The prince's bride

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Movie
German title The prince's bride
Original title The Princess Bride
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1987
length 94 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Rob Reiner
script William Goldman
production Rob Reiner
Andrew Scheiman
music Mark Knopfler
camera Adrian Biddle
cut Robert Leighton
occupation

Framework story

The Bride of the Prince (original title: The Princess Bride ) is a fantasy film with strong humorous elements by the American director Rob Reiner based on the book The Bride Princess by William Goldman . The Prince's Bride is an ironic mixture of fairy tales and the cloak-and-sword film .

action

The film is divided into two levels. The framework story shows a sick boy whose grandfather reads him the modern fairy tale The Bride Princess . At first the boy is not at all enthusiastic that his grandpa reads the childish fairy tale to him, but then lets himself be carried away by the story.

The main plot of the film reproduces the adventures of the stable boy Westley and his lover, the beautiful Buttercup. In the search for his luck, the Westley's ship is boarded by the "cruel pirate Roberts" ( English : Dread Pirate Roberts ), who never takes prisoners. Westley is considered dead. Buttercup swears that he will never fall in love again, but is given by Prince Humperdinck chosen as bride against her will.

During a ride she is captured by the robber Vizzini and his companions, the swordsman Inigo Montoya and the giant Fezzik. Vizzini is supposed to murder Buttercup and make her death appear as an act of the neighboring kingdom.

As they cross the sea ( teeming with deadly screeching eels ) they discover a pursuer: a masked man in a small boat who doesn't let the cliffs of madness scare him. One after the other, he defeats the accomplished swordsman Montoya, the strong giant Fezzik and the cunning Vizzini (the latter perishing). When Buttercup is finally in his power, he reveals himself to be Westley, who was not killed by the cruel pirate Roberts, but was named his successor (who was only the third successor to the real pirate Roberts).

But Prince Humperdinck also follows the trail of his bride together with his henchman Count Tyrone Rugen. Westley and Buttercup flee through the fire swamp, which no one has ever left alive, where flames, quicksand and RVAGs (rats of extraordinary size) lurk. Shortly before the meeting point with the cruel pirate Roberts' ship (who is Westley), Prince Humperdinck introduces the two lovers, and Buttercup agrees to follow Prince Humperdinck if he releases Westley for it. This leaves Buttercup in the belief that he has released Westley; instead, he tortures Westley in the pit of desperation and eventually sucks off all of his remaining years of life. Westley dies.

Meanwhile, Fezzik and Montoya are looking for him to storm the castle with his help, as Fezzik Inigo reveals that Count Rugen is his father's murderer. Count Rugen had murdered Inigo's father in a dispute over the price of a commissioned sword and had scarred the young Montoya, who wanted to avenge his father, with two scars on his face. Eventually they find Westley's body and take it to the alchemist Wundermax. Because true love is stronger than death, it can revive Westley. The resuscitation works very slowly, which means that Westley is not yet fully in control of his body. With a ruse the three manage to storm the castle past the doubled guards on Buttercup and Humperdinck's wedding day. During the fight, Montoya confronts Count Rugen, his father's murderer, and kills him. Meanwhile, Humperdinck Buttercup confronts the fact that he killed Westley and, due to the commotion that led to the storming of the castle, lets the marriage go through on a fast track. In mourning for the loss of her Westley, Buttercup wants to commit suicide, but Westley is able to stop her in time. He can also make it clear to her that she is not married at all, because she did not say “yes” and the marriage is therefore invalid. At that moment Humperdinck enters the room and challenges him to a duel, but Westley manages to persuade the prince to let himself be tied up. Montoya wants to kill the prince, but Westley and Buttercup decide to simply leave him alone with the shame for the rest of his life.

All four ride together into the sunset. Westley and Buttercup are happy, and Montoya - with Fezzik's help - is supposed to replace Westley as "Cruel Pirate Roberts", as he needs a new goal in life after his father's revenge.

useful information

  • The film was shot on various locations in England and Ireland, such as: B. the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, Burnham Beeches , Castleton and Haddon Hall in England.
  • Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin both learned to fight (right and left handed) from Bob Anderson and did almost all stunts and all fight scenes themselves. Only the aerial flips were doubled by stuntmen . Cary Elwes was able to use what he had learned later in Glory and the Mel Brooks film Robin Hood - Heroes in Tights .
  • André the Giant had recently undergone a back operation and was not allowed to catch the much lighter Robin Wright for the scene at the end of the film. For the fight scene, Cary Elwes had to pretend he was hanging on Andrés back, even though he was actually on different ramps. Fans later noticed that this made André appear much smaller during these scenes.
  • Billy Crystal was inspired by meeting André for his film My Giant .
  • When Count Rugen hit Westley on the head, Elwes directed Christopher Guest to actually hit him. Guest hit him so hard that filming had to be stopped. Elwes came to the hospital.
  • Mark Knopfler from the British band Dire Straits composed the score .
  • The script had existed for 13 years and was dropped by well-known directors such as Ridley Scott and Robert Redford before Rob Reiner took it on.
  • The name of the character of the Dread Pirate Roberts was used by the cyber criminal Ross Ulbricht for his activities in the online black market Silk Road .

criticism

“An amusing combination of fantasy fairy tale and cloak and sword film, carefully designed and narrated light-handed with verve and tension. Only partially suitable for children because of the ironic refractions. "

- Lexicon of International Films

"The special charm of Rob Reiner's magical fairy tale lies in the genre-unusual integration of fantasy and cloak-and-sword elements, the weird design and the almost parodic dialogues."

- cinema.de

"A classic fantasy adventure told with Reiner's own subtle humor."

- moviemaster.de

“The fantastic fairy tale story captivates with inappropriate characters, funny dialogues and fast-paced fencing. Sometimes you have the impression of being in an entertaining parody of a fantasy story. "

- Moviesection.de

Film awards

The film received the following film awards in 1988:

  • The Saturn Award for the best costumes (Phyllis Dalton) and the best fantasy film
  • The Toronto International Film Festival Audience Award for Rob Reiner
  • The Young Artist Award for the best young actor in a movie for Fred Savage

In addition, he was nominated for the following awards in 1988:

Honor

In 2017 the film was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.

literature

  • William Goldman : The Bride Princess. S. Morgenstern's classic tale of true love and noble adventures. The edition of the "exciting parts" and the first chapter of the long-lost sequel "Buttercup's Baby" (original title: The Princess Bride ). German by Wolfgang Krege . Unabridged edition. Klett-Cotta and Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag (dtv), Stuttgart and Munich 2005, 424 pages, ISBN 3-423-20854-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for The Prince's Bride . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , September 2013 (PDF; test number: 60 318 V).
  2. ↑ a b cinema.de
  3. ↑ The Prince's Bride. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ moviemaster.de
  5. ↑ moviesection.de ( Memento from September 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  6. ↑ Science Fiction Hall of Fame 2017 . Retrieved November 25, 2017.