Ignore the quibbling over this film’s lack of historicity and complaints about Kevin Costner’s missing English accent. The 1991 version of the popular story is a thoroughly entertaining film, packed with fun, spectacle, action, thrills, and some food for thought on fine values.
This contemporary retelling of a timeless myth revisits why we rally around figures like England’s folk heroes. It’s not because they win against impossible odds. It’s because, for the sake of their moral convictions, they’re willing to try. They are willing to stake everything on what they believe in: reputation, possessions, and their lives.
Costner, as Robin of Locksley, leads a stellar cast in a tale about going all in for what you trust in and love. To peasants, the Sherwood Forest is a refuge from the Sheriff of Nottingham’s tyranny. To Robin, it’s a metaphor for taking a stand and defending a way of life: a life of freedom, dignity, and courage in defending the vulnerable.
Patriotic Citizen
Patriotism, the screenwriters argue, isn’t just about trained soldiers warding off enemies on the outside. Sometimes it’s about ordinary citizens thwarting those on the inside, who’re against a way of life that their forefathers founded, then daring to live the life that their fathers fought to preserve. The size or weaponry of its military don’t mark a country’s worth quite as much as how fiercely its ordinary folk care. That’s measured by values that scenes and characters here repeatedly demonstrate.Robin’s father, Lord Locksley, rushes out of his castle, figuring he’s heading to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a peasant. Old aide Duncan cautions him that it may be a trap. It is. But before riding out, Locksley tells Duncan to be fearless, “Good will overcome. Trust in that.” Locksley doesn’t live to see that day, but his fearless son does.
The excitable Will Scarlett tries to incite a Sherwood Forest mob against Robin. By provoking the sheriff, hasn’t Robin invited his wrath upon hundreds of innocents? How can peasants counter the sheriff’s weaponry with rocks and bare hands? Scarlett’s solution? Turn Robin in, as the sheriff demands. It’s better for one man to die than for a whole nation to perish.
Robin challenges that. Yes, they must fight with rocks and bare hands if it comes to that. More importantly, they must battle with “the one true weapon” Scarlett lacks: courage. Robin wants them to stop surrendering to a life in hiding. After all, one free man defending his home is “more powerful than 10 hired soldiers.” Recalling his dead father’s words, he later tells Marian, “Nobility’s not a birthright; it’s defined by one’s actions.”
Flawed but Steadfast
True, Robin makes mistakes. But Azeem reassures him, recalling a wise man’s saying, that there are no perfect men, “only perfect intentions.” That’s tied to an often-ignored virtue: initiative. Leaders put their necks on the line when others hide behind theories and counter-theories around why something good shouldn’t be done. Robin does the opposite. If it’s for a good cause, he’d rather act intelligently and bravely first, and contemplate next, than the other way around.Robin’s cause was lost from the beginning. Forces he confronted were too great, too conniving. It’s only when ordinary citizens of the realm realized that Robin’s strength and courage lay hidden in each of them, that they fulfilled those qualities in their actions. The actions of locals helped Robin’s heroics count.
That’s the point. Heroes don’t win battles; they merely lead them. When the sheriff’s onslaught seems overwhelming, Azeem roars from high up on a fort, down at hundreds of citizens fearfully hedging their bets: “I am not one of you, but I fight. I fight with Robin Hood. I fight against the tyrant who holds you under his boot. If you would be free men, then you must fight … join Robin Hood.”
Luckily for Azeem and Robin, some do.
