There are adaptations of the Arthurian legend aplenty, but none quite like Robert Bresson‘s Lancelot Du Lac. This unique masterpiece by one of France’s greatest filmmakers is getting a visual makeover with a new 4K restoration set to premiere at the Film Forum. The restoration is scheduled to run from Friday, September 27 through Thursday, October 3 in celebration of the legendary auteur that was Breeson. In news that will excite admirers of Breeson‘s body of work, his other magnum opus, The Devil, Probably will also show in glorious 4K ahead of Lancelot Du Lac.
Lancelot du Lac (translated, Lancelot of the Lake) is a retelling of the love story between Lancelot, one of Arthur’s finest knights, and Queen Guinevere (the King’s wife). The story plays out moments after Arthur’s Knights have woefully failed at retrieving the Holy Grail, with only 30 out of 100 soldiers returning battered from battle. In the aftermath, Lancelot finds solace in Guinevere’s arms, beginning an affair that sees the once-formidable Round Table breaking apart and culminating in the King’s discovery of a betrayal from his trusted Knight.
In typical Bresson fashion, the movie is a bold subversion of what is usually expected of medieval romances. Lancelot du Lac is devoid of the fantastical elements that often accompany Arthurian legends and instead focuses on the essentials as it humanizes each major character, elaborating on their flaws. A revised description of the film reads:
“Riderless horses gallop through dark woods, limbs are hacked, the knights have failed to find the Grail, and Lancelot adulterously loves Guinevere, Bresson’s LANCELOT DU LAC is a ruthless deconstruction of the legend, with a tournament shot almost entirely of horses’ legs and flags being raised and lowered, the knights always in full, clanking plate armor, all leading up to a devastating final hecatomb.”
‘Lancelot Du Lac’ Was Critically Acclaimed
Lancelot Du Lac premiered at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival and, despite casting only amateur actors, was well-received among critics, winning the FIPRESCI Prize. The movie boasts a solid 95% rating on movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and in 2002 came in second place on Michael Haneke‘s Sight & Sound poll of the greatest films ever made. Geoff Brown of Time Out, in his review, lauds the movie as “Stunningly beautiful, mesmerizing, exhausting, uplifting, amazing – all the things you could possibly expect from a masterpiece.” The New Yorker‘s Penelope Gilliat, describes it as: “Dazzlingly severe and beautiful… With LANCELOT DU LAC we are again in the inimitable Bresson world of airtight graveness.”
In addition to directing, Bresson wrote the screenplay and credited the works of French poet Chrétien de Troyes for inspiring his vision. The cinematography was handled by Oscar-winner Pasqualino De Santis who also collaborated with Bresson on The Devil, Probably, L’Argent (1977). The movie, which follows a blistering indictment of post-May ‘68 France, is scheduled to also show at Film Focus in 4K starting from Friday, September 20 through Thursday, September 26.
Lancelot Du Lac 4K restoration will premiere at Film Focus on September 27 through Thursday, October 3.
via Collider