Movies - The Princess Bride

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	Movies - The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is a 1987 film, based on the 1973 novel by William Goldman, combining elements of comedy, adventure, romance and fairy tale tropes.

The movie was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman. The story is presented in the movie as a fairy tale being read by a grandfather (Peter Falk) to his sick grandson (Fred Savage), thus echoing the book's narrative style. The film stars Robin Wright and Cary Elwes. Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Christopher Guest, Chris Sarandon and André the Giant play supporting roles. Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Peter Cook, and Mel Smith have memorable cameo roles.

The movie was initially a modest success, though not a huge blockbuster, grossing twice its 15,000,000 USD production costs at the US box office. Over the years, however, it has gained a cult-like following, with occasional big-screen showings.

Storyline

The heroine of The Princess Bride is the beautiful Buttercup (played by Robin Wright in the movie), delights in verbally abusing her lowly stable boy Westley (Cary Elwes). Buttercup keeps asking Westley to do things for her and Westley's only answer is "As you wish". She soon realizes that 1. when he's saying "As you wish", what he really means is "I love you" and 2. she loves him as well. Westley leaves to make his fortune, promising to return, but his ship is attacked at sea by the Dread Pirate Roberts, who is notorious for taking no prisoners. After several years of assuming him dead, Buttercup is forced by the law of the land to marry Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), heir to the throne of Florin. (A prospect she neither looks forward to nor particularly dreads.)

Buttercup is kidnapped by a bizarre trio of outlaws-the stunted Sicilian genius Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), the expert Spaniard swordsman Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), and the enormous and mighty Turk Fezzik (André the Giant)—who have been hired to murder her and frame Florin's enemy, the neighboring country of Guilder, so that Humperdinck can start a war. (As a side note, Florin and Guilder are names for the same Dutch coin.) A masked man in black clothing follows them across the sea to the Cliffs of Insanity, where Inigo Montoya is ordered to stop him. Inigo reveals himself as a man of honor who goes out of his way to arrange a fair fight with the stranger including a surprisingly pleasant conversation while the pursuer is allowed to get some rest before the duel. Inigo reveals in this conversation that he has been studying fencing all his life so as to gain the skill necessary to avenge his father, who was murdered by a six-fingered man. In the ensuing fencing match, the masked man wins, but leaves the Spaniard alive out of respect for his immense skill in swordplay and his honorable behavior, saying as he knocks Inigo unconscious with the hilt of his sword, "I would as soon destroy a stained-glass window as an artist such as yourself. But, as I can't have you following me..." (WHACK)

Vizzini, realizing that Inigo Montoya has failed to stop the man in black, leaves Fezzik behind with orders to ambush and kill him. Fezzik, also honorable, makes himself known to the masked man and challenges him to a wrestling match. Though Fezzik is powerful, he is slow and used to throwing his weight around against swarms of men. The masked man uses this fact and his own agility against Fezzik, eventually climbing onto the giant's back and using a sleeper hold against him, thus non-lethally disabling him. His parting words to Fezzik are, "I don't envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But, in the meantime, rest well and dream of large women."

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