The Princess Bride - Movie Review Example

Movie Project – The Princess Bride The movie The Princess Bride has a great example of what it means to be a leader. The lead character in the movie, Westley, who is played by the English actor Cary Elwes, lives the life of a simple farmhand in the fantasy country of Florin. On the farm lives a young woman called Buttercup. Although Westley has a lowly position, he does not act like it at all. Whenever Buttercup needs any chore completed, Westly is there waiting to carry out the order. His response to her every time he does this becomes the phrase of the whole movie: as you wish. These words are very simple, yet they speak volumes for the kind of leader that Wesley is. He never once considers his own desires because he always puts Buttercup first. In Kouzes and Posner’s leadership framework, Wesley would best fit the first practice, Model the Way. His idea of leadership is that others’ needs are put before his own. Wesley expects everyone to keep the high standards that he does for himself. Also, he does not get ahead of himself because he takes one step at a time. This is best exemplified in the movie when Buttercup is kidnapped by a gang of thieves (Vizzini, Fezzik, and Inigo Montoya). Even though Wesley was assumed to be dead for five years, he manages to find out where she is being taken. Wesley sets off in pursuit of the bandits and faces many challenges along the way. Once the outlaws and Buttercup reach the Cliffs of Insanity, they manage to climb up to the top by clinging onto the giant Fezzik, who is pulling on a rope. Once they reach the top, they realize that a “man in black” (Wesley) is in pursuit of them. At Vizzini’s instruction, the rope is cut and Wesley is left hanging onto the rocks. Montoya is told to stay behind and finish the man in black off. But Montoya feels pity for Wesley and helps him up to the top of the cliffs. Once there, Wesley and Montoya engage in a duel, which Wesley wins convincingly. His next challenge is to face Fezzik, who hurls large boulders at Wesley. After Fezzik is knocked out cold, Wesley goes on to a battle of wits with Vizzini. Wesley shows the greater intelligence and makes Vizzini drink poison. While many others would be daunted with the task that was ahead of them, Wesley did not struggle at all. Another character who displays a different type of leadership is Prince Humperdinck, played by Chris Sarandon. Prince Humperdinck is the heir to the throne of the fictional country of Florin. Buttercup receives an offer to be the kingdom’s princess after Wesley is believed to have died in a battle with pirates. Buttercup reluctantly accepts his offer, even though she still has feelings for Wesley. Once Buttercup is kidnapped by the thieves, Prince Humperdinck immediately pulls together a search party and sets out after her. Once Wesley has systematically taken down each bandit and reunited with Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck and his search party find them. Buttercup is eventually persuaded to return with Prince Humperdinck, but she makes the prince promise that no harm will come to Wesley. Prince Humperdinck reluctantly agrees, but then does not follow through with his promise; he actually orders his right-hand man, Count Rugen, played by Christopher Guest, to torture Wesley by performing a series of experiments on him. Prince Humperdinck is a great example of how not to lead, because he proves himself to be not trustworthy. His idea of leadership is to have others do things for him; this is in complete contrast to Wesley. Even worse, whenever anyone does anything for the prince, he does not credit them with doing so. When Wesley is locked up in a dungeon and is being tortured, he does not let the situation get the better of him. The major issue from this point on in the movie is how Wesley is going to defeat Prince Humperdinck and get back Buttercup. Actually, he cannot really do anything because he is so weak after being tortured. Count Rugen has developed a machine that takes a certain number of years of someone’s life depending on the setting. The machine combines electricity and water to give the victim an electrical shock right throughout their body. Because Wesley’s options are limited, he has to rely on others to free him from the dungeon. This is where Fezzik and Inigo Montoya come back into the movie. After Montoya is convinced that Wesley in being held somewhere in the forest, he happens to stumble upon the dungeon in which he is being held captive. When they get there, they are disheartened to find that Wesley is dead. Despite this, Fezzik picks Wesley up and carries him to Miracle Max, who is played by Billy Crystal. After Miracle Max explains that Wesley is only mostly dead, he restarts Wesley’s heart, although Wesley is left a little dazed and is extremely weak. While Wesley is imprisoned, Prince Humperdinck continues to deceive people for his own ends. He comes up with a plan to kill Buttercup and blame the country of Guilder, or Florin’s archenemy, so they can start a war. Once again, this shows how untrustworthy he is because he is not honest with his people. The only way for him to be stopped was if Wesley found a way to get to him. Wesley, Montoya, and Fezzik use a combination of all their strengths (Wesley = brains, Montoya = sword, and Fezzik = strength) to storm the castle where Prince Humperdinck is about to marry Buttercup. This is another instance of Wesley showing great leadership because he is using everyone’s strengths to overcome a problem. Even though he could barely move due to his physical condition, he was able to direct everyone to work together as a team. This is another good sign of a leader because it shows that he can work well with others and not rely on himself to do everything. Once the good guys storm the castle, they manage to defeat the king’s guards through a combination of trickery and skill. Buttercup is saved by Wesley, and the foursome of Wesley, Buttercup, Montoya, and Fezzik ride away into the distance on horses at the end of the movie. The Princess Bride would not usually be thought of as a movie that displays leadership because there are very few actual leaders throughout the film. However, characters such as Wesley display leadership qualities even thought they may not hold any formal leadership position. The biggest lesson that I learned from this movie was that anyone can be a leader. There are no prerequisites and qualifications that are necessary to lead others. The problem is that our human minds are taught that leaders can only come from a small percentage of the population, and that those chosen few are leaders because of their achievements or successes in life. The truth is that everyone is a leader in some shape or form. It does not matter if a person is leading a team of people or just themselves; they still have to act and behavior like a leader. An effective leader is someone who is an example to others and does not expect anything in return. Wesley’s favorite line, “as you wish,” shows how leaders should act when someone asks something of them. Above all, leaders should not direct someone to do something that they would not be willing to do themselves. Read More