Robin Longstride, an archer back from the Crusades, takes a dead knight's name and sword to Nottingham and gets pulled into a fight over taxes and a French invasion. This version tells how the legend began. Watch how the beach battle blends real boats and extras with a huge digital fleet.
Robin Hood is a 2010 action, adventure and history film directed by Ridley Scott. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 narrative, 1 psychology and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Parasite uses several of the same techniques.
Making the giving, taking or recovering of a name the central symbol of the film. A name stands for identity, which can be stolen and has to be won back.
How this film uses it
Robin takes the name of the dead knight Sir Robert of Loxley to get home and keeps it to protect the Loxley land. Scott described Robin as someone who starts as one thing, takes on another identity and then has to retire to the forest to resume his own name. The film ends the moment he finally becomes Robin Hood.
Where to see it
The outlaw decree: King John declares Robin an outlaw, and Robin and his men flee to Sherwood Forest while Marian narrates their new life.
Pairing the main character with a second character who mirrors them. The double shows what the hero wants, fears or secretly is.
How this film uses it
Loxley is the double who gives Robin a home. Robin brings home his sword, then takes on his blind father Sir Walter and his widow, Lady Marian. A soldier with no land has to live up to a dead man's name. The loan of that life is what makes him fight for something.
Where to see it
The Loxley estate: Robin returns Loxley's sword to Sir Walter, who asks him to keep pretending to be his son.
Setting up a film to look like a familiar genre, then breaking that genre's rules on purpose. You have to rethink what kind of story you are watching.
How this film uses it
You expect an outlaw in green stealing from the rich. This film spends most of its time with a soldier who deserts the army, impersonates a knight and joins a political fight over a charter of rights. Outlaw life arrives only in the closing minutes. It rebuilds the legend from its start.
Where to see it
The charter: speaking for Sir Walter, Robin proposes that King John agree to a charter of rights for every Englishman.
Digitally placing a fictional character into real archive footage, or blending actors with rebuilt period sets and backgrounds. It looks as if the character was really there in history.
How this film uses it
The French landing on the beach below the cliffs of Dover mixes 8 real boats and 500 extras with a digital fleet of 200 ships and 6000 soldiers. Cliffs were added to 75 shots, and the medieval city was rebuilt with matte paintings. Real actors stand inside a rebuilt past.
Where to see it
The Dover beach battle: Robin leads the united English army against the French invasion, and Marian joins the fight with the forest orphans.
Questions
Robin Hood: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Robin Hood use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Robin Hood (2010): Identity Through Name, Psychological Doubling, Genre Subversion and Historical Compositing.
Who directed Robin Hood?
Ridley Scott directed Robin Hood, released in 2010. CineCode also covers The Duellists (1977), Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Legend (1985), Black Rain (1989), Thelma & Louise (1991).
What films are similar to Robin Hood?
Films that share techniques with Robin Hood include Parasite (2019), Black Swan (2010), Forrest Gump (1994), Spirited Away (2001).
