Ladyhawke

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points.

Ladyhawke
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Donner
Produced by	Richard Donner Harvey Bernhard Lauren Shuler Donner
Written by	Story: Edward Khmara Screenplay: Edward Khmara Michael Thomas Tom Mankiewicz
Starring	Matthew Broderick Rutger Hauer Michelle Pfeiffer John Wood
Music by	Andrew Powell
Cinematography	Vittorio Storaro
Editing by	Stuart Baird
Distributed by	Warner Bros. 20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	April 12, 1985
Running time	121 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Gross revenue	$18.432 million

Ladyhawke (1985) is a fantasy film directed by Richard Donner, and starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Soundtrack 4 Filming locations 5 Critical reception 6 Awards and nominations 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Plot

Phillipe "The Mouse" Gaston (Matthew Broderick), a peasant thief facing execution, escapes from the dungeons of Aquila and flees into the countryside. The Bishop of Aquila (John Wood) sends his captain of the guard to find and kill Phillipe; the soldiers corner him, but at the last moment, Phillipe is saved by a mysterious black knight, known to the soldiers as Etienne Navarre (Rutger Hauer). The Bishop is warned of Navarre's return.

Navarre, who travels with a companion hawk, tells Phillipe that he intends to ride back to Aquila and, using Phillipe's unique knowledge, to get inside the city and kill the Bishop, for reasons not made clear. As they travel, Phillipe observes that Navarre disappears every night, at the same moment that a wolf appears; also, that the hawk travelling with him disappears each night, coinciding with the appearance of a beautiful woman (Michelle Pfeiffer).

Navarre and the hawk are wounded in another battle with the Bishop's guards, and Phillipe is ordered to take the hawk to a ruined abbey where an old monk, Imperius (Leo McKern), will restore it. At the abbey, with the hawk once again transformed into the woman, Phillipe is informed by the monk that the woman's name is Isabeau, and that she was married to Navarre when he was captain of the Bishop's guard. The Bishop, in love with Isabeau himself and consumed with jealousy, had a transformation curse placed upon the pair.

In order to reunite the lovers, Phillipe must persuade Navarre not to kill the Bishop, but instead to appear before him in three days' time, when there will be a solar eclipse (a day without a night); with Navarre and Isabeau both in their human forms, the curse will be broken.

[edit] Cast

• Matthew Broderick as Phillipe Gaston
• Rutger Hauer as Captain Etienne Navarre
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Isabeau d'Anjou
• Leo McKern as Father Imperius
• John Wood as Bishop of Aquila
• Ken Hutchison as Marquet
• Alfred Molina as Cezar
• Giancarlo Prete as Fornac

[edit] Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Andrew Powell. 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, to controversial effect. It has been cited as the most memorable example of the growing trend among 1980s fantasy films, of abandoning the lush orchestral scores of composers such as John Williams and James Horner in favour of a modern pop/rock sound.^[1]

[edit] Filming locations

Ladyhawke was filmed in Italy, principally in L'Aquila, a medieval town in the Abruzzo region; the alpine meadow of Campo Imperatore served as a prominent exterior location, while the final scene was filmed at Rocca Calascio, a ruined fortress atop a mountain. In the region of Emilia-Romagna, the castles at Castell'Arquato in Piacenza and Torrechiara in Parma were also featured. Other Italian locations used include Cremona in the Lombardia region, Belluno in the Veneto region, and the Lazio region around Rome.^[2]

[edit] Critical reception

Ladyhawke has a rating of 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 critics' reviews, indicating a fairly positive critical reception.^[3] 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.'"^[4] Time Out called it "all rather facile sword-and-sorcery stuff, of course, but at times very funny... and always beautifully photographed."^[5] Variety described the film as a "very likeable, very well-made fairytale... worthwhile for its extremely authentic look alone."^[6]

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."

Andrew Powell's score has been widely criticised as "dated" in the years since the film's release; Rob Vaux of Flipside Movie Emporium described it as the "worst soundtrack ever composed."^[3]

[edit] Awards and nominations

Ladyhawke was nominated for two Academy Awards, in the categories of Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, 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).^[7]

[edit] See also

• Ladyhawke - a singer-songwriter from New Zealand who adopted the film's title as her stage name.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ladyhawke at the Internet Movie Database
• Ladyhawke at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ladyhawke at Box Office Mojo

v • d • e Films directed by Richard Donner 1960s X-15 (1961) • Salt and Pepper (1968) • Twinky (1969) 1970s The Omen (1976) • Superman (1978) 1980s Inside Moves (1980) • The Toy (1982) • The Goonies (1985) • Ladyhawke (1985) • Lethal Weapon (1987) • Scrooged (1988) • Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) 1990s Radio Flyer (1992) • Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) • Maverick (1994) • Assassins (1995) • Conspiracy Theory (1997) • Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) 2000s Timeline (2003) • 16 Blocks (2006) • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)