Review: Ladyhawke

Ladyhawke (1985)
Rating: PG-13

One of the very first live-action films I ever saw as a child was Ladyhawke (1985) and a lot of the story elements the film possesses still influence my writing today. Starring a delightfully young Matthew Broderick(just a year before he became the iconic Ferris) he plays a thief, Phillippe Gaston, who escapes execution only to become entangled in the love story between the former Captain of the Guard, Etienne Navarre and the beloved Isabeau d’Anjou. The story revolves around Navarre’s quest for revenge against the evil Bishop of Aquila for the curse he put upon Navarre and Isabeau: by day, Isabeau is transformed into a hawk and by night, Navarre turns into a black wolf, the tagline being “together forever, eternally apart.” Originally, Phillipe is reluctant to get involved, even after Navarre saves his life from the guards that are seeking to bring him to justice. It is only when Isabeau’s identity as the hawk is revealed that he agrees to help the lovers reunite and defeat the Bishop.

This film is several decades old, so, I’m not really concerned about spoilers in this review. I recommend you see it, if you haven’t, if only for the starring roles by Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, and Michelle Pfieffer in their younger years. They really pull the entire thing together. The soundtrack dates it as much as the opening with the fading in and out images of the sun, the moon, and a hawk over the title for about the first 5 full minutes of the film. But other than that, I’ve got no complaints. Since it is a medieval setting, it holds up to the test of time, the costumes and swordfights, basically what you expect to see from this kind of movie.

The fantasy/supernatural element is played very subtle but just enough to keep this above your regular, run-of-the-mill swords and armor medieval set story. There aren’t any long, drawn out transformation sequences, in fact, taking the less is more approach to the storytelling, having the couple trade places off screen several times before we really get our suspicions confirmed(the spoiler for the secret though, is really in the title, so, when Isabeau first makes an appearance on screen, walking around in Navarre’s cloak with the black wolf beside her, we’re not as confused as Phillippe). And when we finally do see them each transform, the 80’s special effects work for the benefit of keeping the magic and realism alive – Navarre changing in the blink of an eye at sunset, and Isabeau transforming mid-fall, sliding transparent images of wings and billowing cloth amidst a woman’s scream overlaying the shriek of a hawk.

It’s all very grounded. We don’t feel like we’ve left the real world when they start talking about curses and when we leave a room where a hawk was only to reenter it and find a woman in its place. Somehow, for as fantastical as it all is on paper, and for how much they change places, the film doesn’t focus on that. And partly, this is Phillippe’s fault. Witty and dry like so 80’s Broderick, Phillippe brings a lightness to the experience of stepping into this border land where these two lovers tread. Navarre is cagey and antagonistic, so, talking about “the thing” is kind of off limits; he’s not really somebody that Phillippe can confide in about it. And Isabeau is crushed by the never-ending cycle, just trying to keep herself together through it all, that Phillippe is more inclined to try to make her smile than dig into the thing that’s making her sad. Plus, she’s pretty, and if at first he fancies himself a rival for Navarre, he quickly clues in that she’s out of his league and will never see anyone other than the Captain. 1980's Michelle Pfeiffer with blue eyes and pouty lips; we kind of fall in love with her too!

When they do finally have the conversation and it is all out in the open, it never flies too far from Earth because they don’t talk about the transformation or explain it. We’re passed that when they try to convince Navarre to break the curse instead of killing the Bishop, like he wants to do. But breaking the curse sounds less like a magical event, when explained in the terms of just confronting the Bishop together. Despite Navarre’s unwillingness to believe, we’re led to the conclusion that this all sounds legit by Phillippe being on board. There is the moment when they view each other in human form at sunrise but the moment is so laced with sorrow, that you kind of forget the magic of her transforming into a hawk when the sunlight finally touches her. Here, the sequence and what we expect is turned on its head; the fantastical nature of the scene is her remaining human.

All in all, a great film and a compelling love story. I love every inch of it and could go on for days analyzing the different choices the director made and why it all works together to make it even more perfect. If you’ve seen it, feel free to comment here or send me a message to let me know what you think!