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Tristan and Isolde
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Luscious cinematography and even more luscious stars make Tristan & Isolde a feast for the eyes. Adapted from the medieval love story, the movie begins with with young Tristan (played as a child by Thomas Sangster, Love Actually) as he sees his parents killed by the tyrannical Irish, who ruled over a fractured Britain after the Roman occupation. Taken in by Marke (Rufus Sewell, Dark City), who rules one of the British tribes, Tristan (James Franco, Spider-Man) grows up to be a young prince and a mighty warrior--and when he's believed slain in battle, he's given a royal funeral, which sends him out sea in a burning boat. But the fire goes out and Tristan washes ashore on Ireland, where Isolde (Sophia Myles, Art School Confidential), the daughter of the Irish king, nurses him back to health. Being a lovely pair of young folk bursting with hormones, they fall madly in love... and set in motion a tragic tale that's lasted for centuries in many variations. Some reviewers have criticised Tristan & Isolde for deviating from the most common classical version, but the movie's storyline--though certainly altered to appeal to modern audiences--is fairly strong. Myles and especially Sewell turn in strong performances; Franco, however, though surprisingly persuasive as a warrior, never burns as a lover. Nonetheless, the loving shots of Franco's muscular physique will make this a must-have for his fans. --Bret Fetzer
The best film ever made connected with the Arthurian legends.
Review date: 2008-11-25 Rating: 8 out of 10
This is a dark, serious and surprisingly respectful treatment of perhaps the most important secular story in European culture apart from Faust.
It remains true to the originals but goes for the option in which King Mark is a sympathetic and noble character. This is important because we feel for all three in the triangle and it makes the dilemma of the lovers more painful.
The story of the illicit lovers is convincing and agonising to watch making it a valuable treatment of the origin of the concept of Romantic Love (according to Denis De Rougemont in 'Passion And Society', still the standard study of the myth/legend despite revisionist attempts to make it less culturally specific).
The fighting is not too unbelievably 'martial arts' like so many films set in the Middle Ages or before as here, and there is not so much of it as to unbalance the film or distract attention from the love story. The Dark Age of Britain is re-created with considerable credibility. It all looks very basic and there is no Medieval glamour. I wish they would make a decent film of the King Arthur story itself but in the meantime this is it. You only have to substitute Arthur for Mark and Lancelot and Guenevere for the other two and you have virtually the same story as far as the climax of the Arthurian legends is concerned.
So I suppose that what I should say is that we need a good film about one or two of the stories connected with Arthur's knights themselves. This is a subject that has found no fertile ground in the cinema. Even the section of 'Camelot' which was called 'Lancelot's Quest' was cut from the full version of that film before release and as far as I know has still not been restored for any DVD release. I did see one still from it back in the 60's in 'Films And Filming' and it looked promising. Lancelot in the very original armour designed for the film was fighting an opponent in more evil looking armour with a single round-towered castle in the middle distance. Clearly there was a damsel in it, probably Elaine.
For some bizare cosmic joke of a reason a similar sequence was cut from the VHS release of the BBC King Arthur made in the 80's as a serial. I remember a sequence in which Lancelot fights his way into a tower and ascends a spiral staircase with a torch. Missing - the most stirring scene in the serial.
Arthurian films are a bit of a disaster area really. Think of 'Excalibur' with it's all too familiar soundtrack nicked out of copywright from the likes of Carl Orf and Wagner and it's ridiculous Merlin. All the Merlin's are disasters except maybe for the wode painted native in 'King Arthur' and that had other problems especially it's close miked very American Saxon villain and it's over the top martial arts displays and it's clumsy story line. The latest Arthurian film 'The Last Legion' is just a complete mess: comic book stuff like most action films.
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Reviews
Fun but flawed
Review date: 2008-09-27 Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: engaging leads, competent score, cinematography and choreography, and rare bursts of authenticity (short self bows, drawn to chest: bravo!).
Cos: Egregiously drab costumes and random anachronisms, Tristan himself plays it a bit mopey, and the film could do with 20 minutes being pared from it. The dialogue is both unimaginative, and on this DVD version - at least with stereo outputs - almost inaudible compared to the SFX.
Better than I'd feared, not as good as I'd hoped. The perfect Arthurian adaptation still waits to be made.
Wow.....
Review date: 2008-08-11 Rating: 8 out of 10
Right..After seeing him in Spderman I really liked James Franco as an actor. So when I spotted Tristan + Isolde on here, and found it had James in, I brought it. I knew it was very Romeo+Juilet-equse but seriously...If i had known...I would not have brought it.
I sat down and watched it today, taking a break in my LotR fest, and I really wished I hadn't.......I was crying so badly in the end that when my Nan rang me she thought something bad had happened, I lied and said I had a cold, anyway...It was just so damn sad...well heartbreaking more like. James loked amazing in it which only added to the saddness in the end. God...It's left the same feeling in my stomach that Brokeback Mountain did....
I knew that they would have to die in the end (It being like R&J) but when it came to the end and Tristan died I was crying so much....
I seriously have to stop watching so many sad films...
Best love story ever
Review date: 2008-04-15 Rating: 10 out of 10
It's lovely a brilliant love story and all the characters match their face. Tristan meets Isolde after being thought dead and sent across the sea in a burning boat. They fall in love and then are forced into an affair after she marries his kind of father. Really great.
Loved it from start to end...!
Review date: 2008-01-06 Rating: 10 out of 10
It has a great story, great acting, and everything in it just works together brilliantly! It gets you hooked from the start! I was also quite surprised to see 'Dunluce' mentioned in it as I live around the corner from it...lol
All in all I would recommend this to anyone who loves period/dark ages films!
Product Details/Specifications
Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036027526
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-09-11
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Language: English (Original Language)