A pleasant surprise
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — El Cid
TheHypnotron — 19 years ago(December 14, 2006 12:43 AM)
Generally speaking, I don't like Charleton Heston's movies. He seems so odd to me in his acting. And even in El Cid some of the acting on both his part and of the woman playing his wife were a bit overacted, but still overall I really enjoyed this film. All the better because I had such low expectations. Even though there are some aspects that bug me (the anonymous one dimensional Star Wars Storm Trooper villain leader and his army and the non Spanish looking cast) overall this film had great scope, alot of depth, and through its character El Cid presented some very progressive leaning ideas.
8/10. -
Mrs_Bundy — 19 years ago(January 08, 2007 01:25 PM)
I can't say that I like the content at all. Pure mythologizing nonsense from a historical point of view. However, Anthony Mann did a bangup job with his extreme close-ups and extreme long-shots as well as framed single shots that embrace a close shot in the foreground and an extreme long shot in the background. This elevated the sense of forces in competition over land and power and dramatized the Cid's iron will. Few directors have the visual power that Mann displayed in El Cid.
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turtletommy — 14 years ago(February 25, 2012 11:53 PM)
The woman playing his wife was, uh, Sophia Loren. Herbert Lom played the Ben Yussuf Islamic villain- i.e. the "Storm Trooper villain leader", lol. I guess these actors were long before your era. Yussuf didn't get much screen time maybe some ended up on the cutting room floor. He book-ended the story at any rate, even if the character could have been developed a little more. But he served his purpose as what motivated the Spanish Moors and Christians to join forces which they otherwise might not not have done to fight the invader from Africa. I enjoy this movie more and more at each viewing, it grows on you, for its scale, outstanding music and cinematography, and as you said some of its ideas. What's interesting is how the political/religious conflict depicted has spooky parallels with our time.
The acting is actually pretty good throughout and Heston is just Heston at his best epic form, almost the equal of his work in Ben-Hur. He really took on the look of a Spanish warrior after intermission with his beard/goatee.
"It seems nowadays that Charlton Heston has always existed, and, if he hadn't, it would've been necessary to invent him." A great quote from an excellent essay by Gordon Thomas at this link:
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/52/benhur.htm
It's hard to judge whether the cast was not Spanish-looking enough because some Spaniards have light complexions and there's a range of them. Most of the extras were from Franco's Spanish army so can't get more Spanish than that. -
mycroftson — 14 years ago(February 28, 2012 06:00 AM)
"Most of the extras were from Franco's Spanish army so can't get more Spanish than that. "
er.. isn't that the point, modern Spain is the mixture of all of the cultures since this time, some 900 years ago. When they are trying to depict Christian Iberians. ie.descended from Germanic stock. -
jstang411 — 13 years ago(July 29, 2012 11:39 AM)
I enjoy this movie more and more at each viewing, it grows on you, for its scale, outstanding music and cinematography, and as you said some of its ideas. What's interesting is how the political/religious conflict depicted has spooky parallels with our time.
Wonderful point on how the themes resonate with Iraq and Afghanistain today. Perhaps we need our Rodrigo. -
Captain_Augustus_McCrae — 13 years ago(July 01, 2012 02:25 PM)
IMHO, this film has two real stars. The first star is Sophia Loren's incredible, luminous beauty. She owns the screen in every scene she's in. Breathtaking, really. The second star is the incredible talent of Yakima Canutt and his son, Joe, who coordinated the action scenes and stunts. The joust scene where the Cid vindicates his honor ranks as one of the best action sequences ever filmed, right up there with the chariot race in Ben Hur. These two things are the film's true stars, as far as I'm concerned.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae