Excalibur (Boorman, 1981): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 3.40pm
This film, part of the John Boorman season at BFI Southbank, also screens on March 31st, April 21st and April 30th. More details here.
Chicago Reader review:
'John Boorman's 1981 retelling of the Arthurian legends is a continuation of the thematic thrust and visual plan of his Exorcist II,
though the failure of that bold, hallucinatory, and flawed film seems
to have put Boorman into partial retreat. There is humor here (in the
form of a vaudeville Merlin, played by Nicol Williamson) as well as a
diminution of scale that seems intended to help audiences through the
thornier byways of Boorman's vision. But Boorman has not compromised in
his temporal manipulations and his rigorous depsychologizing of his
characters, which is where many viewers will have the most trouble. The Waste Land arrives via T.S. Eliot and From Ritual to Romance,
though this slightly threadbare interpretation doesn't distract from
Boorman's personal concerns, which remain as proudly recondite as ever.'
Dave Kehr
Here is an extract.
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