critique by Katherine Pulzone

Ladyhawke 1985 – directed by Richard Donner. nominated for two Academy Awards in the categories and won a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, and was nominated in the categories of Best Actress (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Best Music (Andrew Powell).

In light of the recent earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy, I thought of LadyHawke, a beautiful movie that came out in 1985 and hooked me as soon as the haunting music started. Since I watch a movie right down to the trademark after all the credits are listed, I take note of where a film is made. I remembered this film after seeing it the first time because the location was nothing short of stunning. Sure enough, it was filmed in L’Aquila, Italy. L’Aquila is a medieval town in the Abruzzo region and the Campo Inperatore (alpine meadow area) was one of the scenes. The final shots were filmed at Rocca Calascio which is a ruined fortress on top of a mountain. Without giving too much away, this film is about a curse on two lovers played by Michele Pfeifer and Rutger Hauer. During the night, Michelle (Isabeau) is a flawless beauty and Rutger Hauer is a wolf. On the reverse, during the day Michelle is a hawke with leather bindings on her claws and Rutger is Captain of the Guard for the Bishop of Aquilla. Mathew Broderick, very young in this film and playing “Phillipe” “the Mouse”, steals the spotlight as a pickpocket and escapes the dungeons of L’Aquila for his crime of stealing for which he will be executed. Escaping the dungeons of L’Aquila has never been achieved and he earns the wrath of the Bishop of Aquila (played by John Wood) who for the mere shame of not knowing how he escaped, has his soldiers hunt him down. Rutger saves him in a roadside eatery and Matthew gets pulled into this mystical nightmare/daymare of this tragic curse. Once Mathew learns the secret of this knight and his hawk who sits on his shoulder during the day, he is pulled into finding a cure for this curse as well as falling for the beautiful hawk when she is a lady at night. The soldiers warn the Bishop of an angry Navarre (Hauer’s role) returning to Aquila to revenge the curse that the Bishop placed on him and Isabaeu. Navarre tells Phillipe that he will use him to break back into the dungeons in order to kill the Bishop. It takes a while for Phillipe to understand why Navarre disappears at night as well as the beautiful woman disappearing at sunrise and tries to escape Navarre, but he’s enthralled with the beautiful Ladyhawke.

The film's score was composed by Andrew Powell using Gregorian chants and contemporary rock infused with traditional orchestra. The result is haunting and perfect for this location. The mountains and open fields are captivating with ancient castles and spectacular sunrises and sunsets and just blend with the music. The movie, because of Broderick, is at times funny due to the way he portrays his character and questions God for his constant predicaments.

This is must see movie, if only for the visually stunning land of Aquila. They also shot scenes in Parma, Veneto, Lombardia, Belluno, Lazio and Veneto regions. Enjoy the movie!