The Princess Bride, a book written by William Goldman and adapted into a film directed by Rob Reiner, is an exaggeration of a fairytale and contains many of the elements we love in such a story. Set up as a grandfather reading his sick grandson a novel called The Princess Bride, the narrative/storytelling aspect and commentary and the grandson, going from hesitant about listening to the book to emotionally connected and engaged, allows for a beautiful film to be woven.  From true love to adventure to magical creatures to a witty and lovable grandfather narrating the story, The Princess Bride has so many humorous and quotable moments with a nostalgic soundtrack and vivid characters. To be completely truthful, this is one of the only times I believe the movie is much better and more skillfully executed than the book, which is interesting, since William Goldman wrote both the original novel and the screenplay for the movie adaptation. Regardless, this recommendation is mainly focused around the movie. 

Buttercup, a beautiful woman in the magical kingdom of Florin, and Wesley, a poor farm boy, shared a true and passionate love. However, Wesley, in need of money to properly marry her, went to find his fortune across the seas, when he was supposedly killed by a Pirate known as the Dread Pirate Roberts. Utterly heartbroken, Buttercup promised herself never to fall in love again, and years later, was engaged to marry the Prince of Florin, who chose her for her beauty even though she did not love him. One day, while riding on her horse, she stumbled across a band of three men seemingly in need of assistance, who took her kindness as a way to kidnap her. From there, a mysterious man begins to follow them as they travel through a sea filled with Shrieking Eels, and starts to catch up to them as they climb up The Cliffs of Insanity. Vizzini, one of the three men who captured Buttercup, sets up a set of three trials for the mysterious man, the Man in Black, to prevent the man from “trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen”. This story is filled with creative places and creatures, captivating plot lines for each character, and iconic quotes. The problem with the plethora of spectacular quotes is that I cannot provide every quote I find notable, otherwise this post would be as long as Ulysses by James Joyce or War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and I can safely assume we want to avoid that. 

The creative, vivid, lovable, and very quotable characters are one of the greatest strengths and assets of The Princess Bride. As someone who loves to write, I often am very analytical when watching a movie or a television show or reading a book, and I find that there is at least one specific element of storybuilding (i.e., characterization, setting, plot, dialogue, conflict) that is phenomenal in a classic. Although there can be a case made for each of these elements taking the number one place for The Princess Bride, I find the characterization in the film to be unbelievably skilled. Each character has a distinct voice, a background story, and mannerisms that so skillfully portray the individual in the audience’s minds. Many authors and screenwriters become tedious when establishing a character’s story and voice, such as a long, unending monologue that at times seems out of place and like something a real person wouldn’t do. But in the Princess Bride, each character, the villains and the heroes, and anyone in between, is interesting to watch and is set up skillfully. Regarding the other story elements that were fantastic in the Princess Bride, conflict would be high on my list, since the nature of the story follows along with Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey/Monomyth structure discussed in his book, “A Hero With A Thousand Faces”.  

This is a film I would recommend to anyone who may struggle with characterization or story-building, because a film that is such an exaggeration of a fairytale could have been a disaster if not skillfully written and portrayed. Although many see the Princess Bride as mocking fairytales or the traditional elements of them, with the over-the-top characters and plot lines, I prefer not to see it that way and enjoy the silliness or absurdities that come with it rather than degrade them. Finally, it should be noted that there are certain instances with more mature themes and imagery and diction, such as torture, suiside, and cursing (i.e., the b-word), which were not often, but occurred. Thus, this may not be the most suitable for children under a certain age. With that, I highly recommend this film for any fairytale lover.