On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 19/47 |
Amanda Jones |
Somewhat embarrassingly, not the worst tearjerker I've ever seen. |
| 116/159 |
David Mumpower |
Walks the line between Gladiator and Romeo + Juliet. Doomed romance never felt so cliche. Or bellicose. |
The medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde is a longtime dream project for producers/brothers Tony and Ridley Scott. The epic love affair between a princess and a warrior has been told and retold as a portion of the King Arthur myth, even to the point that it was imagined as an opera by Richard Wagner.
The story is told as follows: Isolde is a beautiful young woman and daughter of the King of Dublin. Her father has arranged for her to be married to the March, son of the King of Cornwall. King Arthur sends Tristan, a kinsman of Tristan's, to escort Isolde to her wedding.
Tristan is a talented young man with numerous abilities. In addition to be a harpist and a bard, he was also a great warrior with magical skills. While he could charm birds from the trees and bushes with his music, he also had such power that anyone who wounded him would die. Additionally, if he wounded a person, they would die. So it was that despite the fact that the forests were full of terrifying beasts and the seas were infested with pirates, Tristan saw his task as no worry whatsoever.
To while away the time during their journey, Tristan and Isolde play some chess and he sings to her. Finding themselves thirsty, they send a servant down below to find them some refreshment. In error, the first bottle he places his hand upon is a special one - a love potion made for Isolde by her father's wizard to be drunk at her wedding along with her new husband. Needless to say, the pair drink the potion and fall instantly and eternally in love.
The couple realizes that their love can never be, and Tristan remains duty bound to deliver Isolde to his friend as he swore he would under oath. When she arrives at March's castle, Isolde is despondent, refusing to eat or speak. Meanwhile, Tristan stalks the woods of Britain, slaying dragons and other creatures that have the ill fate to cross his path. Eventually, their pain becomes unbearable, and Tristan and Isolde elope to the Caledon Woods, the deepest woods in all of King Arthur's lands. Arthur will pursue them, and potentially provide a great threat to their happiness. Will it end well? Or are we looking at Moulin Rouge!? (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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