issue 4 // volume 44 arts // no. 7 Screenshot from ‘The Princess Bride’ Via Twentieth Century Fox The 30th anniversary of ‘The Princess Bride’ > 30 years already?! ‘Inconceivable!’ Clive Ramroop Contributor cc ello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” What happens when you combine a commoner-turned-princess, amicable banter during a fierce sword fight, a battle of wits over poisoned wine, a rhyming giant, a six-fingered murderer, a disgruntled miracle worker, and an evil prince taunted as a “warthog- faced buffoon’? You get a satirical tale of “fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...” and a movie that was only a modest success at the box office. So how did this charming, witty little film gain such popularity that it’s become a classic within the past generation? Perhaps because, even though the marketing was uncertain for its release on September 25, 1987, the film poked Next stop: lighthearted fun at traditional fairy-tale tropes long before Shrek did the same. “She gets kidnapped, he gets killed, but it all turns out okay,” said William Goldman on the short documentary “As You Wish,” a special feature on the movie’s DVD. The Princess Bride came to life in 1973 as a book written by Goldman, as a purported abridged version (or “the good parts version,” as stated on the cover) of a fictitious story by the equally fictitious author “S. Morgenstern.” This novel was inspired by requests from Goldman’s daughters for story ideas—one suggested a princess, the other wanted a bride, and he merged both ideas. Unlike other novel adaptations into film, this movie is presented as a grandfather (Peter Falk) reading the eponymous book to his sick, bed-ridden grandson (Fred Savage). The movie's on-screen adventure is bookended (yes, that’s a pun; shut up) by the grandfather's storytelling, and occasionally interrupted by the grandson’s Vancouver International Film Festival > A look at this year’s lineup Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist he Toronto International Film Festival ended last week and the awards were given out. This is the beginning of the race to the Academy Awards and the Canadian Screen Awards. While the stars have left Toronto, some of them are going to their next stop: Vancouver. The Vancouver International Film Festival is the next big film festival in Canada. Compared to TIFF where they show a lot of highly anticipated film and famous people, VIFF has a diverse number of films to show, some of which will get attention in the long run. This year’s edition of the festival looks like it will be exciting as TIFF, with a lot of interesting films being shown with special guests and talks through their programs, which they call Streams. The opening film in VIFF this year is local Vancouver filmmaker Mina Shum’s next film Meditation Park which talks about an affair Chinatown style. The film has Sandra Oh and Don McKellar working together again, after previously working on the hit Canadian film Last Night (1988). There are plenty of exciting films being shown in the festival this year, including: Andy Serkis’ directorial first film about accessibility, Breathe; Michael Haneke’s next film Happy End; an indigenous hockey film, the highly anticipated Indian Horse; and Ruben Ostlund’s next film about art, The Square, which got the Palme d’Or in the Cannes Film Festival this year. Interestingly, the new season of Top of the Lake: China Girl will be shown in its entirety as a six-hour film. The Netflix film Okja will also be shown in a rare theatre screening, with director Bong Joon-Ho being a special guest in the screening. The BC Spotlight program this reactions to unexpected twists in the plot. But the story’s action, mostly without narration, plays out in such engaging fashion that it is easy to forget about the grandfather and grandson until a well-timed interruption pops up. With a solid cast listing some strong names among the supporting players—Billy Crystal as Miracle Max; plus, Goldman wrote the character Fezzik with the late André The Giant in mind—let’s not forget about the quotable dialogue in the cleverly written script. “You put down your rock, I'll put down my sword, and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?” “Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” “Why don’t you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?!” “Have fun storming the castle!” And of course, that immortal reply to the oft-repeated “Inconceivable!” cries: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” But because of the movie's unique blend of such diverse elements as swashbuckling action, comedy, romance, and adventure, 20th Century Fox didn’t know exactly how to market the movie, reaping a weak box-office return. However, it would instead gain a second life due to its home video release and positive reputation as a fun movie spread via word of mouth—a fate shared with The Wizard Of Oz (1939), which was also a box-office disaster in its original theatrical run, but became a classic in televised airings and on video. Indeed, The Princess Bride was eventually considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” (according to the National Film Preservation Board’s criteria) enough that, in 2016, it was inducted into the National Film Registry and preserved in the US Library of Congress. Watch this movie. I mean it. C C VIFF has a diverse number of films to show, some of which will get attention in the long run.” year has a lot of great films, and any of them could get awards. One of those films is Wayne Wapeemukwa’s first film Luk’Luk! which talks about East Vancouver during the Winter Olympic Games in 2010. The film recently got the award for Best Canadian First Feature in TIFF this year. Also, there is Kyle Rideout’s romantic comedy Public Schooled, which talks about a home schooled student experiencing public school life for the first time, and it also has Kim's Convenience star Andrea Bang in it. On the other hand, Bang’s sister, The Interview’s Diana Bang, is in another film in the festival with Jason James’s comedy drama Entanglement, which talks about a depressed man dating a woman. There is the documentary Shut Up and Say Something, which talks about slam poet Shane Koyczan and how he reunites with his father. It will be shown on Knowledge Network later this fall. Another Canadian film to point out is Cory Bowles’ controversial film Black Cop, which talks about an African- Canadian cop doing a mission that could endanger his life because of his race. The VIFF will also have talks with various people in the TV industry including Jeremy Podeswa and Greg Middleton from Game of Thrones, Emmy winner Ane Crabtree from The Handmaid’s Tale, and David Slade from the Emmy-winning show Black Mirror. The festival will end with Todd Haynes’ next film Wonderstruck, and it is unknown if Haynes will be at the screening. While some films will have special guests, it is unknown which film will do so, and you have to see a film to find out if it will have a special guest. The festival this year will allow everyone to see films that they are excited about and to find out which ones will eventually get awards. The Vancouver International Film Festival will take place between September 28 and October 13.