“I am the lord of darkness. I require the solace of the shadows and the dark of the night. Sunshine is my destroyer; all this shall change. Tonight the sun sets forever. There shall never be another dawn“
I should not have to introduce this movie: it is somewhat of a classic, a cult really, appreciated by many in spite of a few shortcomings (mainly attributed to the way movies were made back then). Anyhow, Legend is a 1985 fantasy movie directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara and Tim Curry.
First and foremost I would like to express my surprise: I admit to my ignorance since I was not aware that this movie was made by one of my favourite directors (at least concerning the first part of his career). I double-checked it and this movie came out right after two of his most renowned movies, Alien and Blade Runner.
Second on my ‘mandatory-to-say-something-about-it’ list, Tim Curry is a fantastic actor and as much as devil/princes of shadows go, with this role he set the bar quite high. I did mention him briefly in my article about the best devils within cinema, but at the time I had said that his interpretation deserved a separate article. The first sentence that I quoted above is the opening narration of the movie and its delivery is bone-chilling; for more than half of the movie the Prince of Shadows is merely a voice and nothing more. When he enters the stage, with an incredible attention for makeup and costume for the time, his presence and interpretation towers above the others.
I don’t have much to say about the other actors: both Mia Sara and Tom Cruise were pretty much at the beginning of their respective careers, but their youthfulness (and I would dare say also naiveté) played perfectly within their roles.
What I have to inquire about the movie addresses various areas. The script, although a screenplay, feels much more like it was made for theatre, at least from how the dialogues are used (think about the introduction). The costumes are almost pompous and exaggerated; I would however not indicate this as a fault given the approach of many other movies in the eighties – interestingly enough they do a good job in representing the fantasy setting they are aiming at. As I have already said, the costume and makeup for the Prince of Darkness himself hold up still today, and to be frank they are better than other fantasy products done today (I will not necessarily point fingers, but if you like the genre, then you will catch my drift). Furthermore, the backgrounds and stages are created masterfully – just what one would expect from Ridley Scott – where I would consider the attention even given to minute details is unparalleled. I mean just look at this ring:
This is the gimmick that is used to cure the princess, yes, but it is also much more. It represents duality, just as the movie hints to. The theme of light and dark, one being unable to exist without the other is central and this may be seen even in similar details. Furthermore, it is exactly what the Prince of Shadows tells the hero before being vanquished:
“What is light without dark? What are you without me? I am a part of you all, you can never defeat me, we are brothers eternal.”
This gives a certain potency to Tim Curry’s character because it leaves the viewer to wonder. While on screen one sees light triumphing over darkness, that does not mean that it is the end. The Prince of Shadows as such has a certain depth, one reached with the very first words he utters as well as the lingering sensation that he will never be defeated.
One last thing I want to mention is the use of the colour palette. Legend provides a continuous shift in the predominant colours it uses to also give a greater impact for the scenes. Within the first half we have a transition from a fiery-dark red that represents the malice of the Prince of Darkness to the light green representing the forest and purity and then to an icy cold blue, hinting at the moment said purity has been destroyed. In the second half there is an initial glittering of gold reflecting the armour of the hero and a new hope, then the golden fires of the torture chamber of the castle, a dim and more opaque gold that symbolizes corruption and finally a darker tint that epitomizes on the tainting of everything pure and the following ensuing darkness. It is only in the ending that the colours become more vivid, almost loosing part of their hazy shine, as if the end of the movie also symbolizes an ending of fantasy and a return to reality.
I would normally give this movie a 6 or a 7 out of 10, but given Tim Curry’s performance I will gladly bestow it an 8 out of 10 ‘damn, those are some big horns’.