Excalibur ***** (1981, Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Nicol Williamson) – Classic Movie Review 2233

Co-writer/producer/director John Boorman’s astonishing 1981 dramatic fantasy film of the Arthurian legend that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table with scenes and ideas that amaze and a cast that surprises and impresses. In a significant shot in the arm to the Irish film-making industry, it was shot entirely on location in Ireland and largely employs Irish actors and crew.

It stars Nigel Terry as a grave King Arthur, Helen Mirren as Morgana, Nicholas Clay as a beefy Sir Lancelot, Cherie Lunghi as a sexy Queen Guinevere and Nicol Williamson as an oddball wizard Merlin.

There are also several now big names in the supporting cast and Excalibur helped to launch the film careers of the then relatively unknown actors Liam Neeson (as Gawain), Gabriel Byrne (Uther Pendragon), Patrick Stewart (Leondegrance) and Ciarán Hinds (as King Lot). Also in the cast are Corin Redgrave (Cornwall), Paul Geoffrey (Perceval), Robert Addie (Mordred), Keith Buckley, Katrine Boorman, Niall O’Brien and Clive Swift.

Boorman’s movie is a clever and engaging retelling of the story with an engrossing screenplay by him and Rospo Pallenberg based solely on Thomas Malory’s 15th century Arthurian romance novel Le Morte d’Arthur (The Death of Arthur). The film is of course named after King Arthur’s legendary mystical sword that features prominently in Arthurian literature.

In the well-known story, the wizard Merlin gives Excalibur to Uther Pendragon, the King of Camelot and the father of Arthur. The dying Uther buries the sword in a stone, decreeing that the first man able to pull it out will be king. Years later, Uther’s bastard son Arthur draws Excalibur out and is hailed king. Guided by Merlin, Arthur marries Guinevere and gathers the Knights of the Round Table, but Arthur’s evil half-sister Morgana has a son with him, who has eyes on power.

The film plays in both a realistic and mythic way for the Star Wars generation, with dazzling sights for sore eyes that are a triumph of photography in Alex Thomson’s Oscar-nominated cinematography and designs in Tony Pratt’s production designs. There’s no doubt that its visual style is incomparable. The ears are also well catered for. The film’s stirring soundtrack features the music of Richard Wagner and Carl Orff, along with an original score by Trevor Jones.

One of the variable Boorman’s undoubted triumphs, both artistically and at the box office, this audacious film excites, entertains and challenges with its splashes of blood and sex. Excalibur did well to open at number one in the United States, grossing $35million on a budget of $11million, to rank 18th in that year’s receipts. Boorman won the prize for Best Artistic Contribution at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d’Or.

Boorman cast Williamson and Mirren together knowing that they were unfriendly after a production of Macbeth seven years earlier. He felt that tension on set would improve the actors’ performances.

Probably best remembered for Excalibur, Nicholas Clay died of cancer on 25 May 2000, aged 53.

It was while Malory was confined at Newgate, his prison from 1460, that he wrote Le Morte d’Arthur, the first major work of English language prose, based on Arthurian mythology.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2233

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Cahir Castle in County Tipperary during the siege battle sequence.