Culture

Cannes Film Festival: Robin Hood, Mixed Reviews (photos, video)

by NowPublic Staff | May 12, 2010 at 09:44 am

692 views | 5 Recommendations | 2 comments

Robin Hood: Gladiator Meets Sherwood Forest, Russell Crow and Ridley Scott Team Up, Open Cannes Film Festival (photos, video)

Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men kicked off the Cannes Film Festival in France and the reception to the film was apparently hardly merry; in fact it was down right subdued, reports say.

...some critics questioning the “politically correct” rewrite which has Robin arguing against the killing of Muslims in the Crusades and Marian donning chain mail to fight French troops on the battlefield.

However, the talents of Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett (who plays Maid Marian) combined with directorial skills of Ridley Scott are undeniable and Robin Hood may well be a big hit.

The film is a prequel which explores the time before Robin Hood became an outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

There seems to be a fascination with prequels in Hollywood and the story of Robin Hood was ripe for such a treatment. The Batman prequel Batman Begins, the Star Wars trilogy prequel were commercial success and Robin Hood is shaping up to be one too.

But what does “an origin story” even mean with a figure that is arguably nearly a millennium old, and the first reference appears to be a 1262 English countryside ledger entry dubbing a captured outlaw as simply another “Robbenhode,” and the tale has been retold countless times through oral ballads and more than a hundred film and television versions?

The story has something for everyone. “Robin Hood continues to be a story that everyone can relate to – conservatives, liberals, adults, children,” says University of Rochester’s Tom Hahn, a Robin Hood scholar, “because the story and the outlaw hero is constantly re-shaped by popular culture, media, and the movies.”

2 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Tag Polar

at 03:43 on May 14th, 2010

More pictures of Cate Blanchett

YankeeJim

at 05:26 on May 15th, 2010

A modern day version of Robin would feature a story set in Greenwich village in which Robin and his merry men would venture out of the village at night, donned as rappers where by they would attack unsuspecting tourists, robbing them before returning to the village for a late night celebration. Implausible is this script because everyone knows, gay folks generally are gentle, non viloent, and law abiding.