Filed under: 1980's, Boorman, John, Download, Mirran, Helen, Stewart, Patrick, TV, USA
Dir John Boorman
1981, USA
Nigel Terry, Helen Mirran, Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson
“Any man, who would be a knight, and follow a king, follow me.”
This film is very close to perfect. The plot we know is good, if done properly. The casting is excellent, in particular Terry as Arthur, who goes from being a boy who talks with a mouth full of marbles to king, in the transition of a few scenes. The entire production is lush, like an opera, as it should be. There is also a particular mix of fact and fantasy that gives the film a texture and depth. The moments are gritty, with dirt, and muscle, but the plot than allows horses that run on mists, and swords that rise from the lake in the arms of a beautiful woman.
Looking at the cake’s like looking at the future
until you’ve tasted it, what do you really know?
And then of course, it’s to late.
Merlin to Arthur
45:30
I am the stuff of future memory – Arthur 1.56
A dream to some. I nightmare to others!
-Merlin
2.01
Filed under: 1980's, Brault, Michel, Bujold, Geneviève, Canadian, Cinematheque
dir. Michel Brault
Canada 1987
85 min
Geneviève Bujold
Claude Gauthier
Cinematheque, Nov 2008
IMDB 6.6 which tells that IMDB is not infallible.
A lovely little film.
Geneviève very young.
A young man has nothing, has some romance, and a young girl falls for him. In the end, to our surprise, he makes it big.
Nice camera work, well written. It was all pretty good, and none of it was spectacular.
Again, a nice film. Looking back at it, 4 months later, I’d say this film left a strong impression. The young man comes down the river from his small town to Montreal; Genevieve so young and vulnerable, working in a coffee shop, and the whole ‘portrait’ aspect of the film. It shows the migration from the small town to the city – the young man still just plays his own folk country tunes, which resonate strongly with both the urban montreal audience in the film, and with you and I, in the theater.
It’s sets up a whole tone of transition: the characters are young and growing up, and they are moving from a hand-to-mouth rural life, one day at a time, guitar case or coffee pot in hand, to grow up a little, and see something of what it means to stick around.
So, in retrospect, I’d say see it, and find yourself a fireplace and a warm cup of coffee, possibly with a drop of something in it.
