Flesh+Blood (1985)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers:

Gerard Soeteman (screenplay)
Gerard Soeteman (story)
(more)

Release Date:

30 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

A timeless adventure, a passion for wealth and power. Only the strongest will survive

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Mercenary | Noble | Plague | Revenge | Kidnapping

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Rutger Hauer	...	Martin
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Agnes
Tom Burlinson	...	Steven
Jack Thompson	...	Hawkwood
Fernando Hilbeck	...	Arnolfini
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
Héctor Alterio	...	Niccolo
Blanca Marsillach	...	Clara
Nancy Cartwright	...	Kathleen
Jorge Bosso	...	Sterz
Mario De Barros	...	Herman
Ida Bons	...	Roly Poly
Jaime Segura	...	Lord of the Castle
Bettina Brenner	...	Lady of the Castle
Siobhan Hayes	...	Child of the Castle
Susan Beresford	...	Sturdy Woman
Mònica Lucchetti	...	Tongueless Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anne Lockhart	...	Wife (uncredited)

Directed by
Paul Verhoeven

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gerard Soeteman		screenplay
Gerard Soeteman		story
Paul Verhoeven		writer

Produced by
José Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña	....	associate producer
Gijs Versluys	....	producer (as Gys Versluys)

Original Music by
Basil Poledouris

Cinematography by
Jan de Bont

Film Editing by
Ine Schenkkan

Art Direction by
Félix Murcia

Costume Design by
Yvonne Blake

Makeup Department
Francisca Guillot	....	hair stylist
Kathy Kühne	....	makeup artist
Miguel Sesé	....	chief makeup artist (as Miguel Sese)

Production Management
Malcolm R. Harding	....	production supervisor (as Mack Harding)
David Middlemas	....	post-production supervisor
Carlos Orengo	....	local production manager
Marta Pérez Ferrándiz	....	first assistant production manager
Carlos Ramón	....	first assistant production manager
Remmelt Remmelts	....	unit production manager
Walter Saxer	....	second unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steven-Charles Jaffe	....	second unit director
Jindra Markus	....	first assistant director
Mischa Muller	....	assistant director: spata

Art Department
César Benítez	....	property master (as Cesar Benitez)
Elly Claus	....	artistic coordinator
Julián Martín	....	painter
Laura Moreno	....	second assistant art director
Ramón Moya	....	construction manager (as Ramon Moya)
Luis Vallés	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Danniel Danniel	....	sound editor
Marcel De Hoogd	....	head sound assistant
Kees Linthorst	....	sound editor
Marc Nolens	....	sound editor
Ad Roest	....	foley mixer
Ad Roest	....	foley recordist
Ad Roest	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ad Roest	....	sound
John Tak	....	sound recordist
Tom Tholen	....	sound

Special Effects by
Reyes Abades	....	special effects chief technician
Joe Digaetano	....	special effects coordinator
Carlos Paradela	....	special effects makeup
Antonio Parra	....	special effects chief technician
David Domeyer	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Mario De Barros	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Juan Maján	....	stunt coordinator
Joaquin Olivas	....	stunts
José Panizo	....	stunts
Javier Piementel	....	stunts
José Sacristán	....	stunts
Victoriano Terrón	....	stunts
Camilo Vila	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter De Bont	....	operator: second unit
Marc Koninckx	....	Steadicam operator
José Luis Martínez	....	gaffer (as Jose Luis Martinez)
Hugo Van Baren	....	key grip
Robert Wiesmann	....	assistant camera
Alexander Witt	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adoración Almela	....	wardrober
Isabel Díaz	....	wardrober
Martín Díaz Porras	....	wardrobe master
Martín Díaz Solaz	....	wardrober
Pablo Espinosa	....	wardrober
Joaquín Montero	....	wardrober
Isabel Perales	....	wardrober
Delfín Prieto	....	wardrober
Marina Rodríguez	....	wardrober

Editorial Department
Genevieve Saifi	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Paco Ardura	....	horse master
Anastasio Diaz	....	wrangler
Robert Easton	....	dialect coach
Tom Elliott	....	safety officer
Francisco González	....	wrangler
Rachel Griffiths	....	script supervisor
John L. Hargreaves	....	post-production representative
Fabienne Hulsebos	....	production secretary
Timoteo Navado	....	wrangler
Susana Prieto	....	production secretary
Carlos Alonzo Roco	....	wrangler
Lucas Uranga	....	wrangler
Joyce van Rijn	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Riverside Pictures
• Impala (co-production)

Distributors

• Orion Pictures Corporation (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cannon Tuschinski Film Distribution (1985) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1985) (France) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Rank Film Distributors (198?) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cinema Classics (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Globo Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Roadshow Home Video (19??) (Australia) (VHS)
• Simitar Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints by (as DeLuxe)

Also Known As:

Flesh & Blood (USA) (alternative spelling)
Los señores del acero (Spain)
The Rose and the Sword

Runtime:

126 min | Netherlands:125 min | Sweden:117 min

Country:

Spain | USA | Netherlands

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R | USA:R (cut) | New Zealand:R16 | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | USA:X (original rating) | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-18 (1986) | France:-12 | Norway:16 (1986) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | West Germany:18 | Finland:K-16 (video) (1996) | Finland:K-15 (DVD) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Belmonte, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Company:

Riverside Pictures

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Paul Verhoeven] [religious imagery]Martin's group idolize the statue of a saint, which "points" them the way forward. In one shot, Martin appears to have a halo over his head.

Goofs:

Factual errors: After drinking from the contaminated well, several characters immediately fall ill from plague. Plague by any vector has an incubation period of at least one day.

Quotes:

Kathleen: Come on my soldier. My brave, brave soldier. I'll have you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blonde Poison: The Making of 'Basic Instinct' (2001) (V)

Good film, if you don't expect the wrong things from it.

This film is definitely off the beaten track. I enjoyed it a lot, and thought that there were some truly stand-out performances here, notably Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Some other actors and actresses that I didn't recognize were excellent. The tone is relentlessly bleak as befits the times. A couple of scenes put the times in perspective. One is where Agnes and Stephen talk and flirt beneath the hanging corpses without giving much thought to what we would consider today the horrid nature of such a sight. Another is towards the end, when one of the women has been captured (Polly, I think) and is being raped, and the lord (Stephen's father) simply walks past, barely noticing. I don't know if they are simply there for shock value, or if Verhoeven is making the point that one cannot judge mores, morals, and customs of past ages by the standards of today. (Something done quite a bit these days, most notably about slavery.)

Some of the criticisms in other comments are valid. True, none of the characters are very likeable. I was sort of hoping that they would all be dead by the end of the movie. But, again, I'm judging them by 21st century standards. Also, about the plague. I'm sure Verhoeven knows that plague is spread by rat fleas, so all of the machinations about the plague has to be from people's points of view in 1501-2.

This film is worth viewing, but don't expect gallantry, chivalry, or even decency. And no, it's really not a "date movie" Grade: A