Review of El Cid (1961) by Riley H — 13 Dec 2010
Well of course the set design is incredible, as it's an early 60s epic. And there's a cast of thousands, as it's an early 60s epic. And those things are nice to look at. So are the locations.
This is the best "Come to Spain" ad I've seen in some time. The film is intermnible. But worse, in it's 3 plus hours there are...plot holes! How is that possible? What was the original cut? Heston's motivations are often sketchy.
Sometimes we're supposed to think of him as some kind of male Joan of Arc, other times merely as a really good citizen, or as a man who is rather ridiculously in love with the woman who's father he killed.
The narration is thrown in when they need it and pops up here and there (three times I thnk) to keep the film at three hours. I really can't imagine how long it would have been had they tried to tell more of this story.
What's with the pronunciation of Jimena? It sounds like they are all saying Chemen or something. Too long, too traditional, too "epic," too boring.
This review of El Cid (1961) was written by Riley H on 13 Dec 2010.
El Cid has generally received positive reviews.
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