A good-looking film brimming with medieval magic, murky dungeons, lavish landscapes and a fearless knight atop a handsome feather-footed horse. Ladyhawke wasn’t instrumental in putting bums on seats, but it certainly helped put bums into saddles.
The film poster for ‘Ladyhawke’. Image supplied.
Ladyhawke (Warner Bros, 1985) lost millions at the box office before becoming a cult fantasy decades later, but it did ignite an interest in the Friesian, a breed largely forgotten in the ’80s except by enthusiastic Dutch stalwarts and a handful of Americans.
Having escaped from the dreaded dungeons of Aquila, petty thief Phillipe Gaston (Matthew Broderick) falls in with Captain Etienne Navarre (Rutger Hauer) and his hawk. This noble knight is cursed to spend each night as a wolf while his true love, the Lady Isabeau, (Michelle Pfeiffer), must spend the day as the hawk. Gaston presents them with the chance to finally break the curse.
Richard Donner, who went on to direct all four Lethal Weapon movies, filmed Ladyhawke in and around the Italian castle Rocca Calasciole, with extra footage shot at Cinecitta studios in Rome. Donner, who had considered Sean Connery as the knight, cast Kurt Russell in the role but he left before production began, allegedly to be with Goldie Hawn. Dutch actor Rutger Hauer finally got the part. He had played the replicant in 1982’s Blade Runner where his “tears in the rain” dying monologue became part of film history.
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At one stage Mick Jagger was considered for the evil bishop but due to extended timelines and obscure locations he wouldn’t commit. The part eventually went to John Wood – the British actor, not the Australian in Blue Heelers.
Upon hearing he had the lead, Rutger Hauer drove his motorhome 1,600 kilometres across Europe from his home in the Netherlands to Cinecitta. He had built the 16-metre motorhome himself and it was his pride and joy. The director was unimpressed as it got in the way.
Hauer was just as handy when it came to riding – the 38-year-old had been doing it since he was 15. The starring horse was Othello, a 19-year-old Friesian. Named ‘Goliath’ in the movie, the stallion, by Ritske 202 out of Paulowna, was a circus performer. His rider, Manuela Beeloo, who was famous for her high school act combining a horse and ballerina, was the main trainer of all the film’s horses, which included a few black doubles and an Andalusian.
This grey stallion makes his entrance in the final battle scene in a cathedral, which was really a film studio, ridden by a stuntman. He confronts Hauer atop the Friesian and both stallions rear and whinny.
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The suit of armour Hauer wore and the sword he carried were so heavy he lost 9kg shooting this climactic fight scene.
The studio floor was covered with composite rubber sculpted to look like cobblestones. This muffled the sound of hooves and enabled the horses to move in comparative safety. Despite the reduced sound, the noise still proved too great during the filming of the action. All dialogue recorded in scenes with horses was re-recorded by the actors in post-production and synchronised with the other footage.
There were no sound problems when filming the other animals. Four Siberian wolves were imported to Italy from California to portray the lupine alter ego of Navarre. Their handler was happy with their work.
Several red-tailed hawks played the transformed Isabeau. One was used for flying sequences, another for sitting on the leading man’s arm. “There were four of them, actually, and I noticed immediately how sharp their claws were,” Hauer had said. “Their egos were very important too. One was very sweet, two were so-so and the fourth aggressive. None would hurt me but when we first started shooting the trainers warned that if you stare at them they get uncomfortable and might go crazy. For the first couple of days I was really worried every time I caught one looking at me.”
Dutch actor Rutger Hauer played Captain Etienne Navarre. Image supplied.
Matthew Broderick as Phillipe Gaston (left) and Rutger Hauer as Captain Etienne Navarre. Image supplied.
At the close of filming, one of the birds worked in the Universal Bird Show until 2000 when she became an ambassador at the National Audubon Society. This organisation protects birds and the places they need today and tomorrow throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. She died in 2007. Another of the film’s red-tails went to Wildlife Images Rehabilitation and Education Centre in Oregon. In 2014 she died in her sleep aged about 35.
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Othello retired from the circus at 1994, with a final performance at the FPS Stallion Keuring. He was 28.
This two-hour film, described by some as a sword and sorcery spectacular, might not have fascinated all moviegoers around the world, but for a Dutchman named Fred de Boer it changed his life. For years he had been trying to increase the Friesian breed’s popularity in America and was so grateful to Hauer for his part in helping make Friesians widely known that he presented him with his own three-year-old at the LA Equestrian Centre. The actor was so excited he rode the young horse right there and then even though it had only just been broken in. After an incident-free ride he took the horse to his property in Friesland.
In 2018 the Royal Society of the Friesian Studbook numbered over 11,000 members in over 80 countries with a total of 70,000 registered horses. In Australia, numbers are now close to 600.
When Hauer succumbed to cancer aged 75 in 2009, his funeral consisted of a pair of Friesians pulling a farmer’s cart bearing the Dutch and American flags. The procession followed the route Hauer used to take with his golf caddy and his dogs. “The horses were adorned with floral wreaths,” said Augustinus Hoekstra, who had planned the ceremony with ‘Jelte’ (Sake 449) and ‘Rein’ (Felle 422).
Filming the fight scene in the cathederal. Image supplied.
“The starring horse was Othello,
a 19-year-old Friesian.”
The film featured Friesian horses. Image supplied.
A grey Andalusian stallion features in the final battle scene. Image supplied.
While it was overlooked by Oscar judges, Ladyhawke did receive accolades from the US Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, winning Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film and Best Costume in 1986.
It can be viewed on Disney+ and other streaming services.
Next month, meet Jenny the donkey, the real star of this year’s award-winning The Banshees of Inisherin. EQ
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