Bob Peak (1927-1992), ‘Excalibur’, dir. by John Boorman, 1981“The myth of King Art

Bob Peak (1927-1992), ‘Excalibur’, dir. by John Boorman, 1981“The myth of King Arthur brought once again to the screen. Uthur Pendragon is given the mystical sword Excalibur by the wizard Merlin. At his death Uthur buries the sword into a stone, and the next man that can pull it out will be King of England. Years later Arthur, Uthur’s bastard son draws Excalibur and becomes king. Guided by Merlin, Arthur marries Guenivere and gathers the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur’s evil half-sister Morgana sires a son with him, who may prove his downfall.” SourceThis is one of those films that has lingered in my mind over the years, me having seen it for the first time around the age of 12 or 13 and one which I found both weird and beautiful at the time. It’s also a movie I’ve come to appreciate more now that I have more reading under my belt. The amount of material director John Boorman (and his long-time collaborator Rospo Pallenberg) had to work with was rather immense (primarily ‘Le Morte d'Arthur’) and their condensation of so many different episodes and characters from Arthurian legend is pretty well done IMO (the only major piece missing is ’Tristan and Iseult’, and that itself is most likely a separate Cornish legend grafted onto the Arthur cycle). I think this is all the more amazing given that such an epic canvas had to be painted with a pretty modest budget. I would recommend giving 'Excalibur’ a watch if you’ve never seen it. It stands as a definitive fantasy film and demonstrates what can be done with some innovative camera work, well done costume designs, creative sets, and well applied imagination. Sure, some people find it a bit slow and somewhat heavy handed but the film works for me, especially the luminous, dream-like quality approach Boorman takes throughout. Here’s the original trailer which uses the German composerCarl Orff’s ‘O Fortuna’ from his twenty-five-movement cantata ’Carmina Burana’ long before that became a bit of a cliché.  -- source link

More pics about