The Screen Addict | Robin Hood
A much wiser person than I once said that writers should write what they know. I don’t know much about anything, but there is one subject, I am confident enough to say, I know more about than most – film. The philosophy behind the No. Bad. Films. initiative is that an objective statement about the quality of a work of art is a ludicrous concept. A film, book, painting, song or any other artistic expression either moves you personally or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t connect with your soul, what is the point of saying anything about it?
Keeping this in mind, I am going to write to you today about a film that is deeply personal to me – the early-Nineties Kevin Costner starrer Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). The connection is of course obvious, but there is more. The Robin Hood we know today through various inceptions in different media over the years, is a fictional character. But there once existed an English nobleman who, betrayed by his king, decided to rob the rich and give to the poor. The name of this iconoclastic bandit who would inspire people for centuries to come, was Robin of Locksley. Over time, last names change slightly as accents and vocabulary develop. That is why eventually, Locksley quite possibly evolved into Logjes. And because one should never allow the truth to stand in the way of a good story, I decided that I must be the great, great, great, great grandson of Robin Hood.
Knowing this, you can imagine that RH:PoT connected with me on a higher level than it probably did with most people. But even if it hadn’t, there is still so much to love about this film. Frequent readers of this blog know by now that I am particularly interested in strong opening credits. RH:PoT has, by far, the most beautiful, exciting and inventive title roll that I have ever seen.
The film opens with the unassuming but undeniably cinematic Morgan Creek logo-animation, the production company owned and operated by producer James G. ROBINson. Then, we fade in on a sequence of shots of what looks like a historic embroidery depicting ancient battles and other events. Art historians will immediately recognize these mesmerizing images as fragments of the famous Bayeux Tapestry, a hand-sewn cloth nearly 230 feet long, depicting various segments from the Norman conquest of England. Because of the linear and sequential presentation of the images, it is largely agreed upon that this tapestry and others like it are very early ancestors of what we today know as comic strips.
What elevates the opening credits of RH:PoT to an unequaled level for me, is the unforgettable music by composer Michael Kamen. There are few other scores that so brilliantly capture the joy and grandeur of blockbuster cinema. It is no surprise to me that countless award shows and events use Kamen’s brilliant score to introduce guests or segments. Even RH:PoT producer Robinson presumably liked the theme so much, that he applied it to Morgan Creek’s logo-animation ever since. Sometimes, when I need a jolt of joy, I find myself watching just the opening credits of RH:PoT on YouTube, and I am good for days. Unfortunately, it also reminds me of the heartbreaking fact that we will never get to experience new Kamen scores in the future, as the composer passed away far to soon in 2003, at the tender age of 55.
Film lovers can – and will – debate endlessly about who the greatest screen-villain is, but for me there’s no question. After blowing me away as the philosophy-quoting, designer-suit wearing uber-baddie Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988) – amazingly, his first-ever film role – British thesp Alan Rickman created a second iconic villain with his performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham in RH:PoT. Reportedly, Rickman was not particularly eager to play the part, and only agreed to do it after he got permission to re-write and improvise his lines. A cunning move, as Nottingham’s one-liners are a large part of what makes RH:PoT such a joy to watch. “Call off Christmas!!!”, Nottingham snarls at one point in the film. Deliciously evil.
At the risk of making this piece read like a eulogy, the supremely talented Alan Rickman also died way before his time in 2016, at 69. For me and countless other film lovers around the world, Rickman will forever be the silver screen’s ultimate villain. But it is important to remember that Rickman was so much more than Hans Gruber and the Sheriff of Nottingham. I am not a big fan of Harry Potter, but I am so happy that millions upon millions of young people got to appreciate Rickman’s talents through his recurring character Severus Snape in the films based on J.K. Rowlings’ series of fantasy novels. It is also very comforting to know that every Christmas in every country around the world isn’t complete without an airing of Love Actually (2003) on local TV. Rickman’s complex, quietly brilliant performance as Emma Thompson’s philandering husband in this masterpiece – yes, you read that right: MASTERPIECE – is unforgettable.
RH:PoT pulls off the amazing feat of boasting not one, but two delightfully despicable bad guys. To paraphrase what Blake Snyder famously stated in his seminal screenwriting bible Save the Cat – if you are going to write a bad guy, make sure he is really really vile. And boy, the talent involved with RH:PoT sure took this advice to heart. As Nottingham’s serpent-like minion Guy of Gisborne, the filmmakers cast the ever-dependable Michael Wincott. With his feline features and raspy voice, Wincott has long been a personal favorite of mine on the strength of similar, wonderfully evil characters he played in films like 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), The Crow (1994) and Strange Days (1995). RH:PoT however, saw the first of Wincott’s many memorable performances as the guy you love to hate.
Another small, but infinitely memorable part in RH:PoT, is that of the actor who at the very end of the film cameos as King Richard – Sir Sean Connery. Quite possibly the most satisfying cameo ever to grace the celluloid, this lovely scene will most definitely be part of a forthcoming piece I will write about the wonderful world of cameo performances. It is said that Connery got paid $250.000 for just two days of filming, but the more interesting anecdote to me is that he donated this fee entirely to charity. Also, I like to believe that Connery did the part as a way of thanking his co-star. Four years earlier, the two actors had starred in The Untouchables (1987) together, the film that won Connery his only Oscar to date. Interestingly, the presenter who got to call out Connery’s name at the ceremony was Nicolas Cage, his future co-star in The Rock (1996).
Throughout film history, there have been countless adaptations of the tale of Robin Hood. The aforementioned Connery himself played The Hooded Bandit in Robin and Marian (1976). Kevin Reynolds, the director of RH:PoT, is a protégé of Ridley Scott, who himself took a stab at the legend with the Russel Crowe starrer Robin Hood (2010). And although the tale lends itself best for the Action-Adventure genre, for some filmmakers The Hooded Man is an inherently comedic concept. The most famous example of a Humorous Hood is of course Mel Brook’s Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), but even funnier to me personally is John Cleese’s revisionist interpretation of the character in Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981).
And then there is the endless string of films that used the concept of a noble bandit to create an analogy of the story transported to a different time and place, like the Ben Stiller Crime-caper Tower Heist (2011) or, interestingly, a Malayalam Action-Thriller that also bares the title Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (2009).
Finally, we have the inevitable Disney interpretation of the tale. Way back in The Seventies, Wolfgang Reitherman – legendary animator of The Jungle Book (1967) and The Aristocats (1970) – conjured up a gorgeous animated version of Robin Hood with the title character reimagined as a charming fox. Still my favorite non live-action Disney film and I am truly amazed that The Mouse House hasn’t rebooted the property yet.
RH:PoT was a huge hit when it hit theatres in 1991. The only film that surpassed it at the box-office was one of the most successful SciFi spectacles ever made – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Not a bad film to be in second place to. Unsurprisingly, the culture mafia maligned it nonetheless. Bitching over Costner’s American accent, Bryan Adams’ saccharine soundtrack, and endlessly gossiping about the alleged struggles between Kevins Costner and Reynolds over creative control. For me, the film has always been and will forever be nothing but pure joy. Yes, it is lighthearted and sometimes maybe even borderline silly, but it works. How many films out there try so very hard to be something they are not? I see hundreds of ‘em every year. RH:PoT is pure, unpretentious blockbuster-fun and never claimed to be anything else. I will always carry it very close to my heart.
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