Recently, my mom purchased a "A&E Romance " DVD set. It includes such classics as
Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Ivanhoe, Jane Eyre, and many others. Since as of late I have been so busy with Christmas preparations, I had not gotten a chance to watch any of the movies until last night. I just watched
Lorna Doone, which was based on a novel written by Richard Doddridge Blackmore in 1869. The story opens in 17th century England in the region of Exmoor in Devon where the honest and respectable Ridd family makes their dwelling as farmers. The area, however; is tormented by a notoriously evil clan called the Doones. The Doones are of noble heritage and were once considered respectable, but for some reason they became thieves, robbers, and murderers, and have been forced to live in an isolated valley as outlaws. As a young boy, John Ridd witnesses his father's murder at the hands of the Doones and vows that he will one day bring the Doones to justice. John grows up into a very honest and respected farmer, taking care of his widowed mother and his two sisters. One day he wanders into Doone territory and sees a beautiful girl and realizes that it is a girl named Lorna that he once met as a young boy. The two fall in love, but Lorna feels she must tell him the dark secret she carries. She is a Doone, but it is even worse than that because she is called the Queen of the Doones. She is the daughter of Sir Ensor Doone, the Lord of the Doones. She is pledged to be married to Carver Doone, her father's grandson (gross, right?), who is heir to the Doone Valley. Carver is evil and cruel but in his own way (as my mother said when she saw the movie) he seems to love her. Lorna is repulsed by his cruelty, but Carver threatens that when her father dies he will marry her whether she consents or not. John learns that Lorna is a Doone, but he forgives her and works to help Lorna escape from the evil Doones and her forced marriage to Carver. The plot is full of twist, turns, and nail-biting suspense. I would strongly recommend this movie, if nothing else, for the well thought out plot. Perhaps then reading the book would be more of a logical step... but uh, yeah. I know what you all are thinking, and I am not even going to try to justify my seeing the movie before reading the book because as a self-respecting bookworm I feel ashamed of my actions already. I plead the mercy of my fellow readers when I say that I am most repentant. Now, since I got
that off my chest I will continue with my review. I will start with the good aspects of the movie.
As I said before, the scenery was beautiful. For some reason, whenever there is a pan shot of a field of golden wheat, it takes my breath away. Call me weird, but I like nature and I like farms. The Doone valley, as evil as it was supposed to be, was gorgeous in all its shades of green foliage and its sapphire blue sky. The costuming was very well done also. I am a lover of fashion history, and from what I know, I believe the costumes were very accurate. Again, the plot was amazingly crafted and the romance was for the most part tender and sweet. If I find the time, I would like to read Lorna Doone for myself because the movie was so good. It taught some very important lessons about life and love. One, true love crosses social and political borders. Two, it is wrong to judge a person solely upon the family from which he or she comes. (Just as a disclaimer I want to say that a person's family is generally a very good indicator of a person's character, but if evidence proves otherwise a person should not be held accountable for his family's actions... if that makes sense). Lastly, the book stresses forgiveness. Although the Doone's en masse do not receive a whole lot of forgiveness from the Ridd family, Lorna does because she proves herself to be of honorable character.
Now, for the negatives aspects of the movie. I am sorry if I sound harsh. I really did like the movie, but I cannot not include the aspects I found to be odd or out of place. Earlier I said the costumes were well done. They were. But the hairdo's were a totally different story! The women's hair was good (I especially liked Lorna's hair at the opening of the movie), but Carver Doone had a soul patch on his chin and his hair looked like it was spiked to high heaven with gel. I told my dad after finishing the movie, "I have never read a book about 17th century England that said, 'The fierce English warrior stroked his fingers over the small patch of hair in the cleft of his chin and combed a handful of hair gel into his raven locks in preparation for battle.'" That soul patch was just so distracting! Also, Carver appears at the opening scene when John Ridd's father is murdered. At this point in the story, John is supposed to be about thirteen. Carver looks like he is in his mid-twenties. Then at least seven years pass and John is at least twenty (a totally new actor plays his character), but Carver looks exactly the same! He didn't age one bit in nearly ten years! There must be a fountain of youth in that Doone valley, don't you think? That was a bit confusing. They should have made him look a bit older for the majority of the movie. He and John looked to be the same age when I feel led to believe that in the book there was a significant age difference between them. Another problem with the movie was that some of the dialogue was modernized. At point, John's sister looked over at him as he sat pensively, and said, "Penny for your thoughts". Uh, am I wrong, or is a penny not even British currency? I couldn't help but ask my self if I was actually watching Lorna Doone or Casablanca. Then at another point, Carver glares at John Ridd and yells, "If I ever see you come back here, I'll blow your brains out!" Hmmm... would someone have really said that in the 17th century? I don't know, it just struck me as a little too "gangstah". One other aspect that saddened me a bit was the pre-marital kissing. Yes, I know every movie or book with romance in it includes the hero and heroine kissing before they are married, but it still makes me angry. I am not going to rant about this for very long, but I assure you that I could dedicate an entire blog to the subject. Personally, I believe it is wrong to kiss before marriage. My parents have raised me to regard a kiss as a valued gift to give to only one man. The only man I ever want to kiss is my husband, and the only woman I want him to kiss is me. If I wait until I stand at the altar to kiss him, I am making sure that we save our kisses for each other. I do not know why most people separate kissing from an act of sexual intimacy and turn it into something so casual and cheap. Many say, "It was just a kiss" or "what's the matter with kissing? It's not a big deal", but it is a big deal. The Hebrew word for kiss means "to kindle" and that is what a kiss does. It kindles a love between two people, therefore it is wrong to awaken love before marriage. In Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 7 it says: "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please." I think this verse very well supports my opinion. In Lorna Doone, John and Lorna kiss many times and often the camera of course has to zoom in on it. I just want to say, "Okay, okay, let's pan this shot out, people. A little discretion would be nice!" So, although kissing to some may not seem like a big deal, it is to me. I felt that the romance would have been so much more tender if John had waited to kiss Lorna until they were actually married. It would have demonstrated John's pure love in a much clearer way in contrast with Carver's lustful, selfish, possessive love for Lorna. Carver forces Lorna to kiss him at one point, and I think it would have been so beautiful if John had not followed suit and kissed her too... oh well! As I said, John is supposed to have a pure, honest, respectable love and Carver is supposed to be just the opposite. The writers of the film seemed to blur the lines a bit by letting both kiss Lorna. Alright, alright, I promised not to rant, so I'll move forward and leave this subject for now.
Overall, I enjoyed this film immensely. In fact, if there hadn't been so much premarital kissing, I would say that it is one of the best movies I have seen for a while. The was very well done, however; and it has spurred in me and interest to read the book for myself which is something I think all good literary based movies should do. The underscore music was beautiful, the scenery was beautiful, and it was expertly acted. With the exception of a few modern "slip ups" with dialogue, facial hair, and kissing, it was very true to the time period.
Well, that's all for now! I hope this review will be helpful to you all! Now, go get Lorna Doone from your library so we can discuss it together! I want to hear your opinions!
