I remember when “Excalibur” opened in April 1981. I was 14 years-old, a sensitive kid, and its R-rating made me nervous that there might be arm-loppings.
There were arm-loppings. And violent death. And gore.
But the tension only enhanced the film’s gravitas, with its weighty armor and weighty themes, and its brooding Wagnerian soundtrack was promptly assimilated into the underscore of my tragic-heroic teens. I would get up in the middle of the night if I saw the movie was going to be shown on HBO and greet the new day with grim determination.
It is with the weight of the world upon me that I will rouse myself from my torpor for yet another year of Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. At long last, Roy (from the French “Roi,” for “King,” not incidentally) has granted me my request to discuss this extraordinarily rich film.
Director John Boorman took his share of liberties with the discursive source material, conflating elements mostly from Sir Thomas Malory’s medieval epic “Le Morte d’Arthur” (“The Death of Arthur”), but to this day, no film better captures the true spirit of the Arthurian legends. Boorman blends mystery and mysticism as seductively as the dragon’s breath that accompanies the Charm of Making.
And what a cast! For a time, every time I rewatched “Excalibur,” somebody else got famous: Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, and Ciaran Hinds join Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, and a scene-stealing Nicol Williamson (who eschews Merlin’s pointy hat for a glimmering skull-cap).
I always think of “Excalibur” this time of year, with the blossoms falling from the trees, because of the memorable sequence, in which a wasting Arthur is revived (“The king and the land are one!”) and once more he leads his knights into battle.
A relic from the days when men were men, devouring game with their hands, growling like animals at even the most unthreatening of challenges, and never pausing to remove their armor while in the act of love, “Excalibur” is both hilarious, in a Monty Python sort of way, and very, very grave. This is King Arthur for people who roll their eyes at “Camelot” and “The Sword in the Stone.”
I hope you’ll join us for our Fifth Season opener – a ponderous discussion of “Excalibur” – on the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner.” Arm-loppings will abound in the comments section as I swill Guinness from my grail, when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., this Sunday evening at 7:00 EDT!
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