Word: merlin
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...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...
...with a King.") we're thrust into a bloody battle between small armies of knights on horseback. Their armor splattered with blood and mud, they fight against the background of a bright orange sky, the bloodshot sun hanging low. The strange atmosphere of unreality intensifies with the entrance of Merlin (Nicol Williamson) who emerges from the mist covered in black robes, his head adorned with a glistening silver skull cap. Uther (Gabriel Byrne), boldest of the knights--soon-to-be father of Arthur--hacks through the earnage and calls out to Merlin "I must be King! I must have that...
UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER THE FIRST SEQUENCE--the tale of Uther's winning Excalibur and the conception of Arthur--the film slows down and Boorman's pacing remains erratic for the next two hours. Boorman gives us almost the entire legend: young Arthur's gaining Excalibur: Merlin's education of the young king: Arthur's courting of Guenevere: the establishment of Camelot: the love triangle of Arthur. Guenevere, and Lancelot: the search for the Holy Grail: the power struggle between Arthur and his half-brother/son (through incest) Mordred. Alas, the film stumbles between episodes, failing to connect the careful pattern...
...performance seems a model of restraint next to Williamson's Merlin. The voice sweeps from wail to whisper, from adenoidal giggle to basso preposteroso growl - often in the same sentence. It is a daring display, and an exhilarating one. Merlin is, after all, a man out of time: "Our days are numbered," he declaims to Morgana...
...epoch will have no room for a necromancer - or an ironic realist. Mer lin's time has come again in the post-Christian 20th century; it is fitting, then, that Williamson expresses both the juicy effluence of hoary ham acting and the quizzical underplaying of the Method. His Merlin is also a perfect avatar of the sorcerer behind the camera. Love Excalibur or hate it, but give Boorman credit for the loopy grandeur of his imagery and imaginings, for the sweet smell of excess, for his heroic gamble that a movie can dare to trip over its pretensions...