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Summary
Having failed in their quest for the Holy Grail, the knights of the Round Table return
to Camelot, their number reduced to a mere handful. Seeing a rift developing between
Lancelot and Mordred, Arthur urges his knights to bury their differences and become friends.
However, the king is unaware that Lancelot is having an affair with his queen, Guinevere.
Lancelot is torn between his duty to his king and his love for the queen, whilst Mordred
is determined to use his infidelity to destroy him...
Review
In Lancelot du Lac, Bresson offers a hauntingly minimalist treatment of the Arthurian
legend. Stripping the story to its bare essentials and focusing on the human souls
rather than their heroic exploits, the film makes a striking contrast with those which
offer the more familiar view of the subject.
Most films which recount the exploits of Arthur and his gallant knights reduce the story to a fantasy fable of heroism and adventure. Bresson’s film is quite different. It gives a far more realistic picture of life at the time of King Arthur, with all its barren austerity, brutality, superstition and pain. One of the reasons for the film's impact is Bresson’s own inimitable approach to film making, famous for its austerity and total lack of theatricality. Bresson is particularly effective here because in this film the subject lends itself so naturally to his style. One of Bresson’s devices is to use strong sounds (often from action supposedly happening out of camera) to complement mundane or ambiguous images. This works well in this film because Bresson has a wealth of sounds to bring into his film - the clanking of steel armour, the tread of horse hooves, the creaking of solid wooden doors, and much more. This richness of sound restores the emotion which Bresson actively drove out of his actors’ performances, creating a bizarre anti-theatrical style where the actors appear inactive and muted whilst the set is alive and active. © James Travers 2001 Write a review for this film... |
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