Ladyhawke
Ladyhawke DVD cover
Directed by	Richard Donner
Produced by	Richard Donner
Written by	Edward Khmara
Starring	Matthew Broderick Rutger Hauer Michelle Pfeiffer
Music by	Andrew Powell
Cinematography	Vittorio Storaro
Editing by	Stuart Baird
Distributed by	- USA - Warner Bros. - non-USA - 20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	February 27, 1985 (U.S. release)
Running time	121 min
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Ladyhawke is a 1985 film starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer, directed by Richard Donner. Image File history File links Ladyhawke_DVD_cover. ... Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg on April 24, 1930) is an American film director and also producer through the production company, The Donners Company, he and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler-Donner, own. ... Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American film and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as the title character in Ferris Buellers Day Off and as the adult voice of Simba in The Lion King. ... Rutger Oelsen Hauer (IPA: [rʏtxɛr ulsɛn hʌuɛr]) (born in Breukelen, January 23, 1944) is a Dutch film actor. ... Michelle Pfeiffer (born April 29, 1958) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated American actress. ... Warner Bros. ... Fox Plaza, the company headquarters. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... // Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson Rambo: First Blood Part II, starring Sylvester Stallone Rocky IV, starring Sylvester Stallone The Color Purple, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, Adolph Caesar Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep and... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American film and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as the title character in Ferris Buellers Day Off and as the adult voice of Simba in The Lion King. ... Rutger Oelsen Hauer (IPA: [rʏtxɛr ulsɛn hʌuɛr]) (born in Breukelen, January 23, 1944) is a Dutch film actor. ... Michelle Pfeiffer (born April 29, 1958) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated American actress. ... Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg on April 24, 1930) is an American film director and also producer through the production company, The Donners Company, he and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler-Donner, own. ...

Plot

The film is set in medieval Europe. Phillipe "The Mouse" Gaston (Matthew Broderick), a peasant thief, is imprisoned in the dungeons of Aquila and set for execution for his petty crimes - but he escapes by crawling through the prison sewers to freedom. He makes a run for it into the countryside away from the city. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American film and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as the title character in Ferris Buellers Day Off and as the adult voice of Simba in The Lion King. ... The dungeon of the Château de Loches in France A dungeon (or donjon) is Old French, sourced from the Latin dominus, a lord. ... Sewers transport wastewater from buildings to treatment facilities. ... The city of Chicago, as seen from the sky A city is an urban area that is differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ...

His escape comes to attention of the evil Bishop of Aquila (John Wood), who rules over his portion of France with an iron grip. The dungeons of Aquila are considered to be inescapable and so the Bishop fears that news of Phillipe's escape could "ignite the flames of rebellion". The Bishop sends his captain of the guard, Marquet (Ken Hutchinson), into the country to find Phillipe and kill him. Phillipe uses his cunning to survive a while, but is soon found by Marquet and several of the Bishop's guards. As he is about to be killed, Phillipe is saved by a strange knight in black (Rutger Hauer), who is identified as Eteinne Navarre. Navarre battles and defeats all the soldiers present, riding away with Phillipe. Marquet warns the Bishop of Navarre's "return." LAquila is a city and comune of central Italy, on the Aterno river. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... Black is the shade of objects that do not reflect light of any parts of the visible spectrum. ... Rutger Oelsen Hauer (IPA: [rʏtxÉ›r ulsÉ›n hÊŒuÉ›r]) (born in Breukelen, January 23, 1944) is a Dutch film actor. ... A Norwegian soldier (a Corporal, armed with an MP-5) A soldier is a person who has enlisted with, or has been conscripted into, the armed forces of a sovereign country and has undergone training and received equipment to defend that country or its interests. ...

Navarre, a quiet man who travels with a companion hawk, tells Phillipe that he intends to ride back to Aquila and use Phillipe's unique knowledge to get inside the prison. Once inside, Navarre intends to kill the Bishop. Navarre reveals very little about his background or motivation. Phillipe refuses to return, but agrees only after Navarre passively threatens to kill him if he should decide otherwise. As the pair begin to take the long journey back to Aquila, Phillipe starts to notice that Navarre disappears at night, while a wolf seems to always be prowling in his absence. He also notices that the hawk disappears at nighttime, and a beautiful woman (Michelle Pfeiffer), Isabeau, manifests out of nowhere each evening. Genera Accipiter Micronisus Melierax Urotriorchis Erythrotriorchis The term hawk refers to birds of prey in any of three senses: Strictly, to mean any of the species in the bird sub-family Accipitrinae in the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis, and Megatriorchis. ... Two bishops assist at the Exhumation of Saint Hubert, who was a bishop too, at the église Saint-Pierre in Liège. ... Michelle Pfeiffer (born April 29, 1958) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated American actress. ...

Marquet's men capture Phillipe one night and use him to find Navarre. They battle and Navarre manages to defeat the Bishop's guards, but both he and the hawk are wounded by crossbow bolts. As the hawk barely clings to life, Navarre seems broken. Navarre looks to the sunset and orders Phillipe to travel down a nearby road to an old monk named Imperius (Leo McKern) who will "know what to do." Phillipe finds Imperius, who heals the wounded hawk. Imperius then tells Phillipe a story that confirms what he already suspects. Years ago, Isabeau, a young French beauty, fell in love with Navarre, the captain of the guard. The Bishop saw Isabeau and fell in love with her but Isabeau "sensed his wickedness" and rejected his advances. Imperius reveals that in a drunken confession it was he who informed the Bishop of Isabeau's love for Navarre. Enraged with jealousy, the Bishop made a pact with the Devil to place a transformation curse upon both the lovers, swearing that "if he could not have her, then no man would". With the curse in effect, Isabeau becomes a hawk during the daytime while Navarre becomes a wolf during the night. They are eternally apart and only see each other for the briefest of moments during sunset and sunrise. Image:Number Two. ... The Devil is a title given to a supernatural entity, who, in most interpretations of the Abrahamic faiths, is the central embodiment of evil. ... Shapeshifting, transformation , transmogrification or morphing is a change in the form or shape of a person, especially: a change from human form to animal form and vice versa a change in appearance from one person to another Shapeshifting is not considered scientifically or medically possible for humans (and animal shapeshifting... Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call... A composite image showing the terminator dividing night from day, running across Europe and Africa. ... The Rayleigh effect, seconds before sunrise in New Zealand Sunrise, also called sunup in some American English dialects, is the time at which the first part of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. ...

Three of the Bishop's guards arrive the next day and storm Imperius' castle. Phillipe manages to get Isabeau away but they are both trapped by the guards on top of a tower. Navarre arrives in human form to save Imperius, Phillipe and Isabeau (who is now a hawk). Imperius says that he has a found a way to break the curse, explaining that in three days, there will be a "day without a night. A night without a day." During that brief moment, he and Isabeau will both be in their human forms, and must confront the bishop together as man and woman to break the curse. Navarre refuses to accept Imperius' suggestion as the monk had already betrayed Isabeau and Navarre before when he told the Bishop of their love. Caernarfon Castle, Wales. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal apes belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (known as the great apes). ...

Meanwhile, the Bishop concocts a plan. As he seems unable to kill Navarre in his human form, he instructs a hunter, Cezar (Alfred Molina), to trap wolves, hoping to actually kill Navarre during the night when he is in his wolf form. He is instructed to look for a black wolf. Isabeau sees the wolf pelts on Cezar's horse and she rides into the forest to save Navarre from Cezar's deadly traps. She sneaks behind Cezar with a dagger in her hand, but before she can kill him, Navarre enters the scene in his wolf form. Cezar sees the black wolf, but before he can get to Navarre, Isabeau kicks him to the floor and he falls into one of his own traps and is killed. Molina as Dr. Octopus in Spiderman 2 (2004) Alfred Molina (born May 24, 1953) is an English actor. ...

Phillipe tells Isabeau of Imperius' plan. Phillipe, Isabeau and Imperius develope a plan to trap Navarre when he is in his wolf form so that they can prevent him from killing the Bishop before the day that Imperius has told him to confront him on, the "day without a night". Phillipe and Imperius dig a hole to trap the wolf in while Isabeau tries to summon him, but before Navarre can reach the trap he falls through the ice crossing the river. Phillipe jumps into the water to save him. The next morning, Isabeau in her human form awakes alongside the wolf in the hole that they had dug to trap him in. The sun rises and Navarre transforms into a human. The two lovers see each other for the first time in years, but before they can reach out to touch one another, Isabeau transforms into a hawk. Navarre learns that Phillipe saved his life, and he finally agrees to follow Imperius' plan.

Navarre and company continue on and reach Aquila. Navarre is still sceptical about Imperius' "night without a day, day without a night" theory, but Imperius' says that he must confront the Bishop now or the curse will never be broken. Navarre orders the monk to kill the hawk should he not return in a certain time period, for this will likely mean his quest has ended in death and he will then meet Isabeau again in the afterlife. Using Phillipe's knowledge of the prison inner workings, Navarre enters the cathedral during service and defeats Marquet in combat. Just as he is about to kill the seemingly defenseless bishop, Navarre looks outside and sees the eclipse, the "day without a night, a night without a day". Navarre realizes that Imperius was right, however, the time period for him to return is over and so he assumes that Isabeau is already dead, whether the spell actually could be broken or not. Navarre is set to kill the bishop when Isabeau walks in - appearing in human form. Everyone present is awestruck. By looking at the both of them, the Bishop breaks the curse and the lovers are freed. The enraged Bishop's anger begins to show and he arms his spear, but before he can attack, Navarre launches his sword at him and the corrupt Bishop is impaled onto his altar. Navarre and Isabeau embrace in the cathedral, while Phillipe and Imperius feel proud of their work in the adventure. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The afterlife (or life after death) is a generic term referring to a continuation of existence, typically spiritual, experiential, or ghost-like, beyond this world, or after death. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Anglican, Catholic and some Lutheran churches, which serves as the central church of a diocese, and thus as a bishops seat. ... Combate Naval de Iquique - oil on canvas painting by Thomas Somerscales, XIX century Combat, or fighting, is purposeful violent conflict between one or more persons or organizations, often intended to establish dominance over the opposition. ... The French 1999 eclipse An eclipse (Greek verb: ekleipô, to vanish, though it derives from the prefix ex-, away from, and Greek leipein, to leave) is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. ... The Illusion Impaled is a stage illusion, in which the subject (it is frequently performed by magicians on themselves, as well as on their assistants) is first balanced at their waist on the tip of a sword, then spun around on it. ...

Imagery

Dr. E.C. Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, cites the film in his book Beyond the Blue Horizon as a modern example of archaeoastronomical eclipse imagery. The therioanthropic elements are shared with two medieval lais by Marie de France — "Bisclavaret", the tale of a werewolf, and "Yonec", in which a knight transforms into a falcon — and are also reminiscent of the ancient symbologies of solar hawk and night wolf. Panorama of Los Angeles and Griffith Observatory viewed from the Hollywood Hills. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... The sun rising over Stonehenge at the 2005 Summer Solstice Archaeoastronomy (also spelled Archeoastronomy) is the study of ancient or traditional astronomies in their cultural context, utilising archaeological and anthropological evidence. ... The French 1999 eclipse An eclipse (Greek verb: ekleipô, to vanish, though it derives from the prefix ex-, away from, and Greek leipein, to leave) is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. ... For other uses of the term, see Therianthropy (disambiguation). ... A Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. ... Marie de France (Mary of France) was a poet evidently born in France and living in England during the late 12th century. ... A German woodcut from 1722 A werewolf (also lycanthrope or wolfman) in folklore and mythology is a person who shapeshifts into a wolf, either purposely, by using magic, or after being placed under a curse. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... Species About 37; see text. ... Horus is an ancient god of Egyptian mythology, whose cult survivved so long that he evolved dramatically over time and gained many names. ... Anubis is the Greek name for the ancient jackal-headed god of the dead in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic is more accurately spelled Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu, or Inpw). ...

Music

The music of the film was composed by Andrew Powell, a composer and orchestrator most well known for his work with Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson for The Alan Parsons Project. Donner stated in the soundtrack's liner notes that he had been location-scouting with a steady soundtrack of the Projects' albums, and so he married music style to pictures in his mind before the film was even begun. Powell wrote the score and approached Parsons to produce the music, thus making it appear as if it was an instrumental album of the band. Parsons is often mistaken as the composer for the film. Alan Parsons (born December 20, 1948 in London, England) is a British audio engineer, musician, and record producer. ... Eric Woolfson was a lead singer, songwriter and lyricist, executive producer, pianist, and co-founder of The Alan Parsons Project. ... The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock and pop group active between 1975 and 1987 founded by Englishman Alan Parsons and Scotsman Eric Woolfson. ...

Ladyhawke's soundtrack draws much criticism by those who feel that the 1980s synthesized pieces clash with the medieval setting of the film, though it has to be noted that the soundtrack also includes orchestral works and genuine medieval and renaissance tunes; when Phillipe and Isabeau dance in the stables, the tune they dance to is a genuine Italian 14th Century dance named Trotto. The film also includes a genuine renaissance piece by John Dowland. The term synthesiser is also used to mean frequency synthesiser, an electronic system found in communications. ... John Dowland (1563 – February 20, 1626) was an English, possibly Irish-born composer, singer, and lutenist. ...

Setting

Due to a certain astronomical event that takes place, the film can be dated to 1239 in the South of France. However, there are holes in this theory as certain lines in the film contradict this date. One such line is Cezar's 'Since the plague there are more wolves than men', implying the Bubonic Plague of the mid-14th Century. However, it could be argued that he was referencing a minor localised plague which he exaggerated in order to excuse his failure in the task the Bishop had set him. Bubonic plague is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease plague, which is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis. ...

Filming Locations

The locations of the movie are in Italy in the Province of Parma. The castles include Fontanellato, Bacedasco and Castell'Arquato, where most of the exterior filming took place. Other location of the movie is the Rocca Sforzesca in Soncino in the Province of Cremona. Country Italy Region Emilia-Romagna Province Parma (PR) Mayor Elvio Ubaldi (since May 28, 2002) Elevation 55 m Area 260 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 175,789  - Density 676/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Parmigiani (Parmensi are called the provinces inhabitants) Dialing code... Fontanellato is a small town in the province of Parma in north Italy. ... CastellArquato is an ancient town which has still maintained its apprearance as it was in the early X century. ... Soncino, city of the province of Cremona. ... Cremona is a city in Northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left shore of the Po river in the middle of the Pianura padana (Po valley). ...

External links

• Ladyhawke
• Ladyhawke at the Internet Movie Database
• Ladyhawke at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ladyhawke at Box Office Mojo