Word: arthurian
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Excalibur. Or: "Camelot Goes to Woodstock." Writer-Director John Boorman recasts the Arthurian legends as a fable for our time and all time, with the most voluptuous evocation of pastoral imagery since Days of Heaven...
...story of how his wife Dorothy penned some doggerel ("Get a soda, get a beer, turn next corner, just as near, to Highway 16 and 14, free ice water, Wall Drug") to attract thirsty motorists has assumed Arthurian dimensions in South Dakota. Remembers Ted: "We hardly got back to the store from putting the sign up before people started turning in." Before long, billboards sprouted along the highways in every direction; someone once counted 53 along a 45-mile stretch. G.I.s tacked up Wall Drug signs as they made their way through Europe in World War II. The same thing...
...Dead, the 1979 sequel to his cult classic, Night of the Living Dead, has earned $55 million worldwide. The audience reaction to Romero's perfervid shockers has always been poised between a scream and a giggle. Now, with Knightriders, Romero has taken a bigger risk: he blends Arthurian legend with modern-day bikers-Excalibur meets Easy Rider-and dares the audience to laugh at the noble exploits of working-class jousters. The Camelot caravan juggles lofty ideals and hand-to-mouth reality as it journeys from one small town to another, exhibiting swordsmanship in battles where fellowship precariously reigns...
This perceived national mood, combined with the basic human fascination with myth, has prompted some of the most successful of the new pseudo-mythical, comic book adventure films. Star Wars bears similarities to several ancient myths, including the Arthurian legend (note the parallels between Luke Skywalker and Arthur, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Merlin, etc.) and it seemed only a matter of time until a major studio would turn to an original tale and package it as a suped-up blockbuster. Whatever the social or corporate logic behind its conception. Boorman has made Excalibur an exhilirating, hugely entertaining film...
...film attempts to soar into the oneiric, with voluptuous imagery and italicized feelings, it is likely to be grounded by those air-traffic controllers of popular culture, the critics. Excalibur is such a film. Viewers are advised to decide for themselves if John Boorman's retelling of the Arthurian romance is a dove or a dodo...