I got tears, but I'd rather spare them

[sovay]

LJ crashed earlier this evening, making it impossible for me to record my quote of the day at the time:

schreibergasse, breaking off halfway through an attempt to describe Excalibur (1981): "God, I did some weird shit at Oxford!"

(Background: he has never seen I, Claudius (1976). I feel we should remedy this situation as soon as logistically possible. The conversation continued naturally through Patrick Stewart from there. For additional reference, I have never seen Excalibur.)

Comments

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha.

[sovay]

Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha.

I'm going to assume that's an Excalibur reference, because I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I, Claudius used Irish.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I blush to say that I haven't seen I, Claudius either. This must be remediated.

Excalibur is one of the daftest things I ever saw--bonking in armor!--with islands of great and unexpected beauty. And Nicol playing Merlin as Tim the Enchanter. And Helen Mirren as Morgana radiating cold fury. The subtext of her every scene was, I'm going to hunt my agent down like a rat, and kill him. Then I'll make a cyanide pie of him and feed it to Williamson.

Nine

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I so love that owl cup.

Nine

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

I love Nicol Williamson. He's up there with Tom Baker's Doctor for being out there. I need to watch "I, Claudius" too.

[sovay]

I love Nicol Williamson. He's up there with Tom Baker's Doctor for being out there.

I don't think I've seen him in anything other than The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976). I thought I had, but only because I'd confused him with Robert Stephens.

[sovay]

Excalibur is one of the daftest things I ever saw--bonking in armor!--with islands of great and unexpected beauty.

What are some of the beautiful things about it?

[larryhammer]

That is a better quote of the day than mine. ("My Daddy has Daddy pants.")

---L.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

The location shooting helps; they had to do a lot of scheduling around the Irish climate, but it's worth it for the shots near the end of Arthur/the Fisher King, now healed of his wound by the Grail, riding through an orchard in bloom (the land of course, has healed with him). Several of the director's offspring got drafted into doing the more uncomfortable roles, like The Lady of Lake, who was actually filmed outdoors in a no doubt chilly bit of shallow water.

Also, it's probably the only version of the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot triangle I find genuinely tragic rather than soap-opera -- each of the three people involved comes off as likeable and quite sincere in their feelings about the other two.

[gwynnega]

I, Claudius is the best.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it in years, but I remember the landscapes being beautiful and atmospheric.

[sovay]

but it's worth it for the shots near the end of Arthur/the Fisher King, now healed of his wound by the Grail, riding through an orchard in bloom (the land of course, has healed with him)

Oh, nice. And that adds it to the short list of films which retell the story of the Fisher King, aside from the famous one.

Also, it's probably the only version of the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot triangle I find genuinely tragic rather than soap-opera -- each of the three people involved comes off as likeable and quite sincere in their feelings about the other two.

I can how that would be compelling and refreshing. Wanting to yell at everyone for being an idiot is not as much fun.

(What do you find wrong with other depictions—they could be solved by poly or at least conversation?)

[sovay]

That is a better quote of the day than mine. ("My Daddy has Daddy pants.")

I don't know; I think that has its own charm!

[sovay]

I, Claudius is the best.

I think so! I believe it's the first television production I sought out to watch, instead of watching because it happened to be on TV (or it was currently airing and someone thought I'd like it).

[sovay]

I haven't seen it in years, but I remember the landscapes being beautiful and atmospheric.

Nice. What do you remember about the script?

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

I feel like a lot of depictions, I just don't like all three of them equally.

I think there's supposed to be some early version of the legend where it is solved by poly; or rather, it never becomes a problem in the first place, because the queen's allowed to take lovers just as the king can have concubines, and it's not like Lancelot's an embarrassing choice.