Robin Hood (1991 TV movie)

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Robin Hood
Directed by	John Irvin
Produced by	Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe
Written by	Sam Resnick and John McGrath
Starring	Patrick Bergin, Uma Thurman, Jeroen Krabbe, Juergen Prochnow
Release date(s)	1991
Running time	116 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Robin Hood is a 1991 TV movie starring Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman. It came out the same year as the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, a Hollywood blockbuster with a much bigger budget and high-profile stars.

1 Plot
2 Characterization
3 Historical Realism
4 External link

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film shares much of its plot with the 1938 film, The Adventures of Robin Hood, concentrating on the struggle between Normans and Saxons. It begins when a miller who is poaching deer on lands belonging to the King of England is found by a hunting party led by the evil knight, Sir Miles Folconet. The miller flees until he runs into a Saxon earl, Robert Hode, and his friend, Will. The miller pleads for help as the Normans arrive and threaten to poke the miller's eyes out. Before they can carry out the punishment, Hode (urged by Will) stops them. Folconet becomes angry at this, and demands that Hode is punished by the local Baron, Roger Daguerre. Daguerre is Robert's friend, and tries to give him a light punishment, but Robert refuses and, taking up arms, flees. As a result Robert is outlawed, and, taking the name Robin Hood, takes refuge in Sherwood, meets the usual cast of merrie men and fights against the Norman oppression. Robert/Robin also falls for Daguerre's niece, Marian, who is promised to Folcanet, and the climax of the film is an attack on Nottingham Castle to stop the wedding. Unlike many modern versions of the story, King Richard does not appear at the end, and instead Daguerre is reconciled with Hode and promises a future where Saxons and Normans are treated equally.

[edit] Characterization

It is interesting that although the familiar characters of Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlett and Much the Miller's Son appear in this version, they have replaced the traditional Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy of Gisbourne with original antagonists. The Baron Daguerre takes the Sheriff's place as the scheming, greedy tax-collector (though originally Robin's friend) and Folcanet stands in for Guy as the violent, vindictive knight after Robin's head (and Marian's maidenhead).

[edit] Historical Realism

The filmmakers clearly intended this version of the Robin Hood to be a more realistic and historically accurate retelling of the famous legend. The medieval world shown here is dark, dirty and dangerous, though some of the forest settings are beautiful. The major anachronism is the portrayal of rivalry between Saxons and Normans in 12th Century England, whereas Saxon nobility would have been absorbed into the Norman ruling class long before (this idea comes to the Robin Hood legend from from Ivanhoe). The use of non-English actors for the main Norman antagonists does help to illustrate their role as foreign overlords, their foreign accents accentuating the differences between them and the Saxons the rule. The setting and costuming in the film is quite good, while the festival portrayed as "All's Fool's Day" is actually the Feast of Fools.