From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie The Last Unicorn released in 1982.
Starring:
Mia Farrow, Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Jeff Bridges, Angela Lansbury
Directed by:
Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
Genre:
Family, Animation, Fantasy
Rating:
G
Budget:
Not available
IMDb Rating:
7.5 (currently)
The Synopsis is:
The Last Unicorn learns that she is the last of her species in the world and goes on a quest to find out what has happened to the others of her kind.
On her travels she befriends a magician, Schmendrick, in search of true magic and a woman, Molly Grue, who knows the lay of the land.
Story:
This film is based on the novel The Last Unicorn written by Peter S. Beagle in 1968 which has sold more than five million copies worldwide since its original publication, and has been translated into at least twenty languages! This was such a beloved book when it came out and it still has so many fans to this day.
Early on, Beagle was approached to turn his book into into a film and he was all for it as long as it was animated and he had a say on who produced the film.
He finally decided to go with Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass who directed and produced the film for ITC Entertainment. Peter wrote the film's screenplay to ensure that the book and the film would be closely related and it truly is.
There were minimal changes or omissions, but what was missing from the movie was more time to develop the story for people who had never read the book.
The world of the last unicorn is a large world with lots of characters set in what appears to be medieval times. Within the story it utilizes the actual historical lore of unicorns concerning feminine purity.
In European folklore, unicorns were coveted for their horn being able to neutralize poison and heal the sick. These mythological creatures were usually ensnared because they could only be tamed by virgins. The horns were a treasure to the aristocrats of the time, however many of the horns were actually the horns of narwhals.
In time, the lore of the unicorn has representations with Christ's relationship with the Virgin Mary and virtuous loyalty.
The tone of the film is a little strange because there is a playful fantasy element to it, but then there are some serious moments where characters do die.
In this story, disguised as a children's fantasy, there are wonderfully woven mature meanings infused to the tale to do with aging, mortality, vanity, depression, courage, love, regret and ultimately the loss of innocence.
Pacing:
Even with a runtime of an 1h 32min this film quite slow, but it really pays off by the end to really show you the passage of sacrifice in the unicorn’s journey.
Challenge:
The film seems to really own it’s strength about the time when King Haggard is introduced on screen about 50 minutes in and really ignites the story.
King Haggard is the ultimate baddie in this film. He’s definitely one of the most beautiful villains I’ve ever seen on screen. He’s complex in his villainy, verbally wavering in an out of sanity as he admits to dispatching the red bull to gather up all of the unicorns in the world and forcing them into the sea for his pleasure.
As he describes it, he once saw the unicorns when he was young and in order to preserve the feeling of his youth, he hatched this plan to selfishly keep them for himself. Nothing else but watching the unicorns in the waves of the sea gives him any pleasure at all because it reminds him of his youth.
Everything around him is grey tattered and dreary right down to his looks. He looks absolutely miserable.
When the Last Unicorn learns that King Haggard is responsible for sending out the red bull, she asks Schmendrick about him. Schmendrick says, “He is an old man who rules a barren country by the sea. Some say his land was green and soft once before he came. But the minute he touched it, it became hard and gray.”
Haggard may be tortured by a curse.
Second to King Haggard as a challenge in the story is his facilitator, the red bull. Its uncertain what or how exactly their connection to each other is, but the film hints that the red bull either protects Haggard or keeps him a prisoner. At the end when the bull is destroyed, so is Haggard’s castle which also is where the bull returns every morning after searching for the unicorns at night.
The red bull is a beautifully drawn beast and creates a deeper magical mythos for the tale when we see him flaring about in flames and mist. His role is important physically representing the fear our protagonist needs to overcome in order to find a resolution.
The carnival witch, Mommy Fortuna poses a challenge for a short portion of the film. She is a fascinating character full of color and depth even though she has a very small role.
She captures the last unicorn and showcases her with other mythological creatures in her carnival show. The problem for Mommy Fortuna is that most of the creatures in the show are not mythical save for the unicorn and the Harpy Celaeno. She uses her magic to make spectators think that they are seeing exciting rare beasts.
She is overwhelmed with and represents the ugliness of ego, as she gloats over her magical abilities to capture the unicorn and the harpy. It all stems from the ridicule she suffers from other witches, so being able to hold real mythological creatures gives her an incredible sense of accomplishment at the price of imprisoning them.
She knows the risks and is ready to die for it.
What an interesting character that has too short of a time on screen.
In fact all of the villains have very little screen time, but when they interact with the heroes in the film, we get the most treasures to enjoy.
Empathy:
The last unicorn is beautiful but she is detached from everyone else being the last of her kind protecting a secret forest. At first she’s a bit cold, and even vein, but she reveals wisdom in her innocence.
She would be none the wiser that anything was wrong if she didn’t hear two hunters say that this forest held the last unicorn, even warning her not to leave.
She becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the other unicorns and so she goes on a quest, but just only to find out what happened.
She is captured by the witch Mommy Fortuna and kept as a part of her unique showcase of mythological creatures. Mommy Fortuna gives her a fake horn so people can see her, because not everyone can.
It seems that people who are looking for unicorns are only the ones who can see them.
It is at this point that she begins to really show she has compassion as she frees the other animals from their cages.
In order to save her from the red bull, Schmendrick turns her into human being and he names her Lady Amalthea which is a name from Greek mythology. It’s a truly surprising moment in the story for the audience and the characters.
Of course Schmendrick had no choice but to change her to save her life at the moment, but I had to wonder why he was ridiculed for changing her into a human. But it becomes clear a little later in the story.
They travel to Haggard's castle and meet Prince Lir, who is head over heels for her.
It is during this time that you see how the unicorn endures an emotional response to the change. Right away, she says she can feel her new body dying. She’s mortal and more vulnerable this way.
Her transformation extends into her mental state as well. When she first transforms into a woman she says, “I am a unicorn” to establish her core identity. Once she spends time in her new body, she struggles to remember her past and loses her unicorn identity, when she sings, “Now that I’m a woman, everything has changed.”
Lady Amalthea is forgetting who she is although her dreams are trying to remind her of who she is.
You can see her unicorn identity leaving her in her fantasy with Prince Lir, she sees the unicorn run away, just as her memories of who she once was fade.
When Haggard confronts her, he removes her hair from her eyes and the pink star is gone where her horn used to be. As well, her eyes which did not cast a reflection are now able to cast a reflection.
When King Haggard tells her that the unicorns are in the sea, she cannot see them, just like all of the other humans that cannot see unicorns.
Schmendrick is a ameteur magician who saves the unicorn from Mommy Fortuna and accompanies her on her quest.
Schmendrick’s name means unlucky bungler in yiddish, which is perfect for him because, he does bungle quite a bit. His magical technique is chanting in his spells, “Magic do as you will.” It doesn’t seem very specific or thought out.
However, his use of magic and quick whitt is what saves them on their travels over and over. He is on a personal search for his own true magic, which he discovers he has always had this ability.
When he trusts his abilities to work, it works for the very best and he grows in wisdom during the film to understand that. He has a great character arc.
An woman by the name of Molly Grue joins the last unicorn and Schmendrick on their journey. Her presence in the film initially perplexed me, but after multiple viewings, I began to understand her character more.
I also got a tip from a comment on my channel about the character.
Molly meets the unicorn and says, “How dare you come to me now, when I am like this. Where were you 20, 10 years ago, when I was new.”
The story is using the actual lore of the unicorns to fill in her backstory. Unicorns are fabled to be attracted to virtuous maidens and one not appearing before one would have indicated that she was not pure and doomed her choice of husband. Well that is one interpretation. There are a few others out there, including the possibility that Molly may be Haggard’s daughter.
It’s all very interesting and creates a sense of mystery behind the character. But what we get from her is that she represents the loss of innocence and regret, which ultimate theme in the film. This is probably why it seems that Molly is the one person who understands the last unicorn translating a lot of what’s going on to the audience, Lady Amalthea and Schmendrick.
Technical:
The film was produced by the legendary Rankin/Bass famous for the animated productions of The Hobbit The Return of the King and The Flight of Dragons as well as many stop motion TV movies that are often referred to as claymation.
On this project they hired the Japanese studio Topcraft to animate it, containing artist which would later join the famous anime production company Studio Ghibli (pronounced ji-buri).
You can clearly see the direct Japanese anime influence in the anime lending a very unique look threading throughout, and this look makes the film stand out among a sea of animated movie.
In the opening of there is a wonderful scene gorgeously drawn paying homage to the unicorn tapestries hung at the cloisters in New York City bridging actual lore of the real world into the film’s world.
The last unicorn is drawn with a magical glowing feminine grace that is difficult to translate in animation, however, they do it wonderfully. She’s so gorgeous that you want to have a unicorn of your very own.
The red bull was exceptionally designed and animated. Against the last unicorn, the sheer size and physical intimidation enhances the threat he poses in the story.
Mommy Fortuna was one of those characters that is so uniquely drawn that you may never forget her. She wears a hat of old wood with a crow perched at the top. What an interesting design. I especially liked the way her magical incantations were animated.
The design and animation for King Haggard was detailed and quite genius in my opinion, really driving home the look of an aging man driven insane by his own memories. His misery is so deliciously animated in his eyes. Even his clothing design was perfect for his character. I just loved the detail in King Haggard's performance. It was wonderful.
There are some characters that kids may not even notice or care about, but there is a magical tree and there is a Harpie featured in the film with questionable appearances. However, after watching the film a few times and grasping a better understanding of the world in the story, these oddities are exactly what textures the magical unease the film is setting up for us.
The backgrounds were outstanding as well. There were amazing plush green forests, brooks, and waterfalls. The wonderful landscapes were incredibly astounding. No doubt about it. You can see how deep the artists were going into detail bringing this wonderful fantasy world to life, especially when designing Haggard's castle. It’s dark, foreboding, and seeming trapped with souls in the walls and the outfacing surface. It looks marvelously spooky, tortured and a citadel of old secrets.
There is a scene at the end of the movie where the trapped unicorns appear as the foam within the ocean waves. For me, that is just an amazing fantasy visual! Absolutely gorgeously imagined. That part of the film sends chills up my spine everytime I see it. It’s a wonderful moment.
The score to the film was simply amazing. The main theme song The last unicorn performed by the popular 1970’s band America was the best song in the movie for me and it’s most appropriately placed in the movie in the intro and credits. The soundtrack was one of the best selling albums of 1983 in Germany.
Performances:
The unicorn was well played by Mia Farrow. The unicorn is a complex character and she plays it excellently. There is a fragility in her voice that conveys the unicorn’s innocence in the world. I think that they even tried to make the character look like her too.
Alan Arkin plays Schmendrick and puts in a great performance playing it rather naturally and I think that as a fantasy film, we needed it.
To me, one of the best performances was from Christopher Lee who supplied the voice of King Haggard. He loved the book so much that he showed up on the first day of the recording sessions with his own copy of the book, with several things he insisted to be included in the story. He had said that the last unicorn was one of his favorite movies and he was so dedicated to the project that he also provides King Haggard's voice in the German version of the movie as well.
When you just listen to his vocal performance, you can feel the emotional depth he conveys about King Haggard and it’s powerful. You understand him, although he is the villain.
Angela Lansbury provides the voice for Mommy Fortuna, a highly memorable character, who has a short time on screen, but her lines are so often quoted whenever this movie is discussed. She alters her voice slightly for the role, but what you hear is the determination of the character and plays every word with her soul. Loved her passionate performance.
Best:
The best part of the film for me is the fantasy. It is an interesting tale with lots of mystery with endless possibilities for imagining within the world.
Wish List:
I wish some of the lore of the unicorns, their ways were explained more. I had to do some research in order to understand what was happening in the story. So a little explanation have helped out the people who have never read the book.
It’s hard to understand all of the nuances in the film if you haven’t read the book.
The ending:
The ending was really good. You have the sense that the unicorn has undergone a character arch and is a better being for it… even becoming a hero, by facing the red bull and freeing her fellow unicorns.
Haven been a human woman and fallen in love, she can neither go back to being with other unicorns or fit into the human world either.
I love that fact that it is not the kind of happy ending that puts Amalthea with the prince at the end.
As well, Molly Grue is not explicitly a love interest for Schmendrick. They are friends that care for one another and it is mostly assumed that they would be together at the end. I liked that.
Enjoyment:
If I saw this film when I was a child, I suppose I could have had some special affinity to this film as so many people who had seen it in their childhood have. And after seeing the first time, I was totally confused about what I had just endured. I thought it was ok, but didn’t understand it.
I got the opportunity to see the film again and get an inside explanation from the book and it really changed my outlook which totally surprised me.
So the biggest caveat for enjoying this movie is to read the book first. The other, is to see this movie as a child. It plays into children's sense of wonder imagination and fantasy but the deeper aspects are quite innocuous until you examine it later with mature eyes.
This film has such a dedicated following and I can clearly see how this film influenced so many other movies, or at least coincidentally have some interesting reflections. The movie Legend is often compared to this film. The use of unicorns and the red skinned horned darkness resembling the red bull are a few similarities that come to mind. The Dark crystal has many similarities as well. The harpy and the skeksis, the pod people as well as the trolls in the movie the Labyrinth.
There’s a lot about this movie that is flat out amazing to me and I can totally geek out about the simply gorgeous animation, but the film did get a the waterfall of tears out of me at the end credits, when the unicorn sees her home and races off into it. It’s absolutely heartwarming and utterly broke me.
At that point, you could replay the movie from the beginning and it really feels seamless.
What a wonderful tale, deeper than expected from an animated film. The story had a lot of merit, worthy of it’s cult following.
My Rating:
8.8
That sums up my review. This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off!
Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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