The Princess Bride

Rob Reiner

United States of America | 1987 | 98m | English

Bedridden with the flu, a young boy (Fred Savage) lies withering with boredom. He’s an electronic-age, up-to-date sort of kid, and is therefore singularly unimpressed by his grandfather’s offer to read the boy a story. But the grandfather (Peter Falk) is persistent, promising to introduce the lad to a world of “Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Revenge. Giants. Monsters. Chases. Escapes. True Love. Miracles.” Ears cocked, the boy takes the bait, and grandfather begins to read.

So goes the deceptively low-key opening of The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner (This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me). Within moments, we are skyrocketed to the outer limits of fantasy, adventure, and mythical good times, as the story read by the grandfather becomes the narrative core of the film we are watching. It’s a tale of the true love and high adventure of Buttercup and Westley (Robin Wright and Cary Elwes), whose devotion to each other is put to downright legendary travails. First, Buttercup is kidnapped by a trio of adventurers that includes the flamboyant Spaniard Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin); his slow-witted but endlessly loyal sidekick Fezzick (Andre the Giant); and Vizzini, the band’s bumbling leader (played by Wallace Shawn).

But these apparent nemeses soon become allies when, in his search for his lost Buttercup, Westley comes face to snarling face with The Princess Bride’s real villain, Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), a deeply evil dude with seemingly unstoppable designs to wed the beautiful Buttercup.

Written by Academy Award–winning novelist and screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men), The Princess Bride is a particularly rich vehicle for what is recognizable as the Reiner gift, i.e., the ability to take conventional material and, wizard-like, perform miracles with it. Goldman’s script mines just about every element of favourite fairy tales, and Reiner builds from this a veritable movie monument to the enduring charms of children’s fantasy literature.

Adapted from the original 1987 Festival programme note by Helga Stephenson

Content advisory: coarse language, violence, nudity, sexually suggestive scenes

Free screening series presented by TDW BIA in partnership with TIFF. The series will feature six audience favourites that originally premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.