The little things in this wonderful movie send the messages we need to hear. The idiotic King Richard destroying the castle for a worthless piece of stone, and then like any King, ordering the messengers, Robin and John, to be executed.
This folly repeats itself at the end, when Robin takes the Sheriff and his aides at their word that their duel will decide the day, but with Nottingham dead and Robin mortally wounded, we see Robin's peasants being chased and slaughtered.
Lester is one of the few directors that shows how exhausting fighting with swords can be. Here the final duel to death bears resemblance to that between Michael York and Christopher Lee in 4 Musketeers.
Lester and the camera catch the crow's feet in Marian's eyes as she rekindles the flame. This is so touching. And he does the impossible by letting us have a certain sympathy and respect for Nottingham, a man with a pompous idiot for a king.
Who else but Goldman would have Little John lamenting that it is always Robin that gets the girl. His scene with Marian when she tries to convince him to stop Robin from the final fight is almost as painful as the last meeting of Marian and Robin, and how Little John defends the two. What a boon friend he is.
Everyone has noted that Goldman also wrote Lion in Winter, but all fans of "Robin" should find his "They Might Be Giants", which is another look at a legend,Sherlock Holmes, and mature love.
Critics don't always get it right. I recall Newsweek's rewriting his review of Bonnie and Clyde, and I wonder if she were alive today if Pauline Kael would do this same for this wonderful film.
This folly repeats itself at the end, when Robin takes the Sheriff and his aides at their word that their duel will decide the day, but with Nottingham dead and Robin mortally wounded, we see Robin's peasants being chased and slaughtered.
Lester is one of the few directors that shows how exhausting fighting with swords can be. Here the final duel to death bears resemblance to that between Michael York and Christopher Lee in 4 Musketeers.
Lester and the camera catch the crow's feet in Marian's eyes as she rekindles the flame. This is so touching. And he does the impossible by letting us have a certain sympathy and respect for Nottingham, a man with a pompous idiot for a king.
Who else but Goldman would have Little John lamenting that it is always Robin that gets the girl. His scene with Marian when she tries to convince him to stop Robin from the final fight is almost as painful as the last meeting of Marian and Robin, and how Little John defends the two. What a boon friend he is.
Everyone has noted that Goldman also wrote Lion in Winter, but all fans of "Robin" should find his "They Might Be Giants", which is another look at a legend,Sherlock Holmes, and mature love.
Critics don't always get it right. I recall Newsweek's rewriting his review of Bonnie and Clyde, and I wonder if she were alive today if Pauline Kael would do this same for this wonderful film.