When it comes to all-time great fantasy films, Excalibur is one of the greatest. The legend of Arthur is so complex and has been subject to so many retellings, homages, parodies, inversions, critiques and subversions across a myriad of mediums that to try and take them all in requires almost scholarly dedication.
The 20th century and beyond have produced more examples of Arthurian art than any other time before it, mainly thanks to the widening range of mediums to work within, including of course, film. There have been many films that have focused purely on the love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot, or the removal of the sword in the stone, or the side quests that individual knights of the round table have embarked upon.
It is often truly sensational, often breathtakingly brilliant. It is flawed though. I think the film is too ambitious by trying to cover so much ground. But this is the kind of ambition that reaches so far for the skies that the sights it takes in along the way make it a masterpiece anyway. You might miss the mention of the knight Gawain during said sequence, for it is his dead body that sits slumped on a horse passing by. This opening battle is swift, violent, clumsy and lit to perfection, with the fire being held by the knights illuminating the forest, and the breath of horses and the chill mist of night adding atmosphere.
This is not a battle of glory — when the magician Merlin appears on the scene, he seems more sad than anything. Merlin senses its inevitable abuse at the hands of its prospective new owner. She begins an erotic dance that seems to spellbind everyone in court, and none more so than Uther, who in an instant throws away all that both sides have fought and died for, re-declaring war on Cornwall and even laying siege to his castle just to get to Igrayne.
One catch — Merlin will be owed whatever springs forth from this act of lust. There is this sense of Merlin being two steps ahead for the most part, accepting and partaking in acts of unpleasantness in order to lay the ground for a better future.
