Excalibur (film)

Excalibur
Theatrical release poster by Bob Peak
Directed by	John Boorman
Written by	Thomas Malory Rospo Pallenberg John Boorman
Produced by	John Boorman
Starring	Nigel Terry Helen Mirren Nicol Williamson
Cinematography	Alex Thomson
Edited by	John Merritt
Music by	Trevor Jones Carl Orff Richard Wagner
Production company	Orion Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	April 10, 1981
Running time	Original cut 140 min. Edited cut 119 min.
Countries	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$11,000,000
Box office	$34,967,437

Excalibur is a 1981 fantasy film that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur was produced, directed and co-written by John Boorman, and featured the music of Richard Wagner and Carl Orff. It starred Nigel Terry as Arthur, Nicholas Clay as Lancelot, Helen Mirren as Morgana, Liam Neeson as Gawain, Nicol Williamson as Merlin and a relatively unknown Patrick Stewart as Leondegrance. The film is named for the legendary sword of King Arthur that features prominently in Arthurian literature.

Shot entirely on location in Ireland and employing Irish actors and crew, the film has been acknowledged for its importance to the Irish filmmaking industry and for helping launch the film careers of Neeson, as well as Gabriel Byrne, Neil Jordan and Ciarán Hinds.

Excalibur achieved moderate box office success while receiving mixed reviews. Although film critics Roger Ebert and Vincent Canby criticized the film's plot and characters, they, along with other reviewers, praised it visually. Excalibur opened at number one in the United States, eventually grossing $34,967,437 on a budget of around USD $11 million, to rank 18th in that year's receipts.

Plot

The beginning

In Dark Ages Britain, the warlord Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) and his knights fight for control of the land. Uther is victorious in battle and insists that his advisor, the sorcerer Merlin (Nicol Williamson), give him the sword Excalibur in order to secure Uther's position as king. After Merlin acquires the sword from the Lady of the Lake, Uther wields it before his enemy Gorlois, the Duke Of Cornwall (Corin Redgrave). Uther demands Gorlois's allegiance and in return he promises the Duke all the "lands from here to the sea". With an alliance formed, Gorlois invites Uther to celebrate at the castle Tintagel where the king becomes enthralled by Igrayne (Katrine Boorman), the Duke's young wife. The king insists he must have Igrayne, sending Cornwall into a rage. The truce now broken, Uther's forces lay seige to Tintagel.

Merlin is furious at Uther's recklessness, which has wrecked the peace he has been working towards for years. He nevertheless agrees to use his magic to help Uther seduce Igrayne, on the condition that Uther relinquishes to him whatever results from his lust. Uther, desperate for "one night with Igrayne", agrees. Merlin invokes a powerful spell — the Charm of Making — transforming Uther into the likeness of Cornwall, and sends him off to Cornwall's castle. Meanwhile, Cornwall himself is killed while leading an assault on Uther's camp. Sensing her father's death, Igrayne's young daughter, Morgana awakes. Believing her husband has returned home, Igrayne submits to Uther and he impregnates her. The devastated Morgana is the only one who can see past his disguise.

With Cornwall dead, Uther is the undisputed king. Nine months pass and Uther arrives at Tintagel where Igrayne is nursing the infant Arthur. Uther, regretting a life of war and bloodshed, wishes to stay with Igrayne and their child, but Merlin appears insisting that he take possession the infant, as agreed.

Uther pursues Merlin intent on retrieving his son, and is ambushed by knights still loyal to the dead Cornwall. Mortally wounded, he thrusts Excalibur into a large stone. Merlin proclaims that "he who draws the sword from the stone, he shall be king".

The sword in the stone

Years later, Sir Ector (Clive Swift) and his sons Kay (Niall O'Brien) and Arthur (Nigel Terry) attend a jousting tournament. The best knights in the land have gathered to compete: the prize is the chance to try pulling Excalibur from the stone. The victor this day is Sir Leondegrance (Patrick Stewart), and an expectant crowd watch him try... but fail. Later that day, Arthur, as Kay's squire, returns to their tent to find Kay's sword has just been stolen. Unsuccessfully pursuing the thief, Arthur stumbles by the stone with Excalibur, decides one sword is as good as another, and draws Excalibur with ease. Word spreads rapidly and the tournament crowd gathers around him. Merlin appears, announcing that Arthur is the son of Uther, hence rightful ruler.

Leondegrance immediately proclaims his support for the new king, but not all are willing to accept. They protest that Arthur is too young, too inexperienced, not even a knight, and that this is "more of Merlin's meddling". As the knights argue, Merlin walks off into the forest, followed by a confused Arthur, wanting answers. Merlin explains Arthur's destiny, telling the boy that not only is he the rightful king, but also that he and the land are one. Overwhelmed, Arthur slips off into sleep that seems to last several days. When he wakes, Arthur learns the arguing knights have split into pro- and anti-Arthur factions. His most prominent supporter is Leondegrance, whose castle is being laid siege by his opponents. Rallying the other knights loyal to him, Arthur leads a counter-attack. In the midst of the battle Arthur confronts Sir Uryens (Keith Buckley) and demands his support. Uryens is insulted at the idea: how can a mere squire be king ? Arthur agrees he is not a knight, asks Uryens to knight him, and hands him Excalibur to do so. The battle-field falls silent, and even Merlin admits not foreseeing this... Uryens hesitates, tempted to strike the boy down. But - compelled by Arthur's display of courage - he grants the request, and falls to his knees, declaring his loyalty. This show of support stuns Arthur's other opponents, who likewise fall to their knees, proclaiming support for their new king.

Guenevere and Camelot

In the aftermath, Arthur meets Leondegrance's daughter who narrowly avoids a kiss from Arthur, while she helps treat his wound. He is smitten by her beauty, but Merlin sorrowfully foresees this leading to future problems.

A few years later, Arthur and his knights encounter a brilliant and self-proclaimed undefeated knight named Lancelot (Nicholas Clay). In search of a king worthy of his sword, Lancelot stands on a bridge over a river, and will allow none to cross the bridge until he is defeated in single combat. After besting all of Arthur's knights, Lancelot fights Arthur himself, and wins. An enraged Arthur refuses to accept defeat and continues fighting, but Lancelot is seemingly unbeatable. Lying on the rocks in defeat, Arthur summons Excalibur's magic: he defeats Lancelot but breaks Excalibur in the process. Ashamed, he confesses to Merlin that in his rage he has abused the sword's power to serve his own vanity. Arthur throws what is left of the sword into the waters but, unexpectedly, the Lady of the Lake appears and offers a restored Excalibur to the king. A humbled Arthur quietly vows never again to abuse the sword's power. Lancelot awakens and, happy to be defeated at long last, swears fealty to Arthur.

After a series of battles, Arthur and his knights unify the land. He decides to create a Round Table to commemorate the peace, and builds his castle, Camelot. Arthur ultimately marries Guenevere Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi), but Lancelot, escorting her to the wedding, confesses he too has fallen in love with her. Arthur's half-sister, Morgana (Helen Mirren), a budding sorceress, becomes apprenticed to Merlin in hopes of learning the Charm of Making from him.

Lancelot and Guenevere

Time passes and Lancelot, though the greatest of the knights, is often absent from the Round Table. He has taken to spending much time deep in the forest, to stay far away from Guenevere. On one of these ventures, he encounters a peasant boy named Perceval (Paul Geoffrey), who aspires to become a knight. Impressed by his resiliency, Lancelot takes him back to Camelot where the boy later becomes his squire.

One evening, Sir Gawain (Liam Neeson), under the corruption of Morgana, openly accuses both Lancelot and Guenevere of adultery. Honour demands a duel be fought to settle the matter. A furious Arthur initially vows to duel Gawain himself, but realises he cannot. As king, he is bound by his own law, and must be the judge, not the combatant. Lancelot himself must duel Gawain to publicly defend both Guenevere's honor, and his own. The night before the duel, a guilt-stricken Lancelot has a nightmare, in which he duels against himself. He wakes to find himself wounded - pierced by his own sword.

On the day of the duel, all are present except Lancelot. Arthur asks the assembled knights if anyone else will champion Guenvere's honour. No-one stirs, and Arthur realises all those present believe the accusation. All except the squire, Perceval who declares himself willing to stand. With no other option, Arthur hastily knights the boy. Lancelot dramatically arrives as the duel is about to begin and takes Perceval's place. Despite his injury, he manages to defeat Gawain who withdraws his accusation. But the duel is too much for Lancelot and he collapses, close to death. Arthur implores Merlin to save him, whatever the cost. Merlin saves Lancelot from death, however Lancelot says he needs to ride out to the forest to heal completely.

Ultimately, Guenevere realizes her feelings for Lancelot, and she rides out into the forest to where Lancelot is healing. There, they consummate their love. Meanwhile, Merlin - suspecting Morgana's plotting against Arthur - takes her to his secret lair intent on luring her into a trap. In the forest, Arthur finds Guenevere and Lancelot asleep together. Heartbroken at their betrayal, he raises Excalibur - and thrusts the blade into the ground between the sleeping couple. Merlin's magical link to the land impales him on the sword. Seeing a weakened Merlin, Morgana seizes the opportunity to trap him in crystal with the Charm of Making. Morgana magically takes the form of Guenevere and seduces Arthur into making love to her, echoing Uther's deception of Igrayne. On awakening to the sight of Excalibur, Lancelot flees in shame and Guenevere lies weeping.

Quest for the Grail

In due course Morgana bears a son. The birth of Mordred (Charley Boorman/Robert Addie) is "unholy": Arthur —though unknowingly— has "lain with his sister". At the moment of the boy's birth, a curse descends: Arthur is struck by lightning, and the land is stricken with famine and sickness. A broken Arthur sends his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail believing the land will recover if it is found. Years pass and many knights die on the quest. Some become walking dead: bewitched by Morgana to serve her and her son. Others are simply killed by Mordred: another of Morgana's spells ensures no man-made weapon can kill him.

It isn't long before Perceval himself is captured by a young Mordred and Morgana. He escapes by sheer luck, and - in a near death experience - has a vision of obtaining the Grail. Later, stopping by a lake for water, Perceval witnesses an older Mordred viciously murdering Uryens. With his dying breath, Uryens tells Perceval he is now the last surviving quest knight and must continue the search. Now wandering aimlessly, he encounters a bearded man, wearing armor beneath his tattered robes, bitterly preaching to followers that the kingdom has fallen because of "the sin of Pride". A shocked Perceval recognises the man as Lancelot, no longer the handsome, dashing knight he once was but an ugly curmudgeon, and tries to convince him that Arthur still needs him, now more than ever. But the pleas fall on deaf ears: Lancelot and his followers cast Perceval into a river. Near death again, Perceval has another vision of the Grail in which a mysterious figure who asks "Who am I?" and "What is the secret of the Grail?" Perceval realizes the figure is King Arthur and enlightened by Lancelot's preaching, that the secret is that Arthur and the land are one. Answering the riddle, he attains the Grail and takes it to Arthur who drinks from it and is revitalized.

The final battle

Arthur and his few remaining knights ride to war against Mordred and Morgana. The barren land blooms with life as they pass and is reborn with its King. Learning that Guenevere has joined a nunnery, Arthur visits her convent, where they reconcile. She reveals Excalibur to him, having kept it safe since the day she fled.

Most of the land's nobles have rallied to Mordred and Morgana. In frustration, Arthur calls to Merlin, unknowingly awakening the wizard from his enchanted slumber. Though still imprisoned in crystal, Merlin appears to Morgana in a dream and tricks her into uttering the Charm of Making. A thick mist covers the land, Morgana undergoes very rapid aging, and is strangled by her own son, who does not recognise her in this state.

Arthur and his knights use Morgana's mist to their advantage to hide their small numbers, but are soon overwhelmed. Lancelot arrives unexpectedly and joins the fray, turning the tide of the battle. After disposing of the remaining enemies, Lancelot falls to the ground from his old wound (prior to dueling Gawain) that has never healed. Arthur and Lancelot reconcile, and Lancelot dies with Arthur's acknowledgment that he was the Round Table's greatest knight. A distraught Arthur turns to find Mordred ready to pierce his father with his spear. Perceval offers to fight, but Arthur realizes Mordred was his sin and stands to face his son. Mordred lunges forward with his weapon and pierces Arthur, but the determined king pulls the spear, and his son, closer to him, whereupon he stabs Mordred with the enchanted Excalibur, killing him.

Knowing he is dying, Arthur commands Perceval to throw Excalibur into a pool of calm water. He initially balks at the command, but eventually carries out the king's bidding and throws the sword into the pool where it is caught by the hand of the Lady of the Lake. When Perceval returns, he sees Arthur lying on a ship sailing away. The king is attended by three formally posed ladies clad in white, sailing into the setting sun toward the Isle of Avalon.

Cast

• Nigel Terry as King Arthur
• Helen Mirren as Morgana Le Fay
• Nicol Williamson as Merlin
• Paul Geoffrey as Perceval
• Nicholas Clay as Lancelot
• Cherie Lunghi as Guenevere
• Patrick Stewart as King Leondegrance
• Keith Buckley as Uryens
• Clive Swift as Sir Ector
• Liam Neeson as Gawain
• Gabriel Byrne as Uther Pendragon
• Robert Addie as Mordred (adult)

Even though he was 35 years old, Nigel Terry plays King Arthur from his teenage years to his ending as an aged monarch.

Several members of the Boorman family also appeared in the picture: his daughter Katrine Boorman played Igrayne, Arthur's mother and his son Charley Boorman portrayed Mordred as a boy. Because of the number of Boormans involved with the film, it is sometimes called "The Boorman Family Project."

PG and R-rated versions

The movie was originally put into theatrical release simultaneously in both its PG and R-rated formats in the USA. The original R-rated cut is 140 minutes. Most home video versions are the R-rated one, but TV and movie channels show the PG version, making the movie 119 minutes. The R-rated version features about 21 more minutes of graphic sex and violence.

Production

Origin

John Boorman had planned a film adaptation of the Merlin legend as early as 1969, but the studio he offered it to (United Artists) rejected his concept, offering him J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings instead. When Boorman, having written a three-hour-/-one-film-script with Rospo Pallenberg, submitted the film script to UA, they rejected it, deeming it too costly. Boorman was allowed to shop the script elsewhere, but no studio would commit to it. Returning to the original idea of the Merlin legend, Boorman was eventually able to secure deals that would help him do "Excalibur" instead. Much of the imagery and set designs seen in the film were originally created with "Lord Of The Rings" in mind.

Casting

John Boorman cast Nicol Williamson and Helen Mirren opposite each other as Merlin and Morgana, knowing that the two were at the time on less than friendly terms, due to personal issues that arose during a production of Macbeth seven years earlier. Boorman felt that the tension on set would come through in the actors' performances. This is stated by John Boorman himself in the audio commentary track of the Excalibur DVD.

Filming

28 years later..Excalibur locations trail in County Wicklow

Excalibur was filmed in Irish locations in County Wicklow, County Tipperary, and County Kerry. The early critical battle scene around a castle, in which Arthur is made a knight by Uryens, while kneeling in a moat, was filmed in Cahir Castle, in Cahir County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a genuine Norman castle, one of the best preserved anywhere and the moat is the River Suir which flows around the castle. The fight with Lancelot was filmed at Powerscourt Estate's waterfall.

The original cut of the film was three hours long. Following a reduction in length, several shots were lost, among them a scene of Lancelot rescuing Guinevere from a forest bandit.

According to director John Boorman, the love scene between Lancelot and Guinevere in the forest was filmed on a very cold night, but Nicholas Clay and Cherie Lunghi did the scene in the nude anyway.

Costumes

The costumes were designed by Bob Ringwood, for which he received a BAFTA nomination. The armor was designed by Terry English, who also crafted the armor for the film Aliens. The design is anachronistic, resembling more suits of the late medieval period rather than the Dark Ages. Ringwood's designs evolve as the film progresses; at first, the knights' armor is dark, iron-like, and their helmet visors are slightly grotesque, resembling the faces of beasts. Later, the knights adopt the bright, silvery armor and dragon helmet of Lancelot. The forces under Mordred appear in dark armor as well, in stark contrast to his which is bright gold.

Adaptation

The screenplay was written by Rospo Pallenberg with assistance from John Boorman.

The film is primarily an adaptation of Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1469–70). In order to recast the Arthurian legends as an allegory of the cycle of birth, life, decay, and restoration, the text was stripped of decorative or insignificant details. The resulting film is reminiscent of mythographic works such as Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough and Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance; Arthur is presented as the "Wounded King" whose realm becomes a wasteland to be reborn thanks to the Grail, and may be compared to the Fisher (or Sinner) King, whose land also became a wasteland, and was also healed by Perceval. "The film has to do with mythical truth, not historical truth," Boorman remarked to a journalist during filming. The Christian symbolism revolves around the Grail, perhaps most strongly in the baptismal imagery of Perceval finally achieving the Grail quest. "That's what my story is about: the coming of Christian man and the disappearance of the old religions which are represented by Merlin. The forces of superstition and magic are swallowed up into the unconscious."

In keeping with this approach, the film is intentionally ahistorical. For example, the opening titles state the setting to be the Dark Ages, even though the knights wear full plate armor, a technology of the 15th century. Knights, knighthood and the code of chivalry also did not exist during the period. Furthermore, Britain is never mentioned by name, only as "the land".

In addition to Malory, the writers incorporated elements from other Arthurian stories, sometimes altering them. For example, the sword between the sleeping lovers' bodies comes from the tales of Tristan and Iseult; the knight who returns Excalibur to the water is changed from Bedivere to Perceval; and Morgause and Morgan Le Fay are merged into one character.

The sword Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are presented as the same thing; in some versions of the legends they are separate. In Le Morte d'Arthur, Sir Galahad, the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Carbonek, is actually the Knight who is worthy of the Holy Grail. Boorman follows the earlier version of the tale as told by Chrétien de Troyes, making Perceval the grail winner.

Some new elements were added, such as Uther wielding Excalibur before Arthur (repeated in Merlin), Merlin's 'Charm of Making' (written in Old Irish), and the concept of the world as "the dragon".

The Charm of Making

According to linguist Michael Everson, the "Charm of Making" that Merlin speaks to invoke the dragon is evidently an invention, there being no known classical source. It is apparently based upon Old Irish.

Transcribed phonetically as spoken in the film, the charm is pronounced Template:IPA-cel. The most likely interpretation of the spoken words, supposedly composed in Old Irish, though the pronunciation in the film has little relation to how the text would actually be pronounced in Irish, is:

Anál nathrach,

orth’ bháis’s bethad,

do chél dénmha

In modern English, this would be translated as:

Serpent's breath,

charm of death and life,

thy omen of making.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack consists of original music composed by Trevor Jones, with the inclusion of classical pieces from Orff's Carmina Burana, as well as from Wagner's Ring and Tristan und Isolde operas.

• A portion of the Siegfried Funeral March from Götterdämmerung was used as the main theme.
• Orff's "O Fortuna" is heard during two scenes when Arthur and his knights ride out to do battle.
• The theme between Lancelot and Guinevere is the prelude to Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde", a piece about the romance of Sir Tristram and Iseult, another pair of lovers from the Arthurian tales.
• The theme of Perceval and the Grail is the prelude to Wagner's "Parsifal".

Reception

Excalibur was the number one film during its opening weekend of April 10-12, 1981, eventually earning $34,967,437 gross in the United States.

Reviews for Excalibur were mixed. Widely hailed for its visuals, setting and overall design, other elements such as the story and performances some critics found wanting. Ebert, for instance, called it both a "wondrous vision" and " a mess." Elaborating further, Ebert said the film was "a record of the comings and goings of arbitrary, inconsistent, shadowy, figures who are not heroes but simply giants run amok. Still, it's wonderful to look at." Canby was more critical, saying that while Boorman took Arthurian myths seriously, "he has used them with a pretentiousness that obscures his vision."

In her review in The New Yorker, Pauline Kael said the film had its own "crazy integrity", adding that the imagery was "impassioned" with a "hypnotic quality." According to her, the dialogue, however, was "near-atrocious." She concluded by saying that "Excalibur is all images flashing by... We miss the dramatic intensity that we expect the stories to have, but there's always something to look at."

Others have praised the entire film, with Variety calling it "a near-perfect blend of action, romance, fantasy and philosophy." Sean Axmaker of Parallax View said, "John Boorman's magnificent and magical Excalibur is, to my mind, the greatest and the richest of screen incarnation of the oft-told tale." In a later review upon the Excalibur's release on DVD, Salon's David Lazarus noted the film's contribution to the fantasy genre, stating that it was "a lush retelling of the King Arthur legend that sets a high-water mark among sword-and-sorcery movies."

Excalibur currently has an 82% "fresh" rating on the Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer.

Awards

Alex Thomson, the film's cinematographer, was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 1982 Academy Awards, but lost to Vittorio Storaro for Reds.

Boorman won the prize for Best Artistic Contribution, and was nominated for a Palme d'Or, at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

Remake

A remake is currently in pre-production at Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.

See also

• List of American films of 1981
• Excalibur, King Arthur's sword, the central symbol of kingship for Malory and the film
• List of films based on Arthurian legend

External links

• Excalibur at IMDb
• Excalibur at AllMovie
• Excalibur at Rotten Tomatoes