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Lancelot and Lancelot
Feb. 23rd, 2011 11:57 pmRecently, I watched the 50s series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, which is essentially an adventurous romp that played up the romanticized ideas about knights and chivalry. For 50s TV, the sets and costuming are actually pretty good, and the Lancelot was probably the most likable one I’ve encountered. (Well, that really isn’t hard. So far, most of them have been a bit bland and/or silly in the things I‘ve been watching.) Like so many of these “let’s try to retell all this mythology through one character” shows, large chunks of Arthuriana are covered in a way that makes them barely recognizable as they’re warped to fit around one character. A significant chunk of my teen years were spent watching Hercules and Xena, so it wasn’t exactly a difficult adjustment. Early on, it seems to play around with the Guinevere/Lancelot affair eventually happening, but that doesn’t last long. Unfortunately, when they decide not to go that route, Guinevere starts showing up a bit less, which made me frowny.
Really, though, it’s a pretty fun show if you like adventure shows, and a pretty good way to spend some time.
Then there’s the 1970’s French movie Lancelot du Lac, which is…very minimalist. There’s practically no soundtrack whatsoever resulting in almost every scene having the sound of clanking armor in the background, the filmography is simple, there are few sets, and while Guinevere, Arthur and the knights are all wearing period-appropriate clothing, the clothing on others looks significantly more modern. The plot revolves around the knights unsuccessfully returning from the Grail Quest*, Lancelot deciding whether or not to continue his affair with Guinevere (and Guinevere being annoyed at her life being controlled by men), and Mordred plotting to expose the affair to weaken Arthur. There’s virtually no romanticism or chivalry involved (there’s a bit where Lancelot kisses the hem of Guinevere’s gown, and that’s, like, the only real nod to that stuff) and it’s rather…bare bones and direct. The end result is very interesting, but also slow paced, and Guinevere and Gawain ended up the only really likable characters. (Their brief interactions were also more interesting, IMO, than Guinevere and Lancelot’s, but that may just be me reacting to Guinevere getting to interact with someone besides Lancelot or Arthur.)
Oh, I also tried watching Excalibur uhm…a week or so ago, but was bored and quit fairly early on. (We were about to get to the sword pulling. Really early, yes, but I remember not liking it a lot as a teen anyway, so…) But I want to mention that, for some reason, Gorlois thought it’d be a good idea to order Igraine to do a sexy dance while wearing a see-through gown to impress the guy who he was at war with 5 minutes earlier.
Really, though, it’s a pretty fun show if you like adventure shows, and a pretty good way to spend some time.
Then there’s the 1970’s French movie Lancelot du Lac, which is…very minimalist. There’s practically no soundtrack whatsoever resulting in almost every scene having the sound of clanking armor in the background, the filmography is simple, there are few sets, and while Guinevere, Arthur and the knights are all wearing period-appropriate clothing, the clothing on others looks significantly more modern. The plot revolves around the knights unsuccessfully returning from the Grail Quest*, Lancelot deciding whether or not to continue his affair with Guinevere (and Guinevere being annoyed at her life being controlled by men), and Mordred plotting to expose the affair to weaken Arthur. There’s virtually no romanticism or chivalry involved (there’s a bit where Lancelot kisses the hem of Guinevere’s gown, and that’s, like, the only real nod to that stuff) and it’s rather…bare bones and direct. The end result is very interesting, but also slow paced, and Guinevere and Gawain ended up the only really likable characters. (Their brief interactions were also more interesting, IMO, than Guinevere and Lancelot’s, but that may just be me reacting to Guinevere getting to interact with someone besides Lancelot or Arthur.)
Oh, I also tried watching Excalibur uhm…a week or so ago, but was bored and quit fairly early on. (We were about to get to the sword pulling. Really early, yes, but I remember not liking it a lot as a teen anyway, so…) But I want to mention that, for some reason, Gorlois thought it’d be a good idea to order Igraine to do a sexy dance while wearing a see-through gown to impress the guy who he was at war with 5 minutes earlier.