My Favorite Films: The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride (1987)

Director: Rob Reiner

Context:
In 1973, William Goldman wrote The Princess Bride, a satirical parody of the romantic adventure genre, under the guise of a “long-lost” story written by the fictional S. Morgenstern. The conceit was that Goldman, as a child, had been told the story by his father who, in actuality, was skipping the “boring parts” of the original story. Thus, he grew up knowing the “best parts of the original” and that is how the story is presented to the reader.

The film rights were immediately purchased with Goldman remaining involved as screenwriter.  However, it went through nearly 13 years of stalled production with Richard Lester (Superman series) as the director at the helm.  He had planned on bringing on Christopher Reeve, Superman himself, to play the hero, but little progress was made and Goldman bought back the rights to allow another director to take a shot.

Rob Reiner had already begun to make a name for himself as an acclaimed director, having directed such films as This Is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, and Stand By Me.  His hot streak continued as he turned back to comedy, even bringing in a few of his Spinal Tap actors to play supporting roles.  To a lot of critics, Reiner made 7 great films at the beginning of his career and with this being the 4th, I'd say it's certainly his peak of that run.  It may not be perfect, but man do I love to revisit it.

Plot:
A grandfather reads his sick grandson a fanciful bedtime story about a princess-to-be who is kidnapped shortly before her wedding. It’s a kissing story about true love.

Analysis:
I was already a minor fan of the movie before I discovered the novel, and my enjoyment of each is strongly enhanced by the other. Both the screenplay and novel are written by Goldman, and much of the original dialogue remains intact. The novel goes into more detail about character histories but the essence of everything remains in the film. If you get the opportunity, check out both.

On its surface, the film is fairly straightforward. It’s a very mild spoof of a fantasy adventure tale, in that nothing is really exaggerated or treated absurdly. What makes the film work is the strong dialogue amongst the characters. They treat everything with the utmost sincerity, allowing for some very clever verbal sparing. It feels almost like a modern Shakespearean comedy.

There are a lot of things “wrong” with the film that don’t seem deliberate on the director’s part. Pacing is very odd, as some scenes go too slowly while others fly by too quickly, so you’re often at a loss for why things are happening without careful attention. The costumes and effects seem like something out of a high-end Renaissance Faire, where you can see there was effort, but it lacks that realistic quality. And a lot of dialogue is easy to miss the first time through due to sound quality, especially that of Andre the Giant’s character, Fezzik. And yet, in spite of its flaws, I never grow tired of this film.

With this movie, I find that I’ve seen it so many times that I never find myself wanting to actively seek it out to watch again. Circumstance usually finds it playing somewhere and then I decide, “Oh, I’ll just watch for this part that I really like.” But that’s always followed by another part that I really like, and soon I find myself having watched it 3 times in the same number of days. When I’m watching it, I can’t bear to tear myself away.

I love visiting with each character over and over again. Buttercup, Westley, Fezzik, Vizzini, Prince Humperdinck, Count Rugen, and of course, Inigo Montoya might just be the greatest cast of characters assembled for one story. And that doesn’t include the cameos by other comedians. Sure, this isn’t my favorite Billy Crystal role, but man, he was perfect for Miracle Max.

More so than the characters, I love the lines! That’s what really keeps me hooked on the film. Each one is like a potato chip and I always want to hear the next one and the next one and the next one. Some aren’t even the most interesting of lines. It’s just the way they are delivered. “Prin-CESS…BUTT-er-CUP!” “IN-con-CEIVABLE!” “Mah-wedge!” “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

That final line may be the most famous line from the film, and with good reason. It tells you everything you need to know about the side character of Inigo who represents the extreme lengths vengeance can take someone to. I would even argue that he is the true protagonist of the story, or at least, his tale is a nice parallel to run alongside that of Buttercup and Westley’s quest for true love. I’ll explain what I mean in the next section.

The Ending:
Both stories involve an obsession. One for revenge, and one for love. The original novel suggests that Inigio ruins his life because of his obsession, even when he succeeds. Meanwhile, Westley risks everything and throws caution to the wind, but fate always intervenes and gives him a way out. So it’s great that the movie presents both of their “victories” as happening simultaneously.

Westley has been reduced to only his wits, so even though he is physically at his most vulnerable, he manages to convince Humperdinck that he has lost with only the power of suggestion. This is a nice twist as otherwise, we’d be having dueling swordfights with the Inigo/Rugen battle happening in the other room. With the power of his words, Westley can defeat anyone.

Meanwhile, Inigo nearly fails almost immediately as Rugen fatally wounds him. But spurned on by his oft-repeated mantra of “Hello. My name is Inigio Montoya…,” Inigo finds inner strength. He repeats this over and over because at this moment, he is nothing but his vengeance. What started as a cool line early on in the film becomes more and more badass each time it is uttered. It’s almost as if the line itself has taken over as a character.

Mandy Patinkin (Inigo Montoya) has gone on record saying he pulled his feelings on his own father who was taken from him by cancer into the character, and that he views Inigo as the most tragic character since he is always fighting for something that he'll never truly be able to get back.  And heck if that final moment doesn't make me cry every time I see/think about it.  The emotional pacing of that scene is the strongest element of the film.

Final Thoughts:
As with most films of my youth, I have gained a new appreciation for The Princess Bride than I thought possible. I’m impressed with the ability to take such simple concepts and play them straightforward in a fun manner. In any other story, I would be rolling my eyes at the film’s depiction of “true love,” but for this fairy tale, it feels real. Ideas like, “Death doesn’t stop true love; it can only delay it a bit,” or “His true love is to be married this evening. There is no greater cause for suffering,” shouldn’t work as well as they do here.

It’s romantic and silly, but it’s ultimately familiar. You can never go tired of its optimism. It’s a story you want to hear again and again and again.