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El Cid (1961)

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42 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the classic epic films of all time, 15 marzo 1999

Author: cinemel de North Woodmere, NY

In 1961 Anthony Mann's epic tale of the Spanish hero "El Cid" burst across the wide screens of theatres. This was the kind of film that 70mm was made for. Charlton Heston is Rodrigo de Bivar, and Sophia Loren is his legendary love, Chimene. Their course of love will not be a smooth one. When he kills her father as a matter of honor, she vows vengeance and sets in motion the series of events which will forever change their lives. The Christian Spaniards are ruled by local kingdoms each vying for rule of the nation. When one king challenges El Cid's monarch, Heston volunteers to fight to the death to determine the fate of the city of Calahorra, and at the same time vindicate himself of the treason he was accused of by Loren's father. This fight for Calahorra is one of the most memorable action sequences ever committed to film. It opens with Miklos Rozsa's heraldic fanfare as the two knights take their places on the jousting field. The two kings watch from either side. The ensuing duel is brutal with a predictable, but decisive outcome. The lovers are eventually married, but only to be separated again as El Cid is called to protect Spain from the marauding Moors swarming across the Mediterranean from Africa. The Spanish Moors join with the Cid to take the city of Valencia where the enemy will attack. It is here that one of the great battle scenes takes place, actually filmed in the shadow of the walled city of Peniscola on the coast of Spain. The two armies charge eachother in a cacaphony of horses, shouts and Rozsa's rousing musical score. The sky is darkened by the thousands of flying arrows streaking across to the enemy. This is the kind of movie that they just don't make anymore. What a pity! The final sequence shows the eerie onslaught of the Spanish army lead by the fallen El Cid strapped to his steed and causing the Moors to flee in terror at his seeming resurrection. Rozsa's organ music swells as El Cid rides into the sunset along the deserted beach and into immortality. In the mid 90's after many years of not being available, "El Cid" was shown again in its 70mm splendor. It was then released on video. The superb Criterion laserdisc version contains the full Technirama letterboxed image and a restored mult-channel soundtrack in Dolby Digital. An excellent supplementary section has interviews with Charlton Heston and others. Heston says that "El Cid" would have been an even more enduring classic if William Wyler ("Ben-Hur") had directed it. However, Anthony Mann has nothing to be ashamed of. Aside from some wooden acting and some scenery chewing here and there, the richness of the story and the elaborate production design, paired with the fine performance of Heston and Miklos Rozsa's impassioned score, surely place "El Cid" in the Hall of Fame of great film epics.

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39 out of 47 people found the following comment useful :-
Sweeping medieval drama at its best, 29 agosto 2004

Author: talonz51 de Victoria, Canada

I was debating how to vote on this one as it is one of my favorite movies of all time, and only if I felt something was missing would I not give it a 10.

Well I couldn't think of a single thing missing or that could've been done better in this movie, so this is the first 10/10 or 5/5 I have given. Seriouslly, its that good.

I am very particular about my movies. There has to be good story, characters, action, cinematography and attention to detail and authenticity.

El Cid has all this and more. The characters are compelling and real, both noble and craven. The story is based on a real person and real location and events, although I am sure some liberties have been taken to dramatize things during this Spanish/moorish conflict. Costumes seem authentic, and there is plenty of action for all so long as you don't mind the long periods of drama between them. And frankly, I give this movie a capitol D for drama!

This is the kind of classic epic that moves you emotionally and draws you in, you feel for the characters and are awed by the events. If you like historical/medieval drama, watch El Cid. It is a classic.

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44 out of 57 people found the following comment useful :-
"The Greatest Film Ever Made", 9 septiembre 2001

Author: egrorian

Although generally regarded as "good but not great", I consider "El Cid" to be the best film ever made.

The film always flies past for me, no matter how many times I've seen it and is virtually perfect. Each character is memorable and well-acted (with the possible exception of Sophia Loren's Chimene) - stand outs are Heston, Genevieve Page as Uraca, John Fraser as Alphonso, Gary Raymond as Sancho and Raf Vallone as Ordonez, but the all the supporting roles are performed with conviction.

Amongst the many other plus points are the exciting action scenes, in particular the combat for Caloharra, which, although the viewer is never in any doubt that Rodrigo will be victorious, is superbly performed and totally convincing. Also, Miklos Rosza's impressive score ranks amongst his very best.

"El Cid" has never been given the praise it deserves, often being over-shadowed by (the admittedly excellent) "Ben Hur". Perhaps this is down to personal taste as most critics and viewers would disagree, but I think "El Cid" is just marginally superior.

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39 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
Simply, the best, 13 febrero 2003

Author: Critical Eye UK de Lake District, England

It does, of course, make for very expensive home viewing, to whit; one widescreen television (28 inch minimum); one set of surround-sound speakers; one good quality DVD player. But after that though, just sit down and sit back.

Because every penny that's been invested in a Home Cinema set-up will earn its keep -- just as every dime that went into the making of this movie likewise pays back many times over.

Mann didn't invent the epic. But with 'El Cid', he took it to heights it had rarely reached before. And has never attained since. An astonishing achievement for its era, the passage of time has done little to diminish its scale or its power -- indeed it seems, in a curious way, to have gained in stature, in dignity, and in sheer, blissful watchability.

Heston was never better than this. Nor was Loren. And as for those closing seconds, whilst intimations of legend take wing upon the thunderous organ coda of Miklos Rosza's finest score. . . Words really do fail, now as then.

10 out of 10 -- but remember: this is cinema at its best; watch this at home on a set-up that's anything less than that spelt out at the beginning of this review, and you're not doing yourself, or the film, any favours.

After all, every masterpiece deserves a decent frame.

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28 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Indellible, 17 febrero 2004

Author: dbwiii de Vancouver, Canada

I watched this on the big screen when I was very very young, but this epic film left an indellible impression on me. I have to consider this to be one of the best films I ever watched.

Heston and Loren made a beautiful pair in this epic. The transformation of Loren's hatred to love for Heston was a highlight of the show.

A few scenes that stood out in my mind was: 1. The jousting scene 2. The scene where Heston catapulted buns into the besieged city and won the heart of the people. 3. The epic fighting scene at the beach where arrows rained upon the shielded soldiers ...and who can forget the famous riding scene at the very end with the already dead Rodrigo tied to the mount riding out of the city that one last time. Combined with the underlying score, that was one of the most moving scenes of all times. Years later, when I happened upon the show on TV again, I still could not help but felt a little misty in my eyes when I watched that last scene.

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32 out of 41 people found the following comment useful :-
Grim, Ponderous, Moving, Magnificent, 30 abril 2004
Author: Danusha_Goska

Grim, Ponderous, Moving, Magnificent

I'm a girl and have a girl's taste in movies. If I'm going to watch a movie with a lot of sword fights, oppressed peasants, and corrupt kings, I want it to be a swashbuckler, preferably one starring Errol Flynn. Swashbucklers bring a lot of humor to otherwise unbearable dramatic situations.

"El Cid" presents unbearable dramatic situations, and it is not a laugh riot. I saw the three-hour plus, uncut version and never felt tempted to laugh once. This is the Middle Ages without Monty Python, without the levity of an Errol Flynn - Olivia De Haviland romance or comic relief of a Little John.

Boy oh boy was this grim. And long. You could have almost filmed the entire film with three colors: white, black, and red. Lots of red.

But "El Cid" did to me what it wanted to do. I really believed in Rodrigo and Jimena as star-crossed, larger-than-life lovers. I really believed that the little girl who leads them from her well to her farm house lived a thousand years ago. I really believed that something like the mouth of hell itself was opening up as Ben Yusef invaded. I really believed in Rodrigo's relentless nobility and heroism. Neither Charlton Heston's strangely artificial looking hair nor the obvious non-Arab status of a couple of the "Moors" (Douglas Wilmer, who later played Sherlock Holmes, was one especially unconvincing Arab) interfered with my willing suspension of disbelief. I cried. Several times.

There's a lot to cry about. In almost every scene, someone is either crying, usually Sophia Loren, or gritting his teeth, often Charlton Heston, but others grit their teeth a lot, also. Actually Loren doesn't so much cry, but, rather, huge, luminous tears quiver, poised, on her lower eyelid. In her final scenes, the teardrop dancing on her right eyelid is so huge, black and luminous it begins to look like a second pupil.

If the sound of horse hoof-beats does something for you, you will love this movie. There are many horses. Many, many, many. And they are always thundering off to somewhere, more often than not, over cobblestones. Lots of horse hoof-beats on this soundtrack.

Some viewers found the plot hard to understand; they, perhaps, saw the cut version. Having seen the uncut version, I found the plot entirely comprehensible.

"El Cid" is like a ballad. There is one grim face-off after another, escalating in gravity, in which the hero proves that he is growing into his own heroism, through every choice he makes. Each choice is harder than the last one, until his final choice, which is truly impossible, but which he fulfills anyway. If you like medieval ballads, you may love this movie. It has the same grim beauty and power and inexorability, the same insistence on throwing whatever is divine in naked human character up against the impossible demands of earthly life.

For such a long movie, there is scant dialogue. With few words, people prove their true character through their actions, just as characters in ancient epics did.

One viewer complained that this movie bore no relation to the "real" El Cid legend. If that is true, the movie is all the more remarkable. The filmmakers managed to create, from scratch, a convincing and moving medieval narrative.

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17 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
A certain scene in 'El Cid', 30 junio 2005

Author: MickRibbons de United Kingdom

I think this is a particularly interesting and entertaining film. Sophia Loren is one of my favourite actresses and Charlton Heston never fails to deliver when he is cast in epic films, El Cid, Ben Hur, Moses.etc. One really moving incident in 'El Cid' never ceases to disturb me and it is after El Cid (Charlton Heston)is exiled and rejected by his future wife, Chimene (Sophia Loren). Travelling through Spain he approaches a well one day where a leper nearby is crying for water. El Cid offers him first drink at the scoop. The leper thanks him and calls him 'El Cid'. When Rodrigo (Charlton Heston)asks the leper how he knew it was him the leper replies that it could only be El Cid who would offer a drink of water to a leper. At that moment, Chimene (Sophia Loren) turns up, leading a pack-horse and accepts that her life can only be complete with El Cid and they ride off into the sunset together. I always feel a lump in my throat and feel my eyes go hot and prickly during this scene!

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13 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Totally Utterly Brilliant, 30 marzo 2005

Author: originalpatricia de United Kingdom

Having recently seen it for the umpteenth time (lost count) I can only say that Charlton Heston was the right choice, (Who else?) and Sophia Loren was totally beyond compare. So many of the "minor" characters were so good, Douglas Wilmer's Moutamin, brilliant and Genevieve Page, a wonderful Urraca, there was a subtle performance for you, just a trifle not quite appropriate, in her very obvious affection for the younger brother - a trifle suspicious, but she played it perfectly. Charlton Heston, obviously dominated the film, as was right. But, one question is left, who played Bavieca (The Horse Dear,) he lived about 2-1/2 years after the death of his beloved master and no one else could ride him, he is buried at Valencia, but where ?

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20 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Who played Lazarus, 3 noviembre 2002
Author: Robert Lawson (Robert.Lawson4@btinternet.com) de Cardiff

One of my favorite films. One of the great scenes is El Cid's meeting with a leper on the road to his banishment. 'Only one knight in Spain would humble his King and share his water with with a leper.' The player of Lazarus is totally uncredited - it sounds like Claud Rains? surely such a key contribution to the movie should not remain unacknowledeged forty years after its filming. Similarly the closing narration is uncredited as well. 'For Spain and God!'

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17 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
El Cid, Spanish Champion & Hero, 27 septiembre 2006

Author: lovette-bennett de United States

I saw this movie when I was only 17, and it was an inspiration to me. It made me love Spain, its people and its history, and learn Spanish. I wasn't so much into Charlton Heston as I was into any movies that had Yul Brynner in them, but I thought the portrayal of Don Rodrigo de Bevar was done well by Heston, and I adored Sophia Loren. The story of El Cid's battles against the scimitar-brandishing Moorish Lord, which for some reason I was under the impression Herbert Lom had played, was quite well done--but what did I know? I was only 17. What I also had no clue about was that within my own lifetime, my country, and indeed the world, would be fighting radical Islam which Spain had been conquered by and subjected to for 400 years! Who do you think "the black-turbaned Moorish" were? We need to revive that classic and watch it through 2006 eyes. There's a lesson in there. Who will be America's Cid?

I have not been able to find this movie on DVD, but will read other comments here and see if I can come up with a place to purchase a good one. It's a classic. The scenery is lovely (although it was probably filmed on backlots and in Italy!) the music is beautiful, costuming was very well done, and the movie was just enrapturing. My favorite line is still a battle cry today among the Spanish: "For God, for Country, and for the King!" Por Dios, por la patria, y el Rey!

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