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Rob Reiner’s “The Princess Bride” is a strange and enchanting gem of a movie that casts a spell on the audience from the opening scene. It begins with a poorly child (Fred Savage) in bed playing video games. His immersion in some classic 1980s console action is broken by the visit of their grandpa (Peter Falk) who beings them the unwanted present of a book. The book is an heirloom that has been read aloud to countless generations of the family. The boy isn’t too keen to have the book read to him but the grandpa promises a tale of, “miracles, true love, giants, torture, revenge, chases, escapes. The boy promises, perhaps symbolically on behalf of the audience, to “Try and stay awake,” and we’re off!
The opening scene of “The Princess Bride” works so well because it plants the seed in the audience’s mind that watching a film, particularly this film, is no different from the transcendental magic of having a book read to you as a child. From the opening line, “Buttercup was raised on a small farm…,” our imaginations are busy making crucial associations with warm memories of fairytales past. It’s an unusual hook to open a film with but a hugely-effective one. Once awakened, the desire to see what comes next is an all-powerful one.
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