Sherriff of nottingham spoon movie#While this design of the Sheriff – all in black, thin, bush of wild hair, uneven beard – was widely original at the time, it worked because it somehow still fit perfectly both with the rest of the movie as well as the 14th century period it was supposed to represent. Which one holds up better in the context of the movie, the times, and the character himself?Īlan Rickman’s Sheriff – George – looks as extravagantly unfitting and flamboyant as Rickman’s performance. While we’re at it, let’s look at another fairly technical detail: the appearance and dress of our not-so-good Sheriff. What can I say but one point each goes to Slytherin. Which remarkably fits the character almost more perfectly than it should. At a first glance he is perfect, but at a closer look it seems like every gesture of hand, every wrinkle of skin, every strand of hair is in a perfectly pre-planned position. Mendelsohn manages to brilliantly layer expressions in order to portray the character’s divide. Unlike the camp and flamboyant George who owns Nottingham as much as he owns the stage, Mendelsohn’s Sheriff is at the same time unhinged and bridled harboring a dichotomy of a bullied bully, dangerously evil and loving it about as much he’s terrified of it. Every time the Sheriff loses it, Mendelsohn makes sure you don’t lose sight of the place he’s coming from. And while he is eternally over the top, he’s never laughable nor does he step outside the constraints of the script. No one yells, hisses and spits quite like Ben Mendelsohn, and in the role of the Sheriff he superbly makes up in erupting emotion what other characters get to do with flamboyant action. In Robin Hood: Origins, Ben Mendelsohn handles a completely different task: in a dynamic, fast-paced action movie he needs to make sure the slower-paced scenes of dialogue and political exchanges that are the gist of his character’s involvement don’t end up being dull and uninteresting in comparison. Yes, Alan Rickman was that good, and numerous Internet memes and an endless supply of fresh fan art and fan fiction are to make sure his unforgettable performance keeps on inspiring even after the great man is gone.Īn insanely animated Sheriff, a Witch, flamboyant dresses… the 1991 version took quite a few gambles! Rickman moves as if he owns the production very much exactly as the Sheriff is written to move as if he owns Nottingham. The moment he’s not on screen you want him back instead of being forced to endure other, generally downplayed characters and wait out the slow pace of the movie. There’s even an unconfirmed yet likely true rumor Kevin Costner edited the movie himself, making sure several scenes with the Sheriff remain safe on the cutting room floor because he felt Alan Rickman overshadowed his performance. Rickman’s Sheriff plays out as if he belongs to a completely different movie and makes you wish that was the movie you were watching. Leaving out beloved characters and bringing elements of fantasy and magic into a classic historical tale regarded to be a true story would be a considerable risk even today, let alone in 1991.īut it was a risk that paid and keeps returning.Īlan Rickman’s brilliance not only gave us the most memorable, most camp and deliciously evil Sheriff, but also inspired numerous critics to claim it’s the Sheriff who is a true thief in Prince of Thieves, because he steals every scene he’s in. And then the writers decided to not only remove the character of Prince John and sort of merge these two into a single central villain… but also give him an actual witch as a sidekick. His flamboyant, camp and endlessly over the top chew-the-scenery performance was a great gamble alone.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |