El Cid

" And the Cid rode through the gate and into legend " El Cid is the story of legendary Rodrigo Diaz who lifted his country with valour and integrity to drive the Moorish invaders from Spain. I think the best thing I can say about this film is that even though it's nearly three hours long, I never once look at the clock. It's a thoroughly engaging picture that boasts all the great hallmarks of a sweeping historical epic. The colour, the costumes, the scope, and the attention to detail from director Anthony Mann are first rate, and par for the course is the suitably rousing score from Miklos Rozsa. Big square jawed bronzed beefcake Charlton Heston takes the lead role as Diaz, and firmly cements himself as the go to guy for gargantuan epics. Support comes in the form of Sophia Loren, Genevieve Page, Raf Vallone, John Fraser (excellent), and Gary Raymond (also excellent). The story is an excellent one because Diaz was such a fine character from the annals of Spanish history, uniting the sulking Christian kings of Spain whilst simultaneously lifting the people of the streets off their knees and getting them to believe in the cause. However, it has to be said that this is far from the perfect historical epic movie, even allowing for the usual Hollywoodisation of facts, one can't quite get past the fact that El Cid comes across as a glamorised glory tale without any hindrances. Surely here in the 11th century El Cid's path would have been fraught and sodden with a great deal more death and destruction? There's a tameness where there should be serrated edges to the story and it takes away greatly from the film's end because the build up of Cid's heroism actually didn't contain a great deal of hard work - it was a stroll in the park so to speak. Still, it's a wonderful film that ticks all the boxes for genre staples, and as churlish as I may be as regards the assumptive nature of El Cid's story being told here, I'm still the first to start cheering and thumping my chest as the credits role, and not even Sophia Loren's pout can distract me from the bravado warmth washing over me. 8/10

_**Ranks with the best sword & sandal epics**_ In the latter half of the 11th Century when Spain consisted of Christian kingdoms and Moorish strongholds, Castilian knight Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (Charlton Heston) becomes known as ‘El Cid,’ meaning “the lord,” after generously showing mercy to a couple of Emirs, who orchestrated an attack on a Spanish city. This gets him accused of treason, but he proves his nobility, courage and skill to King Ferdinand (Ralph Truman) and his successors (Gary Raymond, John Fraser & Geneviève Page). Sophia Loren plays his romantic interest while Herbert Lom is on hand as a Berber general hell-bent on Islamic world domination. Raf Vallone appears as Rodrigo’s cunning rival for Jimena’s affections “El Cid” (1961) is curiously obscure compared to other classic sword & sandal epics, like “The Ten Commandments” (1956), “Ben-Hur” (1959) and “Spartacus” (1960), but it’s just as great and on par with the more modern “Troy” (2004), not to mention superior to the overrated “Braveheart” (1995) and “Gladiator” (2000). Even if you disagree with me on those last two films, “El Cid” stands well with any of these epics. I knew enough about Rodrigo’s real-life story to know that the political intrigue gets convoluted and wondered if the movie could keep everything understandable and compelling for the course of three hours; and it does (unlike 2005’s “Kingdom of Heaven”). Just before the drama overstays its welcome a quality action scene manifests, Like Rodrigo’s thrilling duel with Jimena’s father. I also appreciated the subtext of dealing with flawed people in leadership positions and overcoming resentment to have effective working relationships. For those who object to Heston being cast as a Spaniard, the Castilian aristocracy of the 11th Century was generally Visigothic in ethnic background, aka German. Despite the regular influx of people of color ever since, there are plenty of Blond Spaniards to this day, even redheads. (Remember, Spain is decidedly Europe and not Mexico). The film runs 3 hour, 2 minutes, and was shot in Spain with studio stuff done in Rome. GRADE: A