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The story follows two brothers, Hazel and Fiver. Think of Hazel as Mario and Fiver as Luigi, only in this instance the younger, weaker brother has purpose because Fiver is a seer.
Tom
June 07, 2023
Good morning Consumers. This is Please Consume, the Film newsletter that loves you more than Ben Affleck loves being from Boston.
The Princess Bride (1987)
Today’s film is The Princess Bride. Not only is the film based on a book, the story is framed as a book being read to a sick child.
And get this. The book and film are written by the same man, William Goldman.
Sorry Christopher Nolan, looks like Inception was a little before your time.
And arguably better liked. The Princess Bride is a film that is beloved in the strongest sense of the word, with fans all the way from the Pope to John Gotti and his henchmen.
That’s just plain awesome!
S. Morgenstern
It’s worth talking about the book on it’s own for a second because it may have the best framing device of all time.
The way the story is framed is this: William Goldman isn’t the true author of The Princess Bride, he’s the editor.
As a child, his father had read him amazing stories that ignited his imagination and stayed with him long into adulthood when he decided that he wanted to try and find that book again.
He finds it, but instead of being a collection of swashbuckling heroes and fair damsels, it turns out the book was a gratuitous and overlong royal history written by a man named S. Morgenstern. His father had simply edited out the boring parts and left in the adventure.
Determined to write what he heard as a child, Goldman set about the task of abridging the work into what he remembered. That is how we come to have The Princess Bride.
This framing was so effective that people would write Goldman, asking to see the unabridged version of the story!
I Know Something You Don’t Know
How do we choose a scene when nearly every part of this film is iconic and quotable?
We go back to the basics.
The duel scene between Inigo Montoya and Wesley was shot last in order to give the actors time to train and master the choreography.
Plus, they had to be able to wield a sword well with both hands.
William Goldman, too, researched fencing techniques for months in order to be accurate with all of the references he included in the scene.
When the time came to show Reiner their finished duel in rehearsal, Reiner’s response was : “Is that it?”
The two men were too good at their swordfighting and the duel was over too quickly! So they had to choreograph a longer scene that took up more of the set.
We’re glad they did, because the result may be the most iconic duel in cinema!
Today’s Scene
Stream It
If you want to watch The Princess Bride at home, you can find it here.
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