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    		•

    FILMS

    Ladyhawke (1985)
  • Starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Leo McKern, John Wood, Ken Hutchison

  • Directed by Richard Donner

    • Let's face it, there's only a handful of good, live-action fantasy movies in existence. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Legend, Willow. Perhaps a few others. Ladyhawke falls into this group, but its not high-fantasy. It lacks the elves and dwarves and trollish goblin monsters. This one is more fantasy-lite, with half the wonder. If we're forced to pigeon-hole it, Ladyhawke is more in the Medieval With A Magic Twist genre. But, since that isn't an actual genre I'll just toss it in the fantasy category and be done with the silly nonsense of categorizing movies.

    Ladyhawke is the story of two lovers, cursed by the Evil Bishop. (There's organized religion for you. Going around cursing people when things don't go their way.) Navarre (Hauer) is a man by day, wolf by night. Isabeau (Pfieiffer) is a woman (and what a woman!) by night, and a hawk by day. Every sunrise and sunset the two have a brief moment when they can almost touch, almost see one another, and then one of them turns morphs and runs off. The curse can only be broken if the stand together as man and woman in front of the Evil Bishop. But as long as there's day and night, this will never happen.

    Enter Phillipe Gaston (Broderick), affectionately known by his cell-mates and prison guards as The Mouse. He's wiry and quick and can climb down small holes, and also has an on-running conversation with God—much in the way Broderick talked directly to the camera in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

    I love fantasy movies. Which is problematic because, cinematically speaking, the genre is fairly small and has a limited selection. This doesn't mean that I like this film because I'm so starved for anything that shows people in platemail armor and wielding broadswords that I'll buy into the story. You can't just slap some fantasy tropes onto a story and expect me to like it. No, no. I like this film because it's a good love story, and because quite frankly, Broderick steals the show.

    In the opening scenes we see Phillipe the Mouse escaping from the deadly dungeons of Aquila. He's pushing his way through mud and mortar and says, "This is not unlike escaping my mother's womb." I love this line. Not sure why, it's just damn funny.

    Even though the main plot is about the two lovers, the story is driven almost entirely by Phillipe's presence. He is the epitome of the Unlikely Hero. He lies and cheats, and gets into trouble. Then he's honest and tells the truth, and he still gets into trouble. ("I told the truth, Lord. How can I learn any moral lessons when you keep confusing me this way?")

    And yet, there's something borderline noble in Phillipe. He's a regular guy (almost) caught up in an extraordinary story and it frightens him. But he's become part of the tale and there's no escape for him. Phillipe has taken a liking to Navarre and is somewhat smitten with Isabeau. He's a romantic—which is why he delivers poetic messages to the two lovers when in human form, saying that the other said these wonderful things during the night and the day, respectively.

    Hauer does well as the brooding warrior. Not too much of a stretch for him, but he does a good job in that sort of role. Pfeiffer, with her delicate features, is absolutely stunning. It's funny to see how young she looks. Not that she's an wrinkled old hag now, or anything. But I'm just saying....

    I don't know how many times I've watched Ladyhawke, but it's been a lot. That should be no surpise, though, as the film is enjoyable. The story is simple, but not plain. Some may see it as a romance with bits of action, while others may see it as action with bits of romance. Either way, it's peppered throughout with Broderick's comedy which is the best part of Ladyhawke. Remove him and I highly doubt I would enjoy this one as much as I do.