I was just watching it, and the scene where Indigo and Wesley are fencing, and was wondering just how well (or badly) their technique was.
"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!!"
I would like to know also.
shareYou can't handle the truth.
shareHaving watched a show where some experts talked about technique and history, they basically said in almost all sword fighting engagements from the past as well as in modern competition the "match" was over very quickly. That is especially in the historical past there was only time for a few quick moves before someone was critically injured also daggers were sometimes used in addition to the sword. Now when shields are used then a different type of engagement happens but those are also often over fairly quickly.
sharelol they were just purposely hitting theirs swords together it was so bad
youtube.com/lolbarrk
Boy are you way off. Read Cary Elwes book "As You Wish." He and Patinkin went through grueling training for 6 weeks from the pros. It had to be fast, they had to coreograph it all with all the steps on unlevel terrain and be ready defensively for each offensive maneuver, and only a few shots were done by stuntmen (the gymnastics). Elwes had a broken big toe the whole time because Andre had egged him on to try his ATV.
Pluto is the Peter Dinklage of planets.
It was an accurate depiction of two fencers fighting for show, but not for their lives. But I think that's the point; they weren't really trying to kill each other, Inigo was only really after the six-fingered man, and Westley after his love.
They took pleasure in meeting a master in the other, and so were fighting more for fun than anything. Hence why Westley did not kill Inigo despite the possible risk Inigo would return.
Don't forget they started left handed for the lulz.
shareThe two stars spent every free moment during the shoot training with professional swordsmen.
In the kingdom of the blind, you're the village idiot.
The same professional swordsmen said that their goal (which they believed they achieved) was that the sword fight would look plausible to all but professional fencers etc.
There is a fair amount about the swordfight in As You Wish, Cary Elwes memoir of filming.
And Elwes had just broken his big toe before filming the sequences.
Pluto is the Peter Dinklage of planets.
It was very good. They moved with correct balance and good form. One could easily believe they had been fencing for years.
shareIf professional fencers said it was bad would that lessen your enjoyment of the movie?
Victory is Mine!!!
Well, the thing about the movie’s fencing and its accuracy is that they referenced various “Styles” taught by historical fencing instructors (such as Agrippa). A really good article on it can be seen here:
https://combativecorner.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/fencing-language-in-the-princess-bride/
(sorry, I can’t figure out the URL coding to embed the link).
Another thing to remember about a lot of fencing is that when duels became really popular a lot of people were getting killed over matters of honor. In fact, so many people ending up getting killed over trifles that a new “rule” for fencing was instituted which allowed matters of honor to be settled with either a disarm of at least “First Blood”. This means that honor could be vindicated without having to kill someone, simply by attempting to wound them.
More on that can be found here:
http://www.marylutyndall.com/2012/05/code-duello-rules-of-dueling.html
(sorry, same problem about URL coding).
The reason that the “First Blood” rule is important is that it radically changed how combat would work. Since matters of honor were taught to be solved with First Blood it meant that a person might change their tactics to do something rather foolish/dangerous if it meant opening themselves up to possible death – IF they could get the “First Blood” and win the duel quickly.
The flip side is that people also learned to be more defensive; so, for example, if you made a lunge at my toe that might end in me bleeding, that lunge COULD leave your entire neck exposed. If I was smart, I’d probably ignore the lunge on my toe (though it would hurt and I’d bleed) because, since your neck is exposed, I’d take the cut on my toe and just stab you in your throat and kill you.
Of course, if I did that, then what that means is I’d have killed you (something I’m not really trying to do) and, formally, I’d have lost the duel as the other guy would have had made “First Blood” and the duel would be formally “over” BEFORE I killed you; making me a murderer, not a man who won with a duel.
A good swordsman also needs to remember that it’s not just the attack that matters, but if he attacks he must be sure that – after his attack – that his enemy is not able to make a fast counter and kill him, too. So it’s very important that I don’t stab you and kill you but leave my own neck exposed, because your dying move may be to cut my neck. In other words, I have to be able to stab you in such a way that I’m already prepared to block whatever your “last move” might be. After all, even if I win, if your last move is to kill me, then my action wasn’t very smart.
So back to the fencing in the movie…
They clearly were using their left hand to start; neither were left-handed, this tells us that they were both less interested in finishing the fight quickly, and more interested in the matter of honor and sportsmanship. After all, if they really wanted to kill each other quickly, they had the chance (such as when Inigo watched Wesley do his acrobatics on the branch, he could have just ran over and took the sword and killed him, but that wouldn’t have been sportsmanlike).
As to how accurate their use of things like Agripp and Tybalt were in the movie? Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure. But hopefully more stuff will be in the links above.
Hope it helps!
:)
Guy Windsor has a video about this movie swordfight and how the techniques of Capo Ferro, Thibault and Agrippa might have been used as described in the banter between the two swordsmen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCg0pqX-y3s
Cool! That's a lot of neat info! Thanks!
share"By The Sword" is an excellent book about the history of dueling.
It get's a bit rambley but it's very interesting. Things like wearing loose white shirts so you could see blood drawn. The German fencing clubs with the nose guards and the eye shields where only facial cuts counted. Rules of right of way depending on weapons.
Nifty stuff.
The whole idea of combatants clashing their swords together is more Hollywood than real life. For one thing, most blades aren't strong enough to withstand that sort of thing and would quickly dull or break. And secondly, the lengthy, precisely choreographed fight scenes do not resemble real life in any way. Watch competitive fencers today. Most engagements last a few seconds before one fighter scores a hit, and most of that time is spent feinting and trying to get one's opponent to make a mistake.
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