Films that influenced ‘The Death of Robin Hood’

As The Death of Robin Hood heads into theaters this week from A24, director Michael Sarnoski shares ten films that influenced his take on the classic tale. Be sure to read the notes for Sarnoski’s words on each selection. The Virgin Spring A huge inspiration for its historical accuracy, and its beautiful interweaving of violence, nature, and spirituality. The world of that time always felt a hair’s breadth away from the divine and the deadly. The Revenant Early on I described The Death of Robin Hood as starting as The Revenant, and finishing as Phantom Thread. The Revenant was a big reference for the bleakness yet grandeur of the natural world, and the visceral, unglamorous violence of the beginning of our film. Phantom Thread At the end of the day, this and Robin Hood are about two people stripping away the lies of their identities, and examining an unusual but profound relationship. Robin Hood This movie began my relationship with the Robin Hood character, and my understanding of him as a cultural construct. I saw this movie as a child, then read the story of Robin Hood’s death. Trying to reconcile a jovial fox and the death of a flesh and blood man stuck with me, and many years later became The Death of Robin Hood. Valhalla Rising A gorgeous display of bleakness and violence, all steeped in mythology. We wanted to approach action with the same grittiness—just some folks trying desperately to murder each other in the mud. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford A beautiful examination of a folk figure coming to terms with his life, death, and his own folklore. Days of Heaven This film did an incredible job of painting a community that is closely connected to nature. We wanted the Priory to have this same feeling of a living, breathing microcosm that feels full and lived-in. Spider-Man Spider-Man was the first time it really clicked for me what a director does. Seeing an iconic figure I loved filtered through someone else’s lens opened my mind up to the possibilities of filmmaking. Hunger An inspiration for how to represent death subjectively. The ending is a sensory exploration of death in all its mundanity and transcendence unlike anything I’ve seen. The Princess Bride The Princess Bride is a movie that grows with you as you grow. As a child, you love it as an adventure film. As you grow, the layers of satirical meta-fiction reveal themselves. Folktales like Robin Hood also grow with you, and change with time and cultural context.