Cinophile: The Princess Bride

The story starts where all fairy tales have their genesis: at the side of the bed of a sick child. Stuck at home, the boy is visited by his grandfather, who brought along a book called The Princess Bride. It’s the first hint that this film is unlike anything else you’ve seen in the genre.

A quick whirlwind of scenes take us through the blossoming romance of Buttercup and her stable hand, the dashing Westley. But when he goes missing during a trip abroad, she falls into a deep depression and, years later, agrees to marry the local prince, himself on the cusp of becoming king.

Then three thugs kidnap the future princess for reasons that become clear later. They believe they got away with it until spotting that they are being followed. One by one the mysterious stranger takes care of the kidnappers and comes close to rescuing Buttercup. But the prince arrives and the stranger, the Dread Pirate Roberts, is arrested (despite the prince promising his bride otherwise). The remaining kidnappers and pirate have to join forces to beat the evil monarch and save Buttercup.

It all sounds fairly straightforward, but The Princess Bride is anything but. While director Rob Reiner already had a reputation for serious movies (Stand By Me), he was also responsible for the brilliant mockumentory This Is Spinal Tap. In lieu of not reading the book, we can’t confirm if the film’s humour came from there. But Reiner and his crew certainly made it work on the big screen. It has raised The Princess Bride as one of the best comedies every made, with fast dialog and deadpan humour carrying the somewhat absurd plot.

Audiences weren’t as appreciative: the film returns only doubled its $16 million budget. But it would grow to become a massive cult hit and inspire a generation of kids to grow up believing in endless love, giants, miracles and that you should always be able to use a sword with both hands.