Movie Review: Excalibur (1981)

There have been many screen versions of the King Arthur legend: none as grand as Excalibur. An epic re-telling of the story, director, producer and co-writer John Boorman creates a lush yet brutal fantasy world, and sets within it an ambitious tale that is as much about love and betrayal as it is about the birth of the modern age.

The story begins with the ambitious and aggressive knight Uther (Gabriel Byrne) battling for control of the land against rival warlords. Successful in battle, Uther enlists the help of Merlin the wizard (Nicol Williamson) to obtain control of the magical sword Excalibur. Uther agrees to a peace deal with the Duke of Cornwall (Colin Redgrave), but when Uther lays his eyes on the Duke's wife Igrayne (Katrine Boorman), he is willing to reignite the war for the pleasure of ravishing her. Uther asks for Merlin's help to find a way to spend a night with Igrayne; Merlin has but one condition: any offspring from the night of passion belongs to Merlin.

The Duke is killed; Merlin arranges for Uther to appear in the guise of the Duke and spend the night with Igrayne; their passion is witnessed by Morgana, the young daughter of the Duke and Igrayne. Nine months later, Arthur is born and Merlin shows up on cue and whisks the young child away. Uther is ambushed and killed, and Excalibur is wedged into a stone, with no knight able to loosen it.

Years later, Arthur (Nigel Terry), now a young and unassuming man, effortlessly removes Excalibur from the stone. He is immediately proclaimed King by some knights, but others are not too sure: he is too young and inexperienced, and battles break out. But Arthur's skills and generous attitude win over his doubters and he is acclaimed as King and leader of the land; indeed, Arthur's miracle is that he is "one with the land", and prosperity reigns over his Kingdom. He marries Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi), builds his elegant castle Camelot and forms the Knights of the Round Table to maintain peace and order, always with Merlin's help.

A mysterious, superlatively skilled warrior named Lancelot (Nicholas Clay) makes his way to Arthur's Kingdom, and he joins the knights, although his attitude is more mercenary. The young and resourceful Perceval (Paul Geoffrey) starts out as Lancelot's assistant, but ends up a knight in his own right, while Lancelot and Guenevere are helplessly attracted to each other. Darkness begins to descend on the land. Another threat emerges in the form of the all-grown Morgana (Helen Mirren), a sorceress and Arthur's half-sister, harbouring thoughts of avenging her parents whose lives were destroyed by Arthur's father and Merlin.

Morgana sharpens her magical skills with Merlin's help, and then turns against him. She also arranges revenge against Arthur, and conceives the unholy son Mordred. As pestilence takes over the kingdom, Arthur dispatches his knights on a desperate quest to find the Holy Grail, believing that this ancient artifact will save his Kingdom. But peace will not be easy to find, as Arthur has to carve out an alliance to save the land.

The central theme of Excalibur is the passing of the fantastic age of sorcery, with humanity transitioning to a less mystical, more accountable time of people being responsible for their actions. King Arthur is Merlin's final creation and contribution, a final hurrah for magicians to meddle in day-to-day affairs. With the passing of Arthur's kingdom and Merlin's dis-empowerment, it is now up to mere mortals like Perceval to find ways to serve the cause of society. With the entire legend of Arthur being shrouded in mystery and folklore, Excalibur draws a loving line between pseudo-history built on the supernatural according to imagination and legend, and actual subsequent events, where magicians are not welcome.

Filmed in Ireland with a mostly Irish cast and crew, Excalibur's set designs are monumental and create a setting that is enticingly attractive and horrifically dangerous. Boorman moves his cameras effortlessly from ancient castles to mist-shrouded plains and dense forests: gorgeous waterfalls, moats, rivers, lakes and scenic bridges provide the backdrop for scenes ranging from tender romance to barbarous, limb-hacking close-quarters combat.


The cast of Irish and British actors fit perfectly into Excalibur's world, and the lack of high-wattage star power is a definite plus. The movie is about legendary events and a suite of memorable characters rather than an overpowering central presence. Boorman purposefully used the name of the sword as the title of his movie, signifying the symbolism of the legend as more important than any of its participants.

The music, by Trevor Jones and using chillingly epic extracts from Orff and Wagner, adds to the monumental atmosphere, as do the heavy duty, heavily metallic knight costumes designed by Bob Ringwood.

Excalibur is 140 minutes of grand storytelling, entertaining mythology on a luxurious scale, and an unforgettable journey into the glorious mists of legend.

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Movie Review: The Tailor Of Panama (2001)

A disappointing spy film adaptation of a John Le Carre novel, The Tailor Of Panama tries hard to create a steamy stranger in a strange land vibe, but it is undermined by a hollow centre and a premise that is close to ridiculous.

British intelligence agent Andy Osnard (Pierce Brosnan) operates under diplomatic cover, and after flubbing an assignment is reassigned to Panama. Upon arrival he makes contact with Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), a tailor peddling high quality suits to the ruling class. Pendel has a shady past and money problems but terrific contacts with both the powerful elite of Panama and the shady opposition. Osnard presses him into service to obtain and reveal sensitive information about future plans for the Panama Canal and an emerging underground revolutionary movement.

But Osnard is playing a dangerous game way beyond the normal confines of diplomatic intelligence gathering. He attempts to charm Pendel's wife Louisa (Jamie Lee Curtis) into revealing information that she has access to from her work for the Canal authority, and he keeps the British Embassy staff at bay by seducing Francesca Dean (Catherine McCormack), one of the Ambassador's key assistants. Osnard finally pressures Pendel into revealing plans for upcoming upheaval in the country, setting in motion an international chess game from which only one person will benefit.

Not many characters are likable in The Tailor of Panama, least of all Andy Osnard. Brosnan attempts to bring his ice cool Bond persona into Panama, but in the absence of a suitable villain or a nefarious plot as a counterweight, it's not a fair fight. Taking advantage of less sophisticated locals and run-of-the-mill diplomats may satisfy Osnard's ego, but contributes nothing to an engaging narrative. Rush is more absorbing as the tailor Pendel, but his eagerness to please and the ease with which he is manipulated is unconvincing.

The highly dubious plot developments do not help. Large amounts of international money and military hardware are set in motion based on flimsy and uncorroborated intelligence, and as we now know, only neo-conservatives in the White House with dreams of eternally controlling global oil supplies and avenging assassination plots targeting their daddies can pull that off.

The Tailor Of Panama only has it's setting to fall back on, and director John Boorman tries hard to evoke a seedy Casablanca style mood of foreign intrigue, with Casablanca even being mentioned in one exchange of dialogue. But this is not the 1940's, World War Two isn't raging, Pierce Brosnan is not Humphrey Bogart, and the future of the free world is not at stake. The Tailor Of Panama attempts to put on a power suit, but there is no hiding the intellectual vacuum between its ears.

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Movie Review: Deliverance (1972)

Deliverance is a timeless classic, perhaps because it's a story as old as time: man against nature, and nature always wins, even if nature is man in his natural element.

Four city men head off into the wilds of Georgia for a canoe trip.  The natural habitat is threatened by a nearby dam construction project; the river and its surrounding way of life will soon be flooded. Strangers and city folks are not really welcomed by the locals, especially now.  The macho Lewis (Burt Reynolds), the introvert Ed (Jon Voight), the fearful Bobby (Ned Beatty) and the guitar-playing Drew (Ronny Cox) wade into territory much more hostile and dangerous than they can imagine.

Soon they tangle with in-bred, rifle-wielding hunters. Bobby is victimized, the canoes capsize, another of the men is killed, Lewis is humbled, and Ed has to find his inner strength just to survive the ordeal and get back home in one piece.

John Boorman keeps the tension building in gradual but unfailing increments.  There is tension among the four men, tension when they first meet the locals, tension when the adventurers first take on the river, tension when they tangle with the murderous, violent hunters, tension in the subsequent frantic escape down the river, and tension to explain away the whole ordeal to the local town-folk. The only break comes early with the famous guitar / banjo duel between Drew and a local boy, and even that ends with a creepy breakdown in communications that ominously hints at what is to come.

Burt Reynolds gives a performance that hints at what his career may have achieved had he pursued more serious role opportunities. Voight, Beatty and Cox memorably portray everyday men thrust into foreign territory they are ill-equipped to deal with.  The other star of the movie is mother nature, Boorman and his cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond delivering a masterful job capturing the interface zone where humans closest to the wild reside.

A morality tale on how nature can always fight back, Deliverance puts man back in his place.

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