''By the Sword'' is a 1991
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
starring
F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he came to prominence for his acclaimed leading role as Antonio Salieri in the drama film '' Amadeus'' (1984) for which he wo ...
and
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...
as world-class fencers. Directed by
Jeremy Paul Kagan
Jeremy Paul Kagan (born December 14, 1945) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and television producer.
Early life
Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Kagan received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1967. He went on to at ...
,
this is the first
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
about
fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
.
Although some reviews of its 1993 U.S. theatrical release noted favorably the lead acting and action sequences, the screenplay was considered "terrible".
Plot
Alexander Villard is a former fencing champion who runs a highly competitive fencing school. One of his students describes him as "a freak who thinks he's living in the fourteenth century".
Max Suba is an ex-convict who introduces himself as a fencing instructor.
Villard initially gives him a job as a janitor. With time, Suba recovers his lost form and shows that he can fence.
Villard has Suba spar with an ambitious student to demonstrate a point.
Villard is "arrogant but not unkind",
and eventually gives Suba a chance to teach, assigning him the beginning students.
While Villard takes a ruthless approach, encouraging a student to injure an opponent to win, Suba takes a subtler approach, encouraging students to turn their own weaknesses into strengths. Following this advice, one of Suba's beginning level students scores against Villard's prize fencer during an in-school competition. Flashbacks further develop the conflict by revealing how Suba had killed Villard's father in a fencing duel. The film climaxes in a dramatic duel between Villard and Suba.
Cast
*F. Murray Abraham as Suba
*Eric Roberts as Villard
*
Mia Sara
Mia Sarapochiello (born June 19, 1967), known professionally as Mia Sara, is a retired American actress. She made her film debut as Princess Lili in the fantasy film ''Legend'' (1985), and had her breakthrough starring as Sloane Peterson in the ...
as Erin Clavelli
*
Christopher Rydell
Christopher Rydell (born November 16, 1963) is an American former actor. The son of film director Mark Rydell and actress Joanne Linville, Rydell is best known for his starring role in Dario Argento's ''Trauma'' and for his role as Danny Leonard ...
as Jim Trebor.
*
Elaine Kagan as Rachel, Suba's romantic interest.
*
Brett Cullen
Peter Brett Cullen (born August 26, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Dan Fixx in ''Falcon Crest'' (1986-1988), Sam Cain in ''The Young Riders'' (1989-1990), Governor Ray Sullivan in ''The West Wing'' (2005-2006), Goo ...
as Danny Gallagher.
Other students are played by
Doug Wert and
Stephen Polk. In her second film appearance, Eve Kagan plays Gallagher's daughter. (Her first appearance had been in 1989, in a film also directed by Kagan.)
Soundtrack
Bill Conti
William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (and four of its sequels), ''The Karate Kid'' (and all of its sequels), '' For Your Eyes Only'', ''Dynasty'' (and its ...
composed the score. The score was performed and recorded by classical Guitarist
Angel Romero.
Release
''By the Sword'' was shown at the
Vancouver International Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October.
The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...
in October 1991. It subsequently appeared at the
American Film Market
The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November.
Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more than ...
in Santa Monica in late October of the same year, and at the
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...
in January 1992.
It was released in France under the title "Par l'épée" on October 7, 1992.
In the US, the film opened in Chicago on May 14, 1993; in Los Angeles on September 24, 1993; and in New York City on October 22, 1993.
The film's cinematic poster was created by
John Alvin
John Henry Alvin (November 24, 1948 – February 6, 2008) was an American cinematic artist and painter who illustrated many movie posters. Alvin created posters and key art for more than 135 films, beginning with the poster for Mel Brooks' ''Bl ...
, who was known for his work on the posters for ''
Blazing Saddles
''Blazing Saddles'' is a 1974 American satirical western black comedy film directed by Mel Brooks, who also wrote the screenplay with Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Alan Uger. The film stars Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder. ...
'' and ''
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, d ...
'', among others.
The film was released on VHS in 1994 as a
Columbia TriStar home video.
Reception
Box office
According to
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray began ...
, in its September run the film was shown in nine theaters and grossed $6,220.
Critical
The film has received mixed reviews, with the most consistent point noted in review is poor screenplay and directing.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
says "the movie adds some supporting characters in order to show us things about fencing that we didn't know",
but another reviewer finds the minor characters "unnecessary" and "thinly drawn", so "the film suffers whenever the plot focuses on them".
Although ''
Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...
'' critic
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
says the film "suffers from overdone, mannerist performances by the two leads",
another reviewer says "the key to this film resides in the performances by Eric Roberts and F. Murray Abraham".
The film develops Suba's character in particular, revealing a past that "he seems unable to completely let go of."
Ebert says of the lead actors: "they create characters much more interesting and dimensional than this thin screenplay really requires."
''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' critic
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
calls the screenplay "nonsense", saying bluntly: "the screenplay is terrible, full of unfinished subplots and lines that appear to announce its essential aimlessness."
Regarding one of the more important subplots, a critic wrote: "Sadly, Kagan a routine television and film director adds nothing to the intriguing notion of a man who's spent half his life in prison returning to the scene of his crime."
Although one critic calls the many flashbacks "a further directorial flourish", they are still at best an "interesting idea that isn't really successfully pulled off."
While the action sequences are "well handled",
Canby says "the drama is fraught with anticlimax."
Overall, the plot is full of "sports clichés",
could "as well have been about croquet",
and is "a little too neat and obvious to really carry the material."
One review says: "Right down to the painful fencing-to-disco-music routine, this is embarrassingly fab."
References
External links
*
*
*
Internet Movie Poster Awards.comReel.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:By the Sword
1990s action drama films
1990s sports films
1991 films
American action drama films
American films about revenge
American sports drama films
American swashbuckler films
1990s English-language films
Fencing films
Films directed by Jeremy Kagan
Films scored by Bill Conti
French action films
English-language French films
French sports films
1990s American films
1990s French films