The biggest problem with adapting Ivanhoe for the big screen is
that the original book had some massive plotholes in it, and the
titular hero was completely overshadowed by the main villain. One
certainly shouldn't take any of it as historical fact. You've got a
Saxon woman from a culture Christianised for centuries calling on
Scandinavian deities that even her pagan ancestors never
worshipped. The portrayal of the Templars is slanderously
inaccurate and reflects Scott's antifreemasonry far more than any
historical fact. Nor would they have tried Rebecca for witchcraft; it
would have been for heresy. And since Jews weren't really recast
as heretics until the Fourth Lateran Council, even that is pushing it
by about two decades. Also, the antisemitism in the book is pretty
intense, and hard to read these days. You can derive a whole lot of
amusement from the contortions of the book's apologists who try
to explain away all the "fun" that the hero's sidekicks have at poor
Isaac's expense. Scott, by his own admission, wasn't even
remotely interested in historical accuracy. He once said that if he
thought the story would work better if the heroine was blue, he'd
make her blue.
This version tries, with some serious story revision, to rise above
all of this. It doesn't completely succeed but you know, I sure had
fun watching it try. I'd say this is probably the best of the three
versions, though I enjoyed Sam Neill's turn as Bois-Guilbert in the
'82 version. The story is still chaotic, but the elevation of Bois- Guilbert from villain to anti-hero helps a lot. What helps even more
is Ciaran Hinds' blistering portrayal of Bois-Guilbert and his
unsurpassable chemistry with Susan Lynch as Rebecca. They
blast Ivanhoe and Rowena right off the screen, though granted,
that's not hard to do. I can guarantee that by the final fight it won't
be Ivanhoe you're rooting for Rebecca to run off with!
Even better, the movie is chock full of excellent actors chewing
scenery as villains with whom Alan Rickman's Sheriff of
Nottingham would happily have shared company. Unfortunately,
this means that as the movie progresses and bad guys are offed,
or otherwise neutralised, things get rather less fun (the good guys
are really, really dull). The middle third, when the unholy trio of
Bois-Guilbert, Front de Boeuf and De Bracy is in full plot-and- pillage mode, is probably the best. The last twenty minutes,
however, are a snore.
Overall, it's definitely worth a look--not perfect, but still a hard act to
follow for any future adaptations.
that the original book had some massive plotholes in it, and the
titular hero was completely overshadowed by the main villain. One
certainly shouldn't take any of it as historical fact. You've got a
Saxon woman from a culture Christianised for centuries calling on
Scandinavian deities that even her pagan ancestors never
worshipped. The portrayal of the Templars is slanderously
inaccurate and reflects Scott's antifreemasonry far more than any
historical fact. Nor would they have tried Rebecca for witchcraft; it
would have been for heresy. And since Jews weren't really recast
as heretics until the Fourth Lateran Council, even that is pushing it
by about two decades. Also, the antisemitism in the book is pretty
intense, and hard to read these days. You can derive a whole lot of
amusement from the contortions of the book's apologists who try
to explain away all the "fun" that the hero's sidekicks have at poor
Isaac's expense. Scott, by his own admission, wasn't even
remotely interested in historical accuracy. He once said that if he
thought the story would work better if the heroine was blue, he'd
make her blue.
This version tries, with some serious story revision, to rise above
all of this. It doesn't completely succeed but you know, I sure had
fun watching it try. I'd say this is probably the best of the three
versions, though I enjoyed Sam Neill's turn as Bois-Guilbert in the
'82 version. The story is still chaotic, but the elevation of Bois- Guilbert from villain to anti-hero helps a lot. What helps even more
is Ciaran Hinds' blistering portrayal of Bois-Guilbert and his
unsurpassable chemistry with Susan Lynch as Rebecca. They
blast Ivanhoe and Rowena right off the screen, though granted,
that's not hard to do. I can guarantee that by the final fight it won't
be Ivanhoe you're rooting for Rebecca to run off with!
Even better, the movie is chock full of excellent actors chewing
scenery as villains with whom Alan Rickman's Sheriff of
Nottingham would happily have shared company. Unfortunately,
this means that as the movie progresses and bad guys are offed,
or otherwise neutralised, things get rather less fun (the good guys
are really, really dull). The middle third, when the unholy trio of
Bois-Guilbert, Front de Boeuf and De Bracy is in full plot-and- pillage mode, is probably the best. The last twenty minutes,
however, are a snore.
Overall, it's definitely worth a look--not perfect, but still a hard act to
follow for any future adaptations.