Flesh+Blood (1985)

In medieval Europe, a young girl from a noble family is obsessed with her captors-commoners.

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers:

Gerard Soeteman (screenplay), Gerard Soeteman (story)

Stars:

Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Burlinson

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rutger Hauer	...	Martin
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Agnes
Tom Burlinson	...	Steven
Jack Thompson	...	Hawkwood
Fernando Hilbeck	...	Arnolfini (as Fernando Hillbeck)
Susan Tyrrell	...	Celine
Ronald Lacey	...	Cardinal
Brion James	...	Karsthans
John Dennis Johnston	...	Summer
Simón Andreu	...	Miel
Bruno Kirby	...	Orbec
Kitty Courbois	...	Anna
Marina Saura	...	Polly
Hans Veerman	...	Father George
Jake Wood	...	Little John

Storyline

A band of medieval mercenaries take revenge on a noble lord who decides not to pay them by kidnapping the betrothed of the noble's son. As the plague and warfare cut a swathe of destruction throughout the land, the mercenaries hole up in a castle and await their fate.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | pregnant prostitute | prostitute | female removes her clothes | rape victim | 

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Taglines:

In a savage time, torn between two rivals she fought for survival with the only weapon she had... herself.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

Netherlands Spain USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

30 August 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Flesh & Blood

Filming Locations:

Belmonte, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$100,000, 1 September 1985

Company Credits

Production Co:

Riverside Pictures,Impala

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min 128 min (uncut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nastassja Kinski and Rebecca De Mornay were considered for the part of Agnes. De Mornay was rejected because she demanded that her then boyfriend, Tom Cruise, be cast as Steven. Jennifer Jason Leigh was ultimately handpicked by director Paul Verhoeven himself.

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Goofs

There was no organized search for truth through skeptical thinking in the early 1500's. That came well after Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) first proposed the model of the heliocentric system.

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Quotes

Cardinal: Why are you so scared? Everything is predestined. Life runs its own course. Look at this little angel! Saint Martin has sent us a little angel to play with!

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Alternate Versions

All the deleted scenes from the R-rated video version have been included on the 2004 DVD release.

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Connections

References The Wild Bunch (1969)

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Soundtracks

Throughout the Years
Composed by Charles Williams

User Reviews

A Surprisingly Good Film

I decided to watch this film after a very heavy three day drinking session and to be honest was not expecting a great deal. However, at the end I deemed it to be the best two hours of my life. What a film!

The Cardinal (Ronald Lacey) was by far the most outrageous and stand out performance. I may be a bit biased from England but over the top acting from Lacey seems to be his forte and he certainly does not disappoint. Rutger puts in a typically strong performance as does Jason-Leigh and the supporting cast.

My favourite scene had to be Soldier Martin standing in front of the upturned carriage with the wheel representing the halo from the statue of Saint Martin. For me this was the icing on the cake.

The only question mark about this film is the contraption that Steven constructs to storm the castle. It definitely is a work of art and for those times would be considered quite an Engineering achievement. Not to mention the time in which it is built in such an effortless manner. However, PV seems to make this fit with the spirit of the film and after a few chuckles it is all forgiven.

Its certainly a film that will not stand up today with modern attitudes and morals but I fully recommend this film. Add it to your collection NOW!