Excalibur (1981)

 

Are there characters as enthralling as King Arthur? Countless tales have been spun with him either as the focal point or as an ominous presence and to this day he manages to captivate audiences. Heck, this has been the case since the Middle Ages. This version, by director John Boorman, takes most of its inspiration from Thomas Malory's 'Le Morte d'Arthur', which is probably the version most people know best. 

So I hope you are ready for a tale where paganism and Christianity mingle and where the heroes and villains you expect do what they were meant to do, all in a mythical and shiny interpretation.

No really, it is shiny. Like bling.

The tale is as old as time: Britain is torn apart by civil war and among the fighting warlords there is one who might unite them all: Uther Pendragon. Uther gets some help from a wizard named Merlin, but throws away peace because he has a boner for the wife of his new ally, Gorlois of Cornwall. 

Brilliant move, Uther. There has been peace for all of five minutes and you just want to hump the wife of another, thus breaking the peace. Dick move, literally.

Through magic, Uther seduces Igrayne (Gorlois' wife) and nine months later, a child is born. Merlin claims the boy (whom he names Arthur) and relocates him with another knight while Uther is slain and he rams the sword Excalibur into a stone. 

Yes, only the true king can break it free. Can you guess who that will be? 

I mean: of course you can. Can't you?

So, years later during a joust, Arthur accidentally frees the sword and after a bit of shenanigans with rowdy knights is crowned king. Things go pretty swell actually. He even finds a new knight in the shape of Lancelot, the best there ever is. Unfortunately, Lancelot and Arthur's wife Guinevere fall in love and this doesn't bode well for the kingdom. 

Also: Arthur's half-sister Morgana is totally a witch, seduces him and has his baby in order to usurp the throne.

As the land is dying together with the king, the knights are sent out to search for the Holy Grail to heal the land and it all comes to a clash during the Battle of Camlann, where Arthur and Mordred will settle this once and for all.

Boorman sticks really close to the ideas laid forth by Malory and Chrétien de Troyes (who invented Lancelot, by the way) and if you have only an inkling of what the story is about, this is actually a pretty darn good introduction. It all feels mystical, thanks to the almost iridescent quality and the use of lights and shimmers throughout. Also the actors are (for the most part) all really good. Nigel Terry is pretty spot on as Arthur, but it is especially Nicol Williamson as Merlin and Helen Mirren as Morgana who steal the show. 

This film is probably not the only one to use Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana", but gothdarnit, if it isn't one of the most effective ones to do it, as it is used sparingly and the instances where you hear that classic bombastic choir kick in, you'll be rising from your seat. 

There have been quite a number of Arthur-adaptations over the years, but this still remains one of the better ones. Sure, it pulls the Christianity-card a bit more than some others, but it's a cool piece with a bunch of good actors and some up and comers that would go on to do great things. Recommended!