Tristan and Isolde

[numbat]

Thanks for taking the time to read girls!!!!

Was worried after i posted that it might be too racy for some & too sappy for others, but as long as someone enjoyed it i'm happy.

And i managed NOT to dream of Marke last night.

[wichiwoman]

Ever consider being a romance writer? You're good!!

[numbat]

Hahahaha, I fear any romance novel i would write would be worse than the very worst Mills & Boon!!! And the romantic lead would always be a 6ft man with curly black hair & green eyes with brown flecks (& beautiful hands!!!)

[wichiwoman]

And the problem with that is what exactly???

[phyllis]

I just watched "Tristan and Isolde" tonight and I was bawling at the ending. I felt so bad for the lovers and Lord Marke was so sweet and understanding. Hell, Rufus looks good even with a crewcut. Of course, the movie was not faithful to the actual Celtic myth of the lovers, but I liked the movie version much better.

[numbat]

It seems to be just me & you talking today phyllis!!!! I adore T&I - Marke is the ultimate man in my books - strong, manly, a leader, yet sensitive, gentle & kind (& breathtakingly gorgeous). I think the crew cut balanced with the stubble is Rufus's ultimate look because it shows off his beautiful eyes & cheekbones and frames his mouth. I do love his curly hair but it distracts from his face sometimes.



and don't get me started on his hands (well, hand), or the kissing

[tipou]

oh that was goooooooooooooood.
thank you numbat.
(drool)

[dreamer]

Tristan or Marke? Franco or Roof? Mmmmmmh! It's a very hard choice! ;D
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And Numbat, you are great!

[numbat]

Thanks dreamer - i've been trying to work out how to get that first pic off the DVD - how can one man look so spectacular simply watching a monitor (and i think we know WHICH man i mean - the one that isn't a boy!!!). And i have that last one saved on my screensaver but can't remember where it came from - it's not on the gallery here i don't think - did you post it on LJ?

[ofelia1]

Finally I saw T&I!!!!

I liked the film more that I thought I would. As you said, I thought it was made for a teenage audience and feared that it would be too "easy" (does this adjective collocate with "film" in English? I hope you understand what I mean), moreover when it is a well-known story (BTW I always though that Isolde died at the end. Is this only in the film? Or are they different versions of the myth?). It is well done, gorgeus settings and scenery, very well cast (except for you-know-who) and well developed. The diferent parts of the story are well timed, not long to be boring and not too short, they give enough time to look at the characters, what they do and feel. I also think it's brilliant to make Marke not a baddie, it would have been easy to do so, but the story wouldn't have been interesting. A very suprising good result with a short budget (There are many good movies with low budgets but it must be very difficoult to do it in a period film where to start with the sets, dressings and atrezzo are so expensive).

You girls have said already everything that I could say. So sorry that Franco was a mistake. Obviously, Tristan must be younger than Marke, and it would have been more believable if they had chosen another actor (yes, the guy who plays Tristan's cousin would have been great). I can't do anything but agree with the "what-Isolda-was-really-thinking" version!!!

And Rufus... even his eyes looked more green in this movie!! And his performance is wonderful, he owns every scene in which he is, no matter how many others are in it... that is what is supposed to be isn't it? Marke is the king and you know it just looking at him.

mmm... I think I'll watch it again this afternoon...

[numbat]

I agree with you Ofelia, i think T&I is actually a really well made film which is why we are able to watch it over and over. The scenery is beautiful and Rufus is beautiful ( ), but it's the strength of the overall movie that carries it through.

I do Roof this one quite often, but i actually watched the whole thing again from start to finish just before i went away, and (yes, i hate to say it), i actually felt Tristan's pain. It's easy (for us!!!!) to focus on Marke and Isolde, and of course the performance of the "actor playing Tristan" (!!!!) is not as strong as it could have been (is that diplomatic enough?), but the pain that he went through "dying", being rescued by & falling in love with Isolde, losing her, winning her again but having to give her to Marke, watching them get married and carry on their married life, finally giving in to his desires and betraying Marke in the process, Marke asking Tristan if he thought Isolde had a lover and telling him how much he loved Isolde, Tristan being so mortified by that conversation to push him to break it off with Isolde only to be discovered in the process thus betraying Marke again, to have Marke reject him, to push Isolde away for the sake of Marke and ultimately to die in the process of protecting D'or and Marke - he does go through quite a lot !!!.

So although "said actor who plays Tristan" doesn't do justice to the part, the concept of a love triangle is so strong here because it's not just the two men's love for Isolde that forms the triangle, it's primarily their love for each other. Although the Isolde part of the triangle is formed by true, heartbreaking, romantic love, the love between the two men is the (stronger??) bond of father/son love - the betrayal of which is the ultimate downfall of them. Ultimately, Tristan gives up Isolde in favour of Marke, Marke was much angrier with him than he was with Isolde after they were found out but he too, ultimately, gives up Isolde in favour of Tristan.

And the final scene under the bridge kills me every time Mmmmm, i agree Ofelia, time to watch this one again - haven't cried for at least 2 weeks

[eleanor]

You are right and I agree, although Franco did not act very well, the love triangle and the pain of Tristan was heartbreaking. In the end, when Marke lets them both go to be together, he realises that they were in love long before he married Isolde. The ending is so sad when Tristan dies and the effort that he makes to help save Marke is so heroic. Although I have made my jokes about Franco, I can still realise the story and I love the film for its content and storyline and how it makes me feel overall. It is one of Rufus' films that I watch the most because it is so well shot and the scenery is beautiful....and Rufus..well..need I say more?

[rufluvr]

Tristan and Isolde is a beauty of a film visually and emotionally. (It's so nice to see love, honor, mercy and redemption carry the day after all in a modern film) A person can watch it over and over same as one appreciates repeating a well composed tune with a lovely melody at the heart of it.

The pace was great as was mentioned above--and the cinematography and costumes too. Rufus was shot sooo well in this film I think the DP must be a big fan, ha ha.

Can't remember if in the past I've jumped on the ever popular love-to-hate-Franco's- performance bandwagon (it wouldn't surprise me) but now I feel he's gotten so many licks I should point out what he did well. The Tristan character was a talented, cocky, daring, playful young man--which Franco nailed in many ways. One of his shining moments in the movie though, I thought came when he was so very lovesick and despairing over his thwarted desire for Isolde and her burgeoning intimacy with Marke. He REALLY looked and acted physically and emotionally drained to me. I totally bought it, thought he played it really well without overdoing it. Maybe now is a good time for me to point out that over-acting is a much more irritating thing to me than under-emoting is anyday haha. Besides, maybe Franco was actually GOING for a immature, withdrawn, reticent vacant-vibe some adolescent males have been known to give off!! He was doing such a great job acting we, um just didn't realize it? Hee, hee, hee.

[numbat]

Oooooh, you're throwing the cat among the pigeons there rufluvr!!!!! But i do agree with you - once i stopped focussing purely on Marke (as hard as that was to do!!!!) i DID feel Tristan's pain, and i guess there must have been just a smidge of acting talent there to enable that to happen. Although i would have loved to have seen a young Ruf play that part, Franco did at times do it well - i thought the scene in the market where Isolde agreed to meet him under the roman bridge was well done - he did look totally spent and emotionally drained to the extent that he would agree to betray Marke, although he had spent so long resisting that very urge. Other times he was a bit ordinary - one scene that totally grates on me is at the tournament when he looks up at the stand and says something like - i accept you for my king - in perhaps the worst attempt at an english accent that i have ever heard from an american's mouth!!!!

We still love to hate him i think and in our "no we're not in the least bit biased" eyes, Isolde was a FOOL, but the reality is that the movie may not have ever been made if it wasn't for Franco's involvement.

At least we have the breathtakingly gobsmackingly gorgeous Marke to look at (i can't resist another pic just to look at that face )



As long as you understand Tristan, that you can never be as good looking as me, i will pick you to be my second. That nephew of mine is much too handsome.

[ofelia1]

Yes girls, I agree with you... now that I have seen the film again.

It's easy (for us!!!!) to focus on Marke and Isolde

I'll say better, to focus ONLY on Marke. I must confess that the first time I saw it I was too concentrated on those beautiful eyes but now, although I continue thinking that Tristan wasn't well cast, the guy tries to do his job. Obviously it would have been worse if he was overacted.