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| Excalibur | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster by Bob Peak |
|
| Directed by | John Boorman |
| Produced by | John Boorman |
| Written by | Thomas Malory John Boorman |
| Starring | Nigel Terry Helen Mirren Nicol Williamson |
| Music by | Trevor Jones Carl Orff Richard Wagner |
| Cinematography | Alex Thomson |
| Editing by | John Merritt |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | April 10, 1981 |
| Running time | Original cut 140 min. Edited cut 119 min. |
| Country |   |
| Language | English |
| Gross revenue | $34,967,437 |
| IMDb • Allmovie | |
Excalibur is a 1981 fantasy film which retells the legend of King Arthur. It grossed $34,967,437 USD, and was the 18th most successful film of that year.
Contents |
Plot
The film begins with Uther Pendragon, in battle against the Duke of Cornwall, reminding Merlin of his promise of the "Sword of Power", Excalibur to denote his kingship. Merlin retrieves the sword from the Lady of the Lake and gives it to Uther with the intention of uniting the land as one. After Uther yields portions of "lands from here to the sea" Cornwall yields to Uther and promises to enforce the king's will. Cornwall invites Uther to celebrate at his castle, where Uther meets and is enchanted by Cornwall's wife Igrayne. Cornwall is enraged and the truce is broken. The lustful Uther later lays siege to the Duke's castle.
Merlin, furious at Uther's recklessness, nevertheless agrees to use his magic to help Uther seduce Igrayne, on the condition that Uther relinquishes to Merlin whatever results from his lust. Merlin summons the dragon who lies beneath the land, transforms Uther into the image of Cornwall and rides into the castle across the sky on the dragon's breath just as Cornwall leaves to attack Uther's camp. Meanwhile, the Duke of Cornwall is killed during his assult and sensing her father's death, awakes Igrayne's young daughter, Morgana. Believing her husband to return home, Igrayne makes love to an aggressive Uther while a spiteful Morgana sees past Uther's diguise.
Igrayne later gives birth to a son, Arthur. Upon seeing his child, Uther speaks of creating peace and staying with Igrayne. Much to Igrayne's despair, Merlin later arrives and reminds Uther of the oath he took, and takes baby Arthur. Uther pursues Merlin and is later ambushed by the remaining loyal Cornwall knights who were also after Excalibur. He is mortally wounded in the forest but not before thrusting the sword into a large nearby stone. Witnessing this, Merlin exclaims that "he who draws the sword from the stone, he shall be king".
Years later, Sir Ector and his sons Kay and Arthur attend a jousting tournament to win a chance to draw Excalibur from the stone. The best knights in the land gather to compete and Leondegrance is the victor but fails to pull the sword from its stone prison. Arthur, now Kay's squire, forgets Kay's sword in a tent and returns only to discover that it has been stolen. While pursuing the thief, Arthur stumbles by the stone in which the Excalibur is embedded. By sheer fate and destiny, the sword calls to him and Arthur draws it from the stone. Once news arrive of the sword's release, the tournament crowd gather around him. Sir Ector commands Arthur to put it back and after a failed attempt by a skeptical Uyrens, Arthur easily draws the sword from the stone once more. Merlin then appears, revealing to Arthur that he is the son of Uther and Igrayne, hence by birthright, he is the rightful king of the land.
Not all accept Arthur's kingship. As the knights argue, a confused Arthur flees into the forest pursuing Merlin. He later explains Arthur's destiny, telling the boy that he and the land are one. Overwhelmed, Arthur slips off into sleep. The next morning, Merlin tells him that his enemies are laying siege to the castle of one of Arthur's main supporters, Leondegrance. Rallying the other knights loyal to him, Arthur leads a counter-assault and repels the attackers. The battle ends when Arthur asks for Sir Uryens' faith in Arthur's newfound kingship. Uryens is insulted at swearing faith to a squire. Arthur realizing what he says is true, gives Excalibur to him to proclaim Arthur a knight. Tempted to take the sword for himself, Uryens hesitates, but after seeing Arthur's humility and courage in battle, grants his request. Afterwards, Arthur later meets Leondegrance's daughter Guenevere, who narrowly avoids a kiss from Arthur, while she helps mend his wounds,
Later, Arthur and his knights encounter a brilliant and self-proclaimed undefeated knight named Lancelot. In search of a king worthy of his sword, Lancelot will allow none to pass a bridge until he is defeated in single combat. After besting all of Arthur's knights, Arthur himself engages Lancelot in a joust. An enraged Arthur refuses to accept Lancelot besting him and challenges Lancelot in a duel to the death. The two combatants fight brings them near a nearby lake. Lancelot is surprisingly fast and agile striking at will on the furious and unbalanced Arthur. Laying on the rocks in defeat, Arthur summons Excalibur's power. The "Sword of Power" hums with magic and cuts through Lancelot's spear, piercing his armour and knocking him unconscious, but breaking the sword in half in the process. A devastated and shameful Arthur confesses to Merlin that in his rage he abused the sword's power to serve his own vanity. Arthur throws what is left of the sword into the nearby body of water but, upon his words of contrition, the Lady of the Lake shows herself and offers a restored Excalibur to the king. Realizing his error, Arthur quietly vows never to abuse the sword's power again. Lancelot awakens and realized he was finally bested, swears fealty to Arthur.
After a series of battles, Arthur and his knights unify the land. He decides to create a Round Table and builds his castle,Camelot. Arthur ultimately marries Guenevere but upon escorting her to the wedding, Lancelot falls deeply in love with her. Arthur's half-sister, Morgana, a budding sorceress, becomes apprenticed to Merlin in hopes of learning the Charm of Making from him. Time passes and Lancelot, the greatest of the knights, is often inexplicably absent from the Round Table, seeking refuge deep in the forest in order to brood. One day while sleeping in the forest, Lancelot encounters a peasant boy named Percival, who aspires to become a knight and impresses Lancelot with his resiliency. Lancelot guides him back to Camelot where Percival later becomes his squire.
Though the king's champion, Lancelot's forbidden love for Guenevere keeps him away from Camelot. One evening, Sir Gawain, under the corruption of Morgana, openly accuses both knight and queen of adultery at the Round Table. Since he is king, Arthur decrees that he must be the judge and that Lancelot must defend Guenevere's honor in a duel against Gawain. In a nightmare duel with himself, Lancelot pierces himself with his own sword in order to purge himself of his love for Guenevere. As the crowd gather for the duel, Lancelot is nowhere to be seen. A disappointed Arthur looks upon all of his knights and not one volunteers to challenge Gawain, except the squire, Percival. In duress and to the shock of the crowd, Arthur hastily knights Percival. Lancelot finally arrives and despite his injuries, manages to defeat Gawain and have him withdraw his accusation. The duel is too much for Lancelot and he collapses, close to death. Arthur implores Merlin to bring him back, whatever the cost and so Merlin does, placing Guenevere's hand on Lancelot's heart, giving him will to live.
Ultimately, Guenevere realizing her love for Lancelot, ride out into the forest and the two consummate their love. A heartbroken Arthur, realizing the two people he loved most in the world have betrayed him, finds Guenevere and Lancelot asleep together in the forest. Meanwhile, Merlin guides Morgana to his secret lair intending on luring Morgana into a trap, who is showing signs of hostility towards her half-brother Arthur. In the forest, Arthur thrusts Excalibur between the sleeping couple and because of his magical link with the Dragon and Earth, Merlin is instantly impaled by the magical sword also. Seeing a weakened Merlin, Morgana seizes the opportunity to trap him in crystal with the Charm of Making. Morgana (like Uther to Igrayne) then takes the form of Guenevere and seduces Arthur into making love to her. She later bears a son named Mordred and protects him with the magic that no man-made weapon can kill him.
On awakening to the sight of Excalibur, Lancelot cries "the king without a sword, the land without a king" and flees in shame as Guenevere lays there weeping. Time passes and the land is stricken with famine and sickness, and a broken Arthur sends his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail believing the land will prosper with the finding. More years pass and many knights die on the quest, while some are the walking dead; bewitched by Morgana to serve her and her son.
Stopping by a lake for water, Percival witnesses Mordred viciously murdering Uryens. In his dying breath, Uryens tells Percival that he is the last of the quest knights and that he must continue his search. Tricked by Mordred and Morgana, Percival manages to escape, but not before he dreams of obtaining the grail. Wandering aimlessly, Percival encounters a fat, bearded, and bitter Lancelot preaching to his followers of the failures of the kingdom. Recognizing Lancelot, Percival tries to tell him that he is still needed by Arthur, but with the help of his followers, Lancelot pushes Percival into a river. Rising out of the river, Percival, having lost his armor, has a vision of the Grail and a mysterious figure who asks "who am I?" and "what is my secret?" Percival realizes that the figure is King Arthur, and his secret is that he and the land are one. Answering the riddle, he attains the Grail. Arthur drinks from it and is revitalized.
Realizing that now is his time to truly be king, Arthur and his few remaining knights ride to war against Mordred and Morgana. The barren land blooms with life as they pass, reborn with its King. Realizing Guenevere joined a nunnery, Arthur pays a visit to her convent, where they reconcile. She reveals Excalibur to him, having kept it safe since the day she fled.
Most of the land's nobles have rallied to Mordred and Morgana. In despair, Arthur calls to Merlin and strikes a monolith in frustration, unknowingly awakening the wizard from his enchanted slumber. Though still imprisoned in crystal, Merlin appears to Morgana in dream and tricks her into calling the dragon and uttering the Charm of Making, creating a thick fog or the dragon's breath. Her magically-endowed youth dissolves, much to the dismay of her son Mordred as he strangles her to death in disgust.
With the help of Merlin, Arthur and his knights survive using Morgana's mist to their advantage to hide their small numbers, but are soon overwhelmed. Out of the fog arrives Lancelot, who joins the fray and turns the tide of the battle. After disposing of the remaining enemies, Lancelot falls to the ground from the old wound that never healed. Arthur and Lancelot reconcile, and Lancelot dies with Arthur's approval that he was the Round Table's greatest knight. A distraught Arthur, turns to find Mordred ready to embrace his father with spear. Percival offers to fight, but Arthur realizing Mordred was his sin, stands to face his son. Mordred lunges forward with his weapon and pierces Arthur, but the determined king pulls the spear and his son, closer to him and stabs Mordred with the enchanted blade of Excalibur, killing him.
Knowing his time has come, Arthur commands Percival to throw Excalibur in a pool of calm water, where it is caught by the glimmering scale-clad hand of the Lady of the Lake. When Percival returns, he witnesses Arthur's body on a ship sailing away. The king is attended by three formally posed ladies clad in white, sailing into the setting sun toward the Isle of Avalon.
Cast
- Nigel Terry as King Arthur
- Helen Mirren as Morgana Le Fay
- Nicol Williamson as Merlin
- Nicholas Clay as Lancelot
- Cherie Lunghi as Guenevere
- Liam Neeson as Gawain
- Patrick Stewart as King Leondegrance
- Clive Swift as Sir Ector
- Gabriel Byrne as Uther Pendragon
- Robert Addie as Mordred
- Paul Geoffrey as Perceval
Even though he was 35 years old, Nigel Terry plays King Arthur from his teenage years to his ending as an aged monarch.
Several members of the Boorman family also appeared in the picture. Igrayne (Arthur's mother), the Lady of the Lake, Mordred as a boy, and the infant Arthur were all played by Boorman's children. Because of the number of Boormans involved with the film, it is sometimes called "The Boorman Family Project."
PG and R-rated versions
The movie was originally put into theatrical release simultaneously in both its PG and R-rated formats in the USA.citation needed The original R-rated cut is 140 minutes. Most home video versions are the R-rated one, but TV and movie channels show the PG version, making the movie 119 minutes. The R-rated version features about 21 more minutes of graphic sex and violence.
Production
John Boorman originally intended to film an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings and much of the imagery and set designs seen in Excalibur were created with that intention. He was, however, unable to secure the rights to the book.
Casting
John Boorman cast Nicol Williamson and Helen Mirren opposite each other as Merlin and Morgana, knowing that the two were at the time on less than friendly terms, due to personal issues that arose during a production of Macbeth seven years earlier. Boorman felt that the tension on set would come through in the actors' performances. This is stated by John Boorman himself in the audio commentary track of the Excalibur DVD.
Filming
Excalibur was filmed in Irish locations in Wicklow, Tipperary, and County Kerry. The early critical battle scene around a castle, in which Arthur is made a knight by Uryens, while kneeling in a moat, was filmed in Cahir Castle, in Cahir County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a genuine Norman castle, one of the best preserved anywhere and the moat is the River Suir which flows around the castle.
The original cut of the film was three hours long. Following a reduction in length, several shots were lost, among them a scene of Lancelot rescuing Guinevere from a forest bandit.
According to director John Boorman, the love scene between Lancelot and Guinevere in the forest was filmed on a very cold night, but Nicholas Clay and Cherie Lunghi did the scene in the nude anyway.
Costumes
The costumes were designed by Bob Ringwood. The armour was designed by Terry English, who also crafted the armor for the film Aliens. It is notable that the armor worn during the period before Arthur and the earlier part of his reign (the "Dark Ages") is dark and dull, primarily greyish tones of varying styles, reflecting the turmoil and strife of a divided land. Soon after Lancelot arrives and during the height of Arthur's reign, the Round Table knights adopt armor similar Lancelot's style of glossy, chrome-like platemail with the same type of helmet, representing a strong, united kingdom. When the kingdom decays and strife returns with the rebellion of Mordred, knights in the varied, dark armor return, as the ones who fight for Morgana and her son against Arthur. The final battle between Arthur and Mordred's forces highlights the contrast between the silver and dark armour. Although it may simply be a direct indicative of the conditions they faced, it also of note that the knights on the quest for the grail also went from glittering armor to a dull, dirt-caked set over the years that they quested.
Adaptation
The screenplay was written by Rospo Pallenberg with assistance from John Boorman.
The film is primarily an adaptation of Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1485). In order to recast the Arthurian legends as an allegory of the cycle of birth, life and decay, the text was stripped of decorative or insignificant details, as well as of Malory's Christian piety. The resulting film is reminiscent of mythographic works such as Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough and Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance; Arthur is presented as the "Wounded King" whose realm becomes a wasteland to be reborn thanks to the Grail, and may be compared to the Fisher (or Sinner) King, whose land also became a wasteland, and was also healed by Perceval. Notably, the Grail is not the Christian "Holy Grail"; rather, it may be inspired by magic cauldrons in Celtic pagan myths. "The film has to do with mythical truth, not historical truth," Boorman remarked to a journalist during filming.12
In keeping with this approach, the film is intentionally ahistorical.1 For example, the opening titles state the setting to be the Dark Ages, even though the knights wear full plate armor, a technology of the 15th century. Knights, knighthood and the code of chivalry also did not exist during the period. Furthermore, Britain is never mentioned by name, only as "the land".
In addition to Malory, the writers incorporated elements from other Arthurian stories, sometimes altering them. For example, the sword between the sleeping lovers' bodies comes from the tales of Tristan and Iseult; the knight who returns Excalibur to the water is changed from Bedivere to Perceval; and Morgause and Morgan Le Fay are merged. The sword Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are presented as the same thing; in some versions of the legends they are separate. In the Morte d'Arthur, Sir Galahad, the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Carbonek, is actually the Knight who is worthy of the Holy Grail. Boorman follows the earlier version of the tale as told by Chretien de Troyes, making Percival the grail winner.
Some new elements were added, such as Uther wielding Excalibur before Arthur (repeated in Merlin), Merlin's 'Charm of Making' (written in Old Irish), and the concept of the world as "the dragon".
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is by Trevor Jones, with sound bites and samples drawn from Orff's Carmina Burana and Wagnerian motifs, of fate (Ring) and fatal attraction (Tristan und Isolde). A portion of the Siegfried Funeral March from Götterdämmerung was used as the main theme music of the film over the opening and closing credits.
- Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" is used regularly during the dramatic and violent scenes of the movie. In part because of Excalibur, its imitations, and parodies,citation needed the movement has become an archetype for melodrama.
- The theme between Lancelot and Guinevere is in fact the prelude to Richard Wagner's opera, "Tristan und Isolde", a piece about the romance of Sir Tristram and Iseult, another pair of lovers from the Arthurian tales.
- The theme of Perceval and the Grail is the prelude to Wagner's "Parsifal".
Awards
Alex Thomson, the film's cinematographer, was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 1982 Academy Awards, but lost to Vittorio Storaro for Reds.
Quotations
Uther and Cornwall meet with Merlin instructing Uther:
- Merlin to Uther: Show the sword!
- Merlin to Cornwall (and all those around): Behold! The Sword of Power! Excalibur!.....Forged when the world was young, and bird and beast and flower were one with man, and death was but a dream!
Merlin states the film's central theme, reflecting an ancient Celtic belief about kingship:
- "You will be the land,
- And the land will be you.
- If you fail, the land will perish;
- As you thrive, the land will blossom."
Later, he states the allegory of the Dragon:
- MERLIN: The dragon! A beast of such power that if you were to see it whole and all complete in a single glance, it would burn you to cinders.
- ARTHUR: Where is it?
- MERLIN: It is everywhere; it is everything. Its scales glisten in the bark of trees, its roar is heard in the wind, and its forked tongue strikes like — like — [Lightning strikes] Whoa! Like lightning! Yes, that's it!
Later, he touches on the conflict between Christianity and polytheism:
- "The One God comes to drive out the many gods. The spirits of wood and stream grow silent. But that's the way of things. It's time for men and their ways."
Pallenberg and Boorman's screenplay touches on the heroic themes with directness. As Arthur declares:
- "Any man who would be a knight and follow a King, follow me!"
As he prepares for his final battle, Arthur dreams of the future of his legacy:
- "Now, once more, I must ride with my knights to defend what was and the dream of what could be."
See also
- Excalibur, King Arthur's sword, the central symbol of kingship for Malory and the film.
- List of films based on Arthurian legend
References
- ^ a b "JOHN BOORMAN IN INTERVIEW". Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
- ^ "The Quest for the Hollywood Grail John Boorman’s Excalibur, and the Mythic Development of the Arthurian Legend (sic)". Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
External links
- Excalibur at the Internet Movie Database
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