Robin and Marian (1976) Reviewed

Robin and Marian (1976) is a different kind of Robin Hood tale. It is the story of an older Robin Hood, one who left his Marian twenty years ago to follow his king, Richard Lionheart, in the Crusade to free the Holy Land. The film begins with the last siege of Robin's military career, against a ruined castle with no soldiers to defend it, to appease King Richard's mad hunger for gold. The setting here is clear. Although Robin Hood is folkloric, the film presents an historical context for his later years, one in which King Richard was a bloody tyrant whose sole concern for England was to bleed her of her wealth to pay for his expeditions (and his ransoms when he was captured) and bleed her of her able-bodied men, most of whom would die in the Crusades far from their native land.

Robin returns to England intent to put the horror and disillusionment of the last two decades behind him and retire, as it were, from the battlefield, but events lead him to return also to his former life as a hero of the oppressed when he learns of the plight of his true love, Marian, who is now the abbess of a convent. Robin is still valiant and idealistic, but alas he is also twenty years older. Fortunately, so is his archenemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham. There is action and adventure aplenty, but the challenges are greater (and perhaps a bit more humorous) when met by men of their age.

Sean Connery gives one of his best performances as a Robin Hood at the end of his career, and Audrey Hepburn gives an equally excellent performance as Marian in a role that had previously never been endowed with so much humanity. Nicol Williamson (who would later play Merlin in Excalibur) gives a sober, subtle performance as Robin's loyal comrade, Little John. Robert Shaw's Sheriff of Nottingham is both formidable and approachable as a character with believable motives and discernable virtues even in his opposition to Robin. Richard Harris deserves especial mention for his portrayal of the last king of England to rule before the adoption of the Magna Carta. Harris simmers with the omnipotence and instability of absolute monarchs harkening back to the Roman emperors, and it is his interaction with Robin that best enables the audience to envision the hardship and insanity that consumed twenty years of Robin's life abroad.

Director Richard Lester once again proves his mettle as one of the greatest directors of period action movies of the 20th century. If this film has a weakness, it is John Barry's score, which is both unambitious and overwrought.

Although there are moments of levity bordering on swashbuckling parody, Robin and Marian is a serious film that confronts issues of war, religion, class, and, perhaps most of all, love's endurance.

Writing: Great
Directing: Great
Acting: Great
Cinematography: Great
Stunts: Good
Swordplay: Good
Panache: Good

Overall Rating: Great
Swashbuckling Rank: Good


[Originally posted in Cuparius.com on 7 October 2011.]


Addendum

Written by: James Goldman
Directed by: Richard Lester
Performed by: Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Nicol Williamson, Denholm Elliott, Ronnie Barker, Kenneth Haigh, Ian Holm, Richard Harris, et al.