Robin Hood (2010)

Here is a joke that I heard the Kalamazoo conference.

Q. A bunch of medievalists go to see Robin Hood. How many of them bitch about the inaccuracies?

A. twice as many!

I was not particularly in a hurry to see this film and I wasn't excited about it, because I have seen so many versions of Robin Hood. On the other hand I am a sucker for Ridley Scott films, and members of my family went while I was in Kalamazoo and told me that the movie was very entertaining. I decided to go today. And I found that liked it quite a bit.

If anybody reacts to this post at all, I expect that some of them will exclaim, "what about King John burning Magna Carta?" Well, one can say that he sort of did, didn't he? Just not literally, and not while all his barons were standing around looking at him. I'm just glad Magna Carta got into a movie in the first place, even anonymously. Name another medieval movie where Magna Carta is mentioned. Go on, I'm waiting.

Here in point form are some things I really liked about this actual as opposed to the ideal Robin Hood movie.

• Like Kingdom of Heaven, the whole thing had the air of reality when it came to material objects, clothing, armor, and landscapes. Anybody who knows anything about what people wore in the time of King John to point to many details that were wrong, but the feel of the thing was very good.
• Some of the panoramic views, especially of the ships, were very good; actually better than that.
• It had more than one woman it in a speaking role, , and none of them were androgynous, mysterious, hardly human beauties like the android in Blade Runner. Came close to this standard. For Ridley Scott, this shows a certain amount of restraint.
  
• One of the best interpretations of Marion in any Robin Hood. Of course I'm influenced by the fact that Cate Blanchett played the part, and she has that filmmaking genius which makes almost any part better and strangely convincing.
• Loved the the surprise ending. I guess Ridley Scott knew that I didn't want just another run through the traditional post-Walter Scott story.
• A lot of people went around speaking French at appropriate times.
• Robin Hood in Barnsdale stood.

Anyway, I am sure that anybody who cares to can find many problems, but I was pleasantly surprised and quite entertained.

Oh yes, the music was the usual British folk takeoff, but I love that stuff and it was was well done. Great Big Sea rules!

Update: I forgot William Marshal! Is this his first appearance in a big-time movie, or was he in Lion in Winter? If he was it was a small role.

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