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Move was exellent. Exellent ordering system and arrived earlier than expected. Will use again. I had not seen it but heard a lot about it. Very worthwhile movie to watch.
I teach middle schoolers medieval history and like to show this film as a way of explaining some feudal issues and ideas about the Reconquista. Its got pretty tame combat sequences. Only problem is that it is long so you will want to use the scene selections.
El Cid should be grouped with company such as "Land of the Pharaohs" and not "Lawrence of Arabia." This is an overwrought bore of a film with a lousy performance by Heston and a typically atrocious showing by the no-talent Sophia Loren. Regardless, the entire affair is an example of 1960s excess, eye candy overwhelming genuine artistry. Even Heston disliked it and it shows. Not helping matters are the clumsy directorial flourishes and hamfisted sentimentality -- it's as hokey and obvious as you can imagine. Miklos Rosza was quite upset with the draconian butchery of his work as well. Without going into a plot synopsis I will give a certain degree of credit to the inherent nobility of the story Bronston and company were attempting to tell; essayist Jeanine Bassinger makes some good points as to the statelieness of this kind of extinct filmmaking. But I'll place the lion's share of the blame on the director Anthony Mann, whom it would seem was dismissed for good reason from helming "Spartacus."El Cid's fragmented screenplay progresses in fits and starts; obviously the writer and producers were overwhelmed by such an elusive and mythic subject. Scorsese once again proves he is anything but the grand pooh-bah of cinema studies to recommend this justifiably forgotten film.
Also, it was filmed in 70mm which is just too magnificent to ignore. The entire production is filled with amazing sets and costumes. The energy is just all wrong. El Cid comes across as an arrogant, machismo film, quite the opposite of the sensibilities which made Lean's work from the same period so memorable.
I first saw this movie as a child, yes,it is Hollywood at it 60s finest. Very entertaining even if the costumes and sets are a little to perfect for the actual time period.
The story itself is a bit weak, expecially toward the very end, (there will no plot reveals here), but the sweeping tale of Rodrigo Bovar is so romantic and so beautiful, it makes one yearn for the days when the movie screens were so much bigger than todays multiplex. The Deluxe package of El Cid has tons of info that is usually associated with these kinds of issues. The film itself is simply geogeous and from a time when the "cast of thousands" were real people and not digitally produced. I watched the film on a old analog set and the film is still a sight to behold. Maybe Heston and Sophia not at their best -but it is a joy to look at.
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