the ending
-
life4all — 19 years ago(May 30, 2006 03:10 PM)
As far as I can tell they did not know because Rodrigo wanted his men to believe he was leading them (alive) into battle (highly motivating). Apparently only the King, his wife, Moutamin and those who prepared his body to ride the horse would have known.
This scene in the movie burned forever the image of El Cid into my mind that I admired most but I have never been able to confirm that it actually happened. Wikipedia suggests that it is a legend that may or may not have occurred. The Poem of the Cid is estimated to have been written about 100 years after his death.
Regardless, this is a great motion picture! -
angelosdaughter — 14 years ago(November 11, 2011 02:21 PM)
I know this reply is very very late, but this is the first time I've been on the El Cid threads.
The deception in the film of sending the corpse of Rodrigo out at the head of his army was not only to hearten his men, but to lay to rest rumors of his death, which would have heartened the enemy. His appearance at the head of his army was meant as well to terrify the opposing army. He had a fearsome reputation in battle. The deception worked. The enemy fled.
Of course this part of the film is legend, not fact, but it was a very effective ending. What a send-off for a hero!!! He literally rode into the sunrise. -
SaguaroD — 19 years ago(March 11, 2007 04:25 PM)
El Cid is a great story but I really can't say that this film is "cinema at it's best". The movie is just so out of terms with the real story of Cid, that if you"re familiar with the history at all, then you will find watching this very hard. The performances were not particularly bad, but they were all extremely dramatic. I wouldn't say that Loren had a necessarily poor performance but I can hardly stand to watch the scenes where Jimena and El Cid are together because she is so dramatic. A fun little game to play though, see if you can find more than one or two occasions where Loren DOESN'T open her mouth whenever she is within two feet of El Cid. (sigh) "oh rodrigo" hahaha
Not a bad film, but definitely not "cinema at it's best" as the main user comment on the page claims. It does not matter if you watch this in IMAX, it still falls short of great cinema. -
hiccough — 12 years ago(May 29, 2013 11:37 AM)
I mean, the Cid had never failed to make a rousing speech, as he surely would have done that morning; at the very least they would have felt that something was off, even if they couldn't articulate it. But given how injured he was perhaps they did know. I can imagine his death being just as inspiring as his being alive; there's still his mighty sentiment, ideals and example; in a way he's on his horse despite his death, it expresses
someone's
strong will, how could they let him down? They just need the reminder of the symbol and the will, not the Cid himself. I can well imagine it being knowingly one last hurrah for the Cid and all that he stands / stood for, and for themselves.
Of course it's fiction, and, not too many of his army would have been in a position to see or expect to hear well enough to judge. But 'in-universe' so to speak, it seems to me a dead Cid could have been perhaps even a greater, certainly more poignant inspiration than a live one. Even leading them to fight with greater abandon. Whether that's good militarily I don't know, but the gleam in their eyes would have been scarier for the enemy at least.