Tea at Trianon: El Cid

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, February 17, 2008

El Cid

Last month saw the release of a deluxe DVD of Anthony Mann's 1961 epic film, El Cid, starring Charleton Heston and Sophia Loren. It is a film I have watched innumerable times on video and am looking forward to seeing the newly expanded version. According to one review:

Debuting on DVD this week as the inaugural title of Genius Products and The Weinstein Company's Miriam Collection, "El Cid's" Medieval tale of chivalry and passion is one of the rare films of its kind that actually feels passionate. More... than epics marred by the intrusion of modern sensibilities. It also has the distinct advantage of Sophia Loren as Heston's leading lady, a better-than-average script, magnificently mounted spectacle, and solid performances by a large cast united in the belief they were doing something worthy.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1040-1099), also known as El Cid Campeador, was a Castilian knight who lived in a time of social chaos, Muslim incursions, religious hypocrisy, and leadership that tended to be both weak and cruel. "Mio Cid," which means "my Lord" or even "my Hero," conducted himself in such a way that he won the respect of both Christians and Moors, creating a legend of courage and chivalry which has inspired songs, poems, plays, and, in the last century, the epic film.

With a musical score worthy of a champion, Mann's El Cid draws upon the medieval ballads as well as Corneille's seventeenth century play. With an archaic but coherent dialog, the epic moves from Rodrigo's stormy marriage with Dona Jimena to his various struggles with Alphonso VI to his emergence as the savior of Christian Spain. Throughout the film, the sign of the Cross appears, marking the increasing sacrifices of Rodrigo as he seeks to follow the path of justice, in spite of the cost to himself. People often criticize the final scene as being beyond belief and it is, for it comes from a mingling of history with legend. Nevertheless, it is difficult not to agree with Rodrigo's friends, as they kneel on the shores of Valencia to pray for him, asking God to receive into His kingdom "one who died the purest knight of all."
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