The Iberian Peninsula during Reconquista, 11th century. General Ben Yusuf from the Muslim Almoravid dynasty wants Al-Andalus to continue fighting and annexing the Christian cities. The Christian nobelman Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar and his army capture two emirs, al-Mu'tamin and al-Kadir, but lets them go if they promise not to attack Christians anymore, so he is given the title "El Cid". Because of that, El Cid is accused of treason and kills Count Gormaz in a duel, the father of his fiancée Chimene. When Ferdinand, the King of Castile, dies, his two sons Alfonso and Sancho fight for the crown, and Ben Yusuf assassinates Sancho to start a civil war. However, Alfonso is declared the King, but since El Cid suspected he killed Sancho, El Cid an Chimene are exiled. They are summoned again to lead an army during the Battle of Valencia, and they win. When Ben Yusuf's army counterattack, El Cid is wounded, but is tied to a horse to charge the next day against the Moors, thereby assuring victory over the Almoravids.
"El Cid" is an example of duality among monumental epic films: on the one hand, it dazzles with thousands of extras, spectacle, lavish production values and aesthetic locations of the Peniscola walls and beach; on the other hand, it feels strangely stiff, mechanical, has underwhelming, pale characters and seems as a schematic PowerPoint presentation by a chatbot. The director Anthony Mann directs the film conventionaly, yet the sole story cannot be that easily bereaved of its intruige since it is one of the rare movie depictions of Reconquista, an era lasting over 750 years, since modern politics rather avoid films showing Christian-Muslim conflicts. The title protagonist is shown as an idealized hero, always true to his mantra of being just and fair—when he encounters a group of soldiers on horses, El Cid has a determined exchange with them ("Will you give me your prisoner, or must I take him?" - "There are 13 of us. And you're alone!" - "What you do is against God's law. Were you 13 times 13, I would not be alone!"), before he engages in a battle and defeats them all. After being exiled with Chimene, El Cid leaves a cottage and is surprised to find a hundred soldiers outside, waiting for him, and they have this exchange: "I am in exile!" - "Not you. We're all in exile!" It is difficult to find such a thoroughly honorable character in modern movies. Despite its running time of three hours, "El Cid" feels strangely as if it is told in ellipses and is missing some pieces of the bigger picture, since we don't find out more about neither El Cid nor Chimene, though their relationship is more complex than expected, especially after he inadvertently kills her father in a duel. The battle sequences, especially in the finale of the fights along the coastline of the walled city depictitng Valencia, are short and effective, as well as stylistically elegant due to being framed by such architecture, though they are no match for the choreography of future historical films, whereas the narrator's final line is strong ("And thus El Cid rode out of the gates of history... into legend"), and thus "El Cid" feels fluid and smooth even today.
Grade:++
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