I just finished watching this oeuvre, and I am reminded of the immortal words of Leonard Pinth-Garnell: "There, that wasn't so good, was it?" Not exactly magnificent.
I will confess this, though: at one point, I actually was enjoying the picture. You see, I had gotten it on DVD from Netflix, and last week I watched the first disc's worth, which ends at an intermission (I'm not sure if there was originally an intermission there; it seems a little odd for the intermission to be two-thirds of the way through the film). I stopped there and only watched the rest of it tonight. At that two-thirds point where I stopped, I actually rather liked the movie. But now, having seen the rest, my opinion is decidedly lower.
What I liked was the rather interesting love/hate story between the lovers. I found myself trying to apply the situation to my own life: how would I feel if my beloved (who I hope will someday be my wife) killed my father? What would I do? Could I still love her? I couldn't come up with a clear answer to this very difficult question, and so I was quite intrigued to see how the movie would handle it. This whole sub-plot was, by far, the best part of the movie.
But the problem is, it *is* a sub-plot. And after that two-thirds point, it gets pushed aside and ceases to matter. And the main plot is too poorly realized to be of much value.
And this is where I assert that the film is simultaneously too long and too short. Too long, because the pacing is not exactly brisk and the whole thing runs over three hours, and it feels like it. Again, I had to watch it in two sessions to get through the whole thing. Yet too short too! Because the whole story covers such an epic sweep of time and events that the film can't get it all in, and so it hops around sporadically, episodically. Suddenly you have to figure out that, oh wait, it's ten years later now! Wait, what happened to all that stuff that was going on ten years ago? The movie has no answer, it has to move on, because we still have a lot of story to get through! So the film feels simultaneously interminable and rushed. I sat through the whole thing and there's still gaps in the plot that I can't quite figure out.
But the final kiss of death is when the movie is over, and you realize that it's all a huge steaming pile of baloney. Go read the wikipedia article on the real El Cid and you'll discover, as I did, that except for some of the broadest outlines of the story, it's all Hollywood nonsense. The real El Cid wasn't this noble self-sacrificing saint, he was a self-serving conqueror. He didn't desperately take Valencia in a noble quest to save Spain, he did it to gain a principality for himself. He then proceeded to rule over it peacefully for *five years*, until he died peacefully-- the whole heroic ending of the film is a tissue of whoppers. Heck, they couldn't even be bothered to get his children right; he had three children, none of whom were named Elvira or Sol.
Well, still, I gave it four stars. The scenery was nice, especially some of the authentic medieval castles. The battle scenes were suitably epic. And again, I did like the sub-plot.
But on the whole, feh. And the ending is just laughable nonsense.
I will confess this, though: at one point, I actually was enjoying the picture. You see, I had gotten it on DVD from Netflix, and last week I watched the first disc's worth, which ends at an intermission (I'm not sure if there was originally an intermission there; it seems a little odd for the intermission to be two-thirds of the way through the film). I stopped there and only watched the rest of it tonight. At that two-thirds point where I stopped, I actually rather liked the movie. But now, having seen the rest, my opinion is decidedly lower.
What I liked was the rather interesting love/hate story between the lovers. I found myself trying to apply the situation to my own life: how would I feel if my beloved (who I hope will someday be my wife) killed my father? What would I do? Could I still love her? I couldn't come up with a clear answer to this very difficult question, and so I was quite intrigued to see how the movie would handle it. This whole sub-plot was, by far, the best part of the movie.
But the problem is, it *is* a sub-plot. And after that two-thirds point, it gets pushed aside and ceases to matter. And the main plot is too poorly realized to be of much value.
And this is where I assert that the film is simultaneously too long and too short. Too long, because the pacing is not exactly brisk and the whole thing runs over three hours, and it feels like it. Again, I had to watch it in two sessions to get through the whole thing. Yet too short too! Because the whole story covers such an epic sweep of time and events that the film can't get it all in, and so it hops around sporadically, episodically. Suddenly you have to figure out that, oh wait, it's ten years later now! Wait, what happened to all that stuff that was going on ten years ago? The movie has no answer, it has to move on, because we still have a lot of story to get through! So the film feels simultaneously interminable and rushed. I sat through the whole thing and there's still gaps in the plot that I can't quite figure out.
But the final kiss of death is when the movie is over, and you realize that it's all a huge steaming pile of baloney. Go read the wikipedia article on the real El Cid and you'll discover, as I did, that except for some of the broadest outlines of the story, it's all Hollywood nonsense. The real El Cid wasn't this noble self-sacrificing saint, he was a self-serving conqueror. He didn't desperately take Valencia in a noble quest to save Spain, he did it to gain a principality for himself. He then proceeded to rule over it peacefully for *five years*, until he died peacefully-- the whole heroic ending of the film is a tissue of whoppers. Heck, they couldn't even be bothered to get his children right; he had three children, none of whom were named Elvira or Sol.
Well, still, I gave it four stars. The scenery was nice, especially some of the authentic medieval castles. The battle scenes were suitably epic. And again, I did like the sub-plot.
But on the whole, feh. And the ending is just laughable nonsense.