Monday, January 12, 2009

Manic Monday ~ CELL

To visit other bloggers taking part in Manic Monday, take a trip to Mo's Manic Monday page


Sorry it has taken me a bit longer to post this morning. No excuses... just going VERY SLOWLY today.

“R” gave me a portable DVD player for Christmas. It was out of stock so was delivered a bit late; but, in this case, better late than never. I have a few movies that I haven’t watched as our DVD player is attached to R’s big TV in the living room. One of those movies is “Man of La Mancha” which I started watching on Wednesday. So the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the word CELL was this movie.

Miguel de Cervantes – failed author, soldier, actor and tax collector – (Peter O’Toole) and his manservant (James Coco) have been arrested by the Spanish Inquisition. They are accused of presenting a play in a public square offensive to the Inquisition. They have brought all their possessions with them to the dungeon CELL. Here, they are attacked by their fellow prisoners who want those possessions for themselves. The prisoners set up a mock-trial after which if Cervantes is found guilty he will have to hand over all his possessions – all except the for the manuscript he carries. He asks to be allowed to offer a defense, and the defense will be a play, acted out by him and all the prisoners.



And so begins the adventures of Don Quixote de la Mancha and his faithful “squire” Sancho Panza. He duels windmills (which he believes to be his mortal enemy The Enchanter) and defends his perfect lady Dulcinea (who is actually a downtrodden whore named Aldonza). From this CELL, Cervantes weaves a tale of a knight’s chivalry, promise and devotion – an Impossible Dream even in those times.

The Inquisition enters to take Cervantes to his trial. The prisoners, finding him not guilty, return his manuscript – it is, of course, his (as yet) unfinished novel “Don Quixote de la Mancha.” As Cervantes and his servant mount the drawbridge-like staircase to go to their impending trial yet gleaming with courage, the prisoners sing The Impossible Dream in chorus.

4 comments:

  1. Hmm...I've not seen this one. It looks very interesting, though from the clip. I'm manic about cell phone etiquette today.

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  2. we saw the play a few years ago with robert goulet. it wasn't my favorite but i still enjoyed it.

    smiles, bee
    xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxo

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  3. I saw the play with Robert Goulet also and absolutely loved it. Of course, now I'm going to have the music stuck in my head the rest of the night - which is okay!

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  4. Loved the book and this song from the musical is a good one. Of course, had to laugh as the all too practical gentleman that I saw it with had to remark afterwards, "You know what happens when you face the 'unbeatable fore'? SQUISH!"

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