|
Classics: Historical
Shakespearean Films
Recent Releases
|
First Knight (1995)
Jerry Zucker
Unthinkably, First Knight totally dispenses with the spiritual
and mystical facets of the myth. Morgan le Fay, the Lady of the Lake,
Mordred, and even Merlin are nowhere to be seen here. The film instead
focuses on the love triangle between Arthur, Guenevere, and Lancelot.
The result is more like something out of a modern romance novel than
a medieval romance.
Not only that, but Richard Gere, while a fine actor, is far too old
to be playing Sir Lancelot (and his American accent is conspicuous amidst the
otherwise all-British cast). Ben Cross is a wonderful actor, but as the villain
Maligant, he is given little to do other than sneer and strut about in S&M
leatherwear.
The design of the film is similarly silly, as Camelot looks like
a gigantic sandstone metropolis while Arthur's knights are attired in what look
like Star Trek uniforms. The climactic battle is also poorly staged so that it
is impossible to tell what is happening (since it was shot at night and both
armies are dressed in dark blue). Only Sean Connery's sincere performance as
Arthur-and Jerry Goldsmith's heroic score-make this film at all tolerable.
—Paul Andrew MacLean |
Click here to order:
First Knight
To order Renaissance Magazine,
click here.
To order medieval tapestries
and other period products, click here.
|
