Spike ,'Sleeper'
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I just love that her name is Isabeau. So medieval
I always hear it as John Wood says it as the bishop--that flat, inflectionless tone that somehow conveys his lust and envy of Navarre.
There's a children's fable that uses the name, presumably because it's both pretty and evocative.
Alfred Molina was wonderful in his tiny role as the wolfhunter, too. There was nobody bad in Ladyhawke. Even the horse was splendid.
Even the horse was splendid.
Prancing showily through the nave . . . though the less said about Navarre's armor the better.
There's a children's fable that uses the name, presumably because it's both pretty and evocative.
It's the name of a French queen from the Middle Ages, Isabeau de Bavière.
And now I've added Ladyhawke to my Instant/TiVo queue.
I love that when Navarre turns and sees Isabeau, Phillipe almost can't bring himself to witness it, it's so intimate.
Her confrontation of the bishop is so powerful, but I also love the fact that she spends her human moments wandering around in men's (specifically her beau's) clothes, hunting for her dinner, hunting down and killing Cezar. Sure, her role started out "beautiful and mysterious", but the next time you see her, she's just a normal person chatting with Phillipe.
I love that when Navarre turns and sees Isabeau, Phillipe almost can't bring himself to witness it, it's so intimate.
That look is heartbreaking in every good way.
There is one line of the bishop's that I can never interpret. It's at the end of the film, when Navarre is ready to take him out, and he says what sounds like, "Buck-yar me, Navarre, and the curse will never be broken. We must think of Isabeau." What the hell is that first word?!?
A quick google tells me it's "But kill me, Navarre,..."
That makes sense, but it sure doesn't sound like it when Wood says it!
Oh, and the other thing that doesn't quite fit for me is when Phillipe is trying to get the priest off of the grate in the chapel at the end and he's poking the guy's feet with his knife. The priest is rather disgusted when he says, "Rats!" to his fellow clergyman, who is equally grossed out. I'd think that they'd be used to rats, considering the time they're living in.
Yeah, but rats nibbling on your toes is always gross.
One thing that still bothers me is when the ice gives way and first we see the poor wolf scrambling pathetically to get out and failing, and then Matthew Broderick in the water with a panicking canine scrambling all over him. They were out in real nature, giant mountains, giant frozen lake, how was any of that safe?! I once had a little American Eskimo that would go swimming, but would always want to climb on me or whomever else was near and tear us to shreds just swimming near us, let alone trying to sit on our heads.