History Film / Ladyhawke

* IntellectualAnimal: Averted. Navarre and Isabeau are an actual wolf and hawk when transformed, not a man or a woman in an animal body. While they seem to have ''some'' awareness of each other, they don't have human minds, nor do they remember as humans what they did as animals.

* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: As the result of a {{curse}}, Navarre turns into a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent wolf]] at night, and his lady turns into a hawk during the day.

In the medieval French town of Aquila, a young thief named Philippe the Mouse (Broderick) escapes execution by sneaking through the sewers. Said prison and the lands around it are controlled by the Bishop (Wood) of a CorruptChurch, and he is none too pleased to hear of Philippe's escape (the prison is supposed to be inescapable, after all). Philippe is nearly recaptured, but he is unexpectedly rescued by the mysterious Etienne of Navarre (Hauer), who is accompanied everywhere by a fierce and beautiful hawk.

Navarre turns out to have been the former Captain of the Bishop's guards, and he has a score of his own to settle with the Bishop. See, both of them loved a woman named Isabeau (Pfeiffer), but she rejected the Bishop and chose Navarre. In a jealous rage, the Bishop cursed them: by day Navarre is human and Isabeau a hawk; by night, Isabeau is human and Navarre a wolf. Navarre plans to use Philippe's knowledge of the sewers of Aquila in order to ambush the Bishop, but his fixation on revenge might lead to tragedy. For the disgraced monk Imperius knows a way to break the curse, but it will only be possible while the Bishop is alive...

* TheDragon: The Captain of the Guard, Marquet, for the Bishop.

* [[VillainExitStageLeft Hero Exit Stage Left]]: An inversion of the normal trope. [[spoiler: After the curse is broken, Imperius and Mouse try to exit quietly without being seen. Navarre doesn't let them.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: Navarre dismisses Imperius' prophecy about the end of the curse, up to and including the moment he rides up to the doors of the church. If [[spoiler:Isabeau hadn't managed to get to the church in time]], all would have been lost.

* DeathGlare: Isabeau gives an epic one to Bishop [[spoiler: after being cured, showing him the hawk jesses, and letting it drop before him.]]

** There are hints their animal forms are having some influence on their personalities. Navarre is impatient and quick to violence, while even Isabeau has a moment where she chases a rabbit as if she could capture it with her bare hands.

* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: According to Imperius, God told him that the curse will be broken when there is "day without a night, and night without a day". [[spoiler:The prophecy refers to a solar eclipse. Modern audiences with even a basic grasp of science probably saw it coming a mile away, but it was still awesome.]]

In the medieval French town of Aquila, a young thief named Philippe the Mouse (Broderick) escapes execution by sneaking through the sewers. Said prison and the lands around it are controlled by the Bishop (Wood) of a CorruptChurch, and he is none too pleased to hear of Philippe's escape (the prison is supposed to be inescapable, after all). The Bishop sends his soldiers out to recapture Philippe, but he is rescued by the mysterious Etienne of Navarre (Hauer), who is accompanied everywhere by a fierce and beautiful hawk.

Navarre turns out to have been the former Captain of the Bishop's guards, and he has a score of his own to settle with the Bishop. See, both of them loved a woman named Isabeau (Pfeiffer), but she rejected the Bishop and chose Navarre. In a jealous rage, the Bishop cursed them: by day Navarre is human and Isabeau a hawk; by night, Isabeau is human and Navarre a wolf. Navarre plans to use Philippe's knowledge of the sewers of Aquila in order to ambush the Bishop, but his fixation on revenge might lead to tragedy. For the disgraced monk Imperius knows a way to break the curse, but it will only be possible while the Bishop is alive.

The story takes place in a medieval France setting and starts with a young thief named Philippe the Mouse (Broderick) escaping from an inescapable prison through its sewers. Said prison and the lands around it are controlled by a CorruptChurch led by a Bishop (Wood) who is none too pleased to hear of Philippe's escape (the prison is supposed to be inescapable, after all). The Bishop sends his soldiers out to kill Philippe, but just as they catch up with him Philippe is rescued by the mysterious Etienne of Navarre (Hauer), who is accompanied everywhere by his CoolHorse and hawk.

Navarre turns out to have been the former Captain of the Bishop's guards, and he has a score of his own to settle with the Bishop. See, the Bishop was lusting mightily over a young woman named Isabeau (Pfeiffer), but Navarre and Isabeau fell in love and when it looked like they would escape the Bishop, he cursed them so that by day Navarre would be human and Isabeau a hawk, while by night Isabeau would be human, and Navarre a wolf. As a result, while the two lovers may be together, they are always separated. Now Navarre is looking to get revenge, and to use Philippe's knowledge of the sewers that lead into the Bishop's fortress to his advantage.

--->'''Imperius:''' Thank you for trying, and for standing up for the truth.\\

* GreenEyedMonster: The Bishop was so overcome with jealousy that he turned to the infernal to satisfy it. [[spoiler: And when even that fails, he simply tries to kill the object of his envy]].

* HellBentForLeather: Navarre. Nearly every scene with him in human form, his leather crackles ''loudly''.

* OhCrap: The Bishop remains calm and stoic [[spoiler: for the entire rampage of Navarre, knowing he can't be killed, or the curse will be impossible to break. When Navarre explains to him that Isabeau is dead and his insurance is useless, his face turns chalk white within seconds. And ''then'' he sees Isabeau, alive and well, behind Navarre, unintentionally lifting the curse, making his insurance completely moot]].
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Matthew Broderick does an all-right job for the first 15 minutes, then we're basically watching Ferris Bueller swanning about Medieval France.

* VillainousBreakdown: The Bishop has one during the climax. [[spoiler: After the curse is broken he furiously tries to kill Isabeau by stabbing her with his spiked crosier.]]

* ClothingConcealedInjury: Phillipe wears a heavy sweater to hide the injuries [[spoiler:that Navarre inflicted in wolf form]]. It doesn't work.

* GuileHero: Phillipe the Mouse escapes from an unescapable prison, steals food and clothes, and is constantly trying, and often failing, to talk his way out of trouble. But when push comes to shove, he helps people in need and doesn't run from danger.

'''Phillipe:''' I'll meet you there, Father... even if I have to pick the lock.

* InnSecurity: Their first night out, Navarre and Phillippe take refuge in a family's barn. They offer to pay, but in the middle of the night, the owner violates SacredHospitality by coming after them with an axe.

* ManlyTears: Tears stream down Phillipe's cheeks as he watches Navarre and Isabeau look upon each other during the dual transformation scene. One can surmise it is at this point, Phillipe is ''fully committed'' to helping them.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Phillippe tries to simply walk away on a few occasions. It never sticks, and by the climax of the film he is a willing ally to Navarre and Isabeau.
* SecretStabWound: Phillippe hides from Navarre the fact [[spoiler: that he mauled him while he was in wolf form]].

* SlowMotionFall: Isabeau slips out of Phillipe's grasp while they hide on the tower at Imperius's home. She falls just slowly enough for the sun to rise and turn her into a hawk before she hits the ground.

-->'''Imperius:''' Thank you for trying, and for standing up for the truth.\\

* ForDoomTheBellTolls: Navarre tells Imperius to kill Isabeau if he hears the church bells ring (because it will mean he has failed to kill the Bishop). In the midst of the melee, some soldiers try FastRoping down the bell pulls... leading to an OhCrap moment from Navarre, who has just realized the curse might be breakable after all.

* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: A prophecy states that the curse will be broken if Navarre and Isabeau can confront the Bishop as humans when there is "day without night, and night without day". [[spoiler:The prophecy refers to a solar eclipse. Modern audiences with even a basic grasp of science probably saw it coming a mile away, but it was still awesome.]]

* SecretStabWound: Phillipe hides from Navarre the fact [[spoiler: that he mauled him while he was in wolf form]].

* CassandraTruth: Nobody believes Philippe, admittedly with reason.

* ChekhovsSkill: Navarre scared Philippe into helping him by throwing his sword like a spear into a tree. [[spoiler: He uses the skill again to kill the Bishop when he was about to kill Isabeau in his breakdown]].
* ChewToy: Mouse spends a lot of time in peril, and even gets bitten by Navarre in wolf form while saving his life.
* ClothingConcealedInjury: Phillipe hides the injuries [[spoiler: from Navarre mauling him in wolf form]] from Navarre with his sweater.

** [[spoiler: Marquet, who pushed one of his own men onto Navarre's sword for referring to Navarre as 'Captain', ultimately dies by falling on Navarre's sword.]]

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The ending. [[spoiler: Twice. First Marquet with his own sword, then Navarre impales the Bishop by throwing his sword like a javelin]].

* IntellectualAnimal: Averted. Navarre and Isabeau are essentially animals while in wolf/hawk mode (they seem to have a bond, but not to the point of true awareness). Several night scenes are made dangerous by the fact that Wolf Navarre has the instincts (and teeth) of a normal wolf.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: A mild example, but there are times when the regular guards, despite their orders from the Bishop, will decide to not fight Navarre. In some cases, it's because Navarre was once their Captain. However, he's also a ''supreme'' badass and most know their chances against him aren't exactly good.

* LightIsNotGood[=/=]DarkIsNotEvil: The Bishop and the Captain of the Guard wear white and gold, and Navarre is TheHero and wears black and red, rides a black horse and becomes a black wolf.

* PlummetPerspective: A variant -- moments after Isabeau turns into a hawk just in time to avoid falling to her death, the soldier who was trying to capture her takes a crossbow bolt from Navarre and meets his end on the rocks below.

* NoManOfWomanBorn: The curse will continue as long as day follows night and night follows day, though of course that does ''not'' mean "forever."

* CoolHorse: Navarre rides Goliath, a huge black [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friesian_horse Friesian]]. Marquet's white horse in the climax counts too.
* CoolSword: It is even used to chop wood.
-->'''Navarre:''' This sword has been in my family for five generations. It has never known defeat, until now.

* CurseEscapeClause: A [[spoiler: solar eclipse]] allows Navarre and Isabeau to meet each other in human forms at the same time, dispelling the curse.

** The wolf hunter who dies falling headfirst into a jaw trap.

* IfICantHaveYou: "...then no man shall!" Thus the hawk curse. [[spoiler: And when the curse is broken, the Bishop simply tries to kill Isabeau]].

* IncendiaryExponent: Averted. The captain of the guards is anything but badass when it's on fire.

** Navarre and Isabeau have been cursed for two years but neither has yet to give up hope.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Isabeau is barefoot quite a lot, even in instances where it doesn't make much sense like her final confrontation with the Bishop.

* SinisterMinister: The Bishop is a jealous and lustful man who called on the devil himself to curse a pair of lovers.
* SlowMotionFall: Isabeau slips out of Phillipe's grasp while they hide on the tower at Imperius's home. She falls just slowly enough for the sun to rise and turn her into a hawk before she can hit the ground.

* NighttimeTransformation: The shift between day and night is the trigger for Navarre's and Isabeau's transformations.

* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: A prophecy states that the curse will be broken if Navarre and Isabeau can confront the Bishop as humans when there is "day without night, and night without day". [[spoiler: It actually happens near the end of the film. The prophecy refers to a solar eclipse. Modern audiences with even a basic grasp of science probably saw it coming a mile away, but it was still awesome.]]

* SlowMotionFall: [[spoiler: Isabeau from the tower at Imperius's home. She falls just slow enough for the sun to rise and turn her into a hawk to save her from certain death.]]

** When Isabeau gets shot with an arrow while in Hawk form, Navarre leaves his sword stuck in the grass as he goes to her side.

* WhatTheHellHero: At one point, Navarre flips out at Philippe [[spoiler: for supposedly losing his sword]]. He gets called out first by Mouse, who tells him he's being selfish with his fixation on revenge, but doesn't really snap out of it until [[spoiler: he sees the cuts all over Philippe's chest-- which he inflicted, in wolf form, when Philippe saved his life.]]
* {{Yandere}}: The Bishop. He puts a cruel curse on the two lovers so they can never see each other, all because the woman doesn't want him and he can't have her either.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: There is a scene under a full moon. Two days later, there is what seems to be a solar eclipse (which requires a new moon). Possibly {{Hand Wave}}d as a result of divine intervention, and explains why Navarre would be skeptical of Imperius's prediction, thinking he's gone mad.

* BlackKnight: Etienne Navarre is a literal one, clad in black armor, as he's been cast out from service to Aquila and has no lord or master. Subverted in that he's TheHero and a nobleman.

* AnachronismStew: Navarre claims his [[{{BFS}} massive two-handed sword]] has [[AncestralWeapon been in his family for five generations]]. With the film being set around the 13th Century, this means the sword would have been forged in either the second half of the 11th or first half of the 12th Centuries. However the design is of a type that wouldn't appear until the ''16th''.

* AnnoyingArrows: Played with. Arrow injuries are deadly when [[spoiler:Isabeau is shot in hawk form and still injured in human]] but Navarre just shrugs off one arrow because he's wearing armor.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: There is a scene under a full moon. Two days later, there is what seems to be a solar eclipse (which requires a new moon). Possibly {{Hand Wave}}d as a result of divine intervention, and explains why Navarre would be skeptical of Imperius' prediction, thinking he's gone mad.

* TheAtoner: Imperius, the monk who helps Navarre and Isabeau. He feels responsible for their curse because he accidentally revealed their love to the Bishop. [[spoiler:He didn't.]]

** The Bishop constantly berates Marquet for his failures and at some point he even threatens to have him executed if Isabeau should be hurt while in her hawk form.

* BlackKnight: Etienne Navarre is a literal one, clad in black armor, as he's been cast out from service to Aquila and has no lord or master. Subverted in that he's TheHero and a noble man.
* BloodlessCarnage: Despite countless {{Mook}}s being killed throughout the movie, you would be hard pressed to find any blood. In fact, the only time when blood is present is when minor wounds are inflicted.
* BloodstainedGlassWindows: [[spoiler:The climax takes place in a gothic cathedral, with the bishop celebrating the mass. Navarre ''rides in on horseback'', cutting down the guards like grass. Then Marquet faces him, also on horseback]].

* ChekhovsSkill: Navarre scared Philippe into helping him by throwing his sword like a spear into a tree. [[spoiler:He uses the skill again to kill the Bishop when he was about to kill Isabeau in his breakdown]].

* CorruptChurch: The entire region of Aquila in the Middle Ages is ruled by this trope. Unusually, however, the movie averts the trope's implicit TakeThat qualities in that [[RealMenLoveJesus the protagonists are all depicted as genuinely devout, faithful and God-fearing]]. At the end, it's possibly only the Bishop and [[TheDragon Marquet]] who are corrupt, but they have the authority to pervert the Church's influence in the region.

* CurseEscapeClause: A [[spoiler:solar eclipse]] allows Navarre and Isabeau to meet each other in human forms at the same time, dispelling the curse.

* DeathGlare: Isabeau gives an epic one to Bishop [[spoiler:after being cured, showing him the hawk jesses, and letting it drop before him.]]

* FadeToBlack: The final scene has an interesting case of it -- the scene gradually gets darker, until [[spoiler:only Navarre and Isabeau are in the middle of now completely dark cathedral, with a beam of light coming through the broken window on them]]... and then it fades to black too.

* {{Flynning}}: The sword technique is rough around the edges, featuring big windups, wide misses, and loud clanging. Despite this, it is high quality by eighties standards, especially with energetic grappling and some neat moves that stand out. For example, at the end where [[spoiler:Navarre rolls towards Marquet to avoid the ''coup de grace'', immediately rolls back on top of the blade to strip it from his enemy's grasp, and then uses it to inflict inertial impalement]].

* HomeFieldAdvantage: Imperius is living in a ruins of a keep. Despite being a fat, old monk, he still manages to easily get better against anyone trying to barge into his home. He also lectures Mouse early on to only step on the left side of a bridge, but doesn't explain why. [[spoiler: When the Bishop's men storm the place, one of them starts across the bridge only to fall through, as the boards are rotting and the bridge is only solid along its left side]].

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:The Bishop is killed in the process of trying to stab Isabeau in the back.]]

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: A mild example, but there are times when the regular guards, despite their orders from the Bishop, will decide to not fight Navarre. In some cases it's because Navarre was once their Captain. However he's also a ''supreme'' badass and most know their chances against him aren't exactly good.

* MercyKill: Navarre tells Imperius to kill the hawk if he's dead, because he doesn't want to doom her to a half-life.

* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: According to Imperius's description of the curse, neither Navarre or Isabeau are aware of their human selves while in animal form; Navarre in particular is quite vicious. However, even in animal form each of the pair is quick to attack anyone who threatens the other.
* MisplacedWildlife: Isabeau's hawk form is a red-tailed hawk, which are not native to France. Could be handwaved, seeing as the curse was spat up by Hell itself.

** Though it saved Navarre, the only reason Isabeau was shot was because Philippe threw a rock at the guard, causing him to accidentally fire into the air.

* NoManOfWomanBorn: The transformation curse may not be broken until there is "a day without a night; a night without a day". [[spoiler:As it turns out, [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot the lovers meet during a solar eclipse.]]]]

* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: A prophecy states that the curse will be broken if Navarre and Isabeau can confront the Bishop as humans when there is "day without night, and night without day". [[spoiler:It actually happens near the end of the film. The prophecy refers to a solar eclipse. Modern audiences with even a basic grasp of science probably saw it coming a mile away, but it was still awesome.]]

* SlowMotionFall: [[spoiler:Isabeau from the tower at Imperius' home. She falls just slow enough for the sun to rise and turn her into a hawk to save her from certain death.]]

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: While Navarre has no issues killing the guards when he must, but, when possible, he tries to avoid doing so. In one case, he actually mourns the death of one, Francesco, after Captain Marquet shoved said guard onto Navarre's sword, for calling him "Captain Navarre". Justifiable, in that Navarre was once their Captain and there is still some bond between him and the men left.
* WhatTheHellHero: At one point, Navarre flips out at Philippe [[spoiler:for supposedly losing his sword]]. He gets called out first by Mouse, who tells him he's being selfish with his fixation on revenge, but doesn't really snap out of it until [[spoiler:he sees the cuts all over Philippe's chest-- which he inflicted, in wolf form, when Philippe saved his life.]]

** The Bishop constantly berates Marquet for his failures and at some point he even threatens to have him executed if Isabeau should be hurted while in her hawk form.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkepp: The Bishop's real name is never revealed, and he is simply referred to as "the Bishop".

* NoNameGiven: The Bishop's real name is never revealed, and he is simply referred to as "the Bishop".

* MercyKill: Navarre tells Mouse to kill the hawk if he's dead, because he doesn't want to doom her to a half-life.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Imperius is described as a monk, but his background reveals he used to take confessions. In real life, a monk has not taken Holy Orders and thus cannot take confessions - he would need to be a priest to be able to hear confession and give absolution. (Of course, it is possible to be both a monk and a priest, but you would be more likely to refer to yourself as a priest in the same way that someone with credentials as both a paralegal and a lawyer would probably not mention the paralegal part.) However, this might be intentional, as Imperius is revealed to have become TheAtoner for committing the crime of betraying secrets of the confessional [[spoiler:or so he thinks]] - which hints he may have previously been a priest, only that renounced his priestly vows and became a monk out of repentance, as it was done at the time and setting.

* TheQueensLatin: If we infer from the names we can guess the film is set in France, yet everyone speaks with Received Pronunciation, or... [[OohMeAccentsSlipping tries to]]. Since characters in medieval France wouldn't speak anything even remotely resembling modern English, it's probably best to just file it under TranslationConvention.

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Philippe climbs through it to get in and out.
** ...though it's a ''very'' tight squeeze, even for a skinny teenager!

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: A minor one that just requires a HandWave to fix -- Imperius is described as a monk. A monk has not taken Holy Orders and thus cannot take confessions -- he would need to be a priest to be able to hear confession and give absolution. (It is possible to be both a monk and a priest but you would be more likely to refer to yourself as a priest in the same way that someone with credentials as both a paralegal and a lawyer would probably not mention the paralegal part). The handwave: Imperius may have been a priest in the backstory then renounced his priestly vows [[spoiler:after his crime of betraying secrets of the confessional -- which he ''thought'' he did while drunk. He did not -- Marquet did.]].

* AutomatonHorses: Averted, for the most part.
** Navarre will take breaks in order to rest and care for his horse Goliath, even having Philippe get food for him.
** Marquet seems to make use of way stations of some sort in order to swap tired horses for fresh ones, as he gallops back to the Bishop after his encounter with Navarre.

* BadBoss: Marquet, who replaced Navarre as the Captain of the Guards, throws [[spoiler: one of his underlings on Navarre's sword and getting him killed]] just for addressing Navarre as "captain".

* BloodstainedGlassWindows: [[spoiler: The climax takes place in a gothic cathedral, with the bishop celebrating the mass. Navarre ''rides in on horseback'', cutting down the guards like grass. Then Marquet faces him, also on horseback]].

* CorruptChurch: In the movie it shows that the entire region of Aquila in the Middle Ages is ruled by this trope. Unusually, the movie averts the trope's implicit TakeThat qualities in that [[RealMenLoveJesus the protagonists are all depicted as genuinely devout, faithful and God-fearing]].
** Really, it's only the Bishop and [[TheDragon Marquet]] who are corrupt, but they have the authority to pervert the Church's influence in the region.

* {{Flynning}}: The sword technique is rough around the edges, featuring big windups, wide misses, and loud clanging. Despite this it is high quality by eighties standards, especially with energetic grappling and some neat moves that stand out. For example, at the end where [[spoiler:Navarre rolls towards Marquet to avoid the ''coup de grace'', immediately rolls back on top of the blade to strip it from his enemy's grasp, and then uses it to inflict inertial impalement]].

* IKnowYouKnowIKnow

* IfICantHaveYou: "...then no man shall!" Thus the hawk curse.
** [[spoiler: And when the curse is broken, the Bishop simply tries to kill Isabeau]].

* TheQueensLatin: If we infer from the names we can guess the film is set in France, yet everyone speaks with Received Pronunciation, or ...[[OohMeAccentsSlipping tries to]]. Since characters in medieval France wouldn't speak anything even remotely resembling modern English, it's probably best to just file it under TranslationConvention.

* LightIsNotGood[=/=]DarkIsNotEvil: The Bishop and the Captain of the Guard wear [[GoodColorsEvilColors white and gold]], and Navarre is TheHero and wears [[GoodColorsEvilColors black and red]], rides a black horse and becomes a black wolf.

* VillainousBreakdown: The Bishop has one during the climax. [[spoiler: After the curse is broken he furiously tries to kill Isabeau by stabbing her with his spiked scepter.]]