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      Lancelot of the Lake

      Released Sep 26, 1974 1h 25m Drama List
      96% 23 Reviews Tomatometer 71% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score This stylized and unglamorous French drama by Robert Bresson presents the Arthurian legend as seen through the eyes of Lancelot du Lac (Luc Simon), one of the most prominent Knights of the Round Table. After returning empty-handed from the quest to find the Holy Grail, the restless Lancelot begins an affair with Queen Guinevere (Laura Duke Condominas), a relationship that threatens to have far-reaching consequences for the once-great court of Camelot. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      Penelope Gilliatt New Yorker Dazzlingly severe and beautiful. Mar 5, 2024 Full Review Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune The whole film is shot in compellingly austere colors and a rapt gaze sweeping downward from the sky and ending, horrifyingly fixed on armored bodies lying in the mud. Rated: 4/4 Feb 5, 2019 Full Review Time Out It's stunningly beautiful, mesmerising, exhausting, uplifting, amazing -- all the things you could possibly expect from a masterpiece. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...a different, far more minimalist approach to the Arthurian story than Hollywood ever took… Rated: 4/5 Sep 2, 2023 Full Review Gary Jane Hoisington Gay Community News (Boston) The gestures are too stylized, the actors too preciously frozen. But it's the very sense of crystallization the close-shot provides that makes Lancelot work. Sep 21, 2022 Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Oui The unique vision of [Bresson] has been slow in reaching American audiences, but his treatment of the legend of Sir Lancelot may be the widest door yet into the hermetic beauty of his special world. Nov 10, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Puzzling (in a good way). Bresson's style is, as usual, almost immediately off-putting. The viewer struggles to figure out his directorial choices (often coming up empty-handed). Why on Earth would you show the famous jousting tournament (where Lancelot arrives in disguise) with the camera aimed only at the horses' midsections (that is, missing the jousting action entirely)? Non-professional actors speak their lines expressionlessly and the King Arthur legend as we know it has been shorn of most of its action. Instead, Bresson focuses in on Lancelot's predicament - his adultery with Guinivere conflicts with his loyalty to Arthur and his vow to God to end it. The persistence of this illicit affair brings the couple into conflict with Mordred and other knights but Bresson asks us to infer any deeper psychology ourselves from the surfaces he depicts. Yet the film is not boring. The medieval setting is wrought simply but effectively and the soundtrack is a wonder (with offscreen horses neighing and suits of armor clanking at what must be carefully timed moments). Whether Lancelot achieves salvation through suffering (a perennial theme for Bresson) is another mystery that the viewer can ponder. Figuring things out (or failing to do so) is half the fun. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member I don't know how well Bresson's style worked with the material, but I do know that it had beautiful photography and period sets. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review eric b Robert Bresson's low-budget attempt to de-romanticize the King Arthur myth has no romance, no gallantry, no smiles, almost no score and just a smidge of what might be called "acting." Instead, the film is mostly about Bresson's strange obsession with incidental sound. Lasting impressions of this film are not about dialogue or plot, but rather rattling armor and listless, unnaturally loud footsteps trudging across forest duff and castle floors. Not exactly compelling. Violence usually occurs off-camera, though the bloody opening minutes can't help but evoke Monty Python & the Holy Grail's notorious "only a flesh wound" scene. The homely, untrained cast is just another way to rob the viewer of any easy pleasures. The story itself skips all the glories of Arthur's court and picks up after the failed search for the Grail, so the mood is nothing but bleak. Approach at your own risk, and don't bother bringing a shrubbery. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review walter m Returning empty handed in his two-year search for the Holy Grail after having made a wrong turn somewhere, Lancelot(Luc Simon) is given a warm welcome back from King Arthur(Vladimir Antolek-Oresek). Mordred(Patrick Bernhard) emerges from the shadows just long enough to remind everybody that he told them so, before slinking back to his hole. All Queen Guinevere(Laura Duke Condominas) wants to know is why her knight, Lancelot, is not wearing her ring anymore. To start, "Lancelot of the Lake" takes an intriguing approach to violence, with the only graphic detail in its opening sequence(if it looks familiar, it should be pointed out that "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was made the following year), before pretty much avoiding it for the rest of the film, which speaks volumes to the knights' worthiness, considering their history of bloodshed and pillaging. This film is set during the downward slide of Arthur's rule, as he has no wish to replace any fallen knights. Otherwise, the movie can be talky, focusing more on relationships, which confirms the eternal power of this venerable tale. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Easily the strangest Arthurian film ever made, done in Bresson's unique, deliberately paced style of never pointing the camera in the obvious direction (call it the Downcast Camera Style). The film achieves some amazing effects--Lancelot's jousting, for one, is deconsctructed to the point that it reinforces the superhuman quality of his achievements. And the ending is bizarre beyond belief, equating the fall of Camelot with the end of all civiliztion (and for all I know, Bresson was right). A great film. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Once again we learn to never, never, let women into the clubhouse. Guys! Come on. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Photos

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      Lancelot of the Lake

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis This stylized and unglamorous French drama by Robert Bresson presents the Arthurian legend as seen through the eyes of Lancelot du Lac (Luc Simon), one of the most prominent Knights of the Round Table. After returning empty-handed from the quest to find the Holy Grail, the restless Lancelot begins an affair with Queen Guinevere (Laura Duke Condominas), a relationship that threatens to have far-reaching consequences for the once-great court of Camelot.
      Director
      Robert Bresson
      Screenwriter
      Robert Bresson, Chretien de Troyes
      Distributor
      New Yorker Films, Uniportugal, New Yorker Video
      Production Co
      CFDC, Mara Films, Gerico Sound, Laser Films [it], ORTF
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      French (Canada)
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Sep 26, 1974, Wide
      Runtime
      1h 25m
      Sound Mix
      Mono