and really serves to date the movie. Although, I have to say, it's not as bad as I remember.

Action:
Saving the best for last.  I'm a sucker for a good action sequence, particularly a good sword fight and Ladyhawke doesn't disappoint. The action is grounded and gritty but not very gratuitous (which is probably why my mother let me watch it as a 10 year old). With medieval-set movies its easy to just have all off the action revolve around violence but Ladyhawke mixes it up, with a chase in a ruined castle, a harrowing attempt to cross a frozen river and a tense game of cat and mouse in the forest with a unscrupulous fur trapper.

The highlight action sequence has to be the final fight between Navarre and Marquet. It's great because it's a well choreographed fight that doesn't look choreographed. It's raw, it's violent and it's very much how I'd imagine a real sword fight to look like. There's very little grace to it and it's just two men spewing power and rage all over each other. By the end, both combatants are so worn they can barely stand, let alone fight. Definitely one of my favorite sword fights in movie history.

Final Verdict: Despite a dated score and special effects, the movie still holds up for me. I enjoyed then and I still enjoy it now.