"The Adventures of Robin Hood" by Michael Curtiz (1938)

The reality around me is so gloomy that it takes superhuman efforts to stay positive and find some beauty, joy and comfort in everyday life. Almost everything I do these days feels as a intentional self-delusion and distraction: even my quiet walks in a favourite part of town (which I just recently discovered) feels sour because I could never live there, not even under the stairs like Harry Potter. With my finances, I could probably afford only a door handle. One side, not two. On top of Corona and political pressure, now it looks as I might stay jobless so the shadow of uncertainty looms over everything I do. In order to cheer myself up a bit, I decided to watch this old classic last night and it was a perfect choice.

I am sure that I have probably seen "The Adventures of Robin Hood" before, but curiously I don't actually have any particular memories - just a vague feeling that this is something that would have played on our black & white TV Sunday afternoon as the whole family relaxed after the lunch, a perfect family entertainment. The conviction that I know all there is to know about Robin Hood (even though its probably a myth) kept me from approaching this movie earlier and to my biggest joy, it was like I experience it for the first time.

In all honesty, it should probably be seen on a cinema screen - as originally created - because even though its made in 1938, its in a luscious Technicolor and designed to impress the audiences with a complete package - not only it has great, fun story but spectacular costumes, actors, colours and sword fights. If I ever have a family, my children would watch this on a Sunday afternoon, its the kind of innocent, clean entertainment everybody should aspire to. Not a trace of sarcasm, irony or a double entendre - it feels as a movie some seven year old would enjoy with a pure heart. From the start we know who is good and who is bad, in its simplicity it almost feels like Disney - but Disney would come to this subject decades later, this is the real thing.

At this point I won't go into a story - often told and filmed as cinematic success even before this version, with earlier Douglas Fairbanks as Sir Robin of Locksley - it took some courage from Warner Bros to dare bringing such an old warhorse to the screen again but they actually went full blast, with a sensational production, the best tools in the business and created a cinematic extravaganza that blew all the other similar movies out of the water. They saved no expense on big production, best actors, scenery, stunt men, sword fighting instructors and even got Erich Wolfgang Korngold to compose music for the movie - because he was busy in Hollywood, Korngold avoided Nazi prosecution in his own Vienna and this lucky accident probably saved his life. 

My own reaction on the movie was just perfect: I needed escapism, a fantasy that would take me away from this reality and I probably couldn't select better than "The Adventures of Robin Hood" - even though I am familiar with the story, its been long enough to watch it again like for the first time and many times I bursted laughing out loud with a joy. When Robin and Lady Marian finally kiss on her balcony, I melted and sighed like a totally besotted teenage girl. I took it all without any reservations or prejudice, simply loving it for what it is - a wonderful movie classic for all ages. Came for Olivia de Havilland, stayed because I genuinely loved the movie.