During a recent discussion that I had with a friend about the 1967 film Camelot,I was surprised to find out that an actually performance of the stage show had been filmed for HBO in the early 80's!.
Searching round on Amazon,and almost finding myself knee deep in non-Camelot related search results,I was at last rewarded for my long searching,when I eventually stumbled on DVD featuring the stage performance.With having looked for the film for a long while,and also finding out that Richard Harris had returned to star as King Arthur,I decided to pull a chair up,and witness the performance taking placing around the round table.
The plot:
Finding himself about to send an army to battle,King Arthur starts to think back to lesions he was taught in his childhood by a teacher called Merlyn.Having taken all of Merlyn's lesions to heart,Arthur starts to plan with his newly married wife (Guenevere) a system which would represent all of the ideas and dreams of the residents of Camelot.
Struggling to decide on how everyone can be represented,Arthur's "writers block" is broken,when Guenevere tells him about an old round table that her father owns,which would allow for no one to be seen as the "head" of the table.Getting deeply inspired by Guenevere groundbreaking idea,Arthur starts to gather up a group of knights who will represent everything that is good of the country.Nearing the completion of the group,a knight called Lancelot suddenly suddenly appears in Camelot.
Displaying an immaculate intelligences and cunning skills,Arthur soon warms to Lancelot as someone who shares all of his dreams and inspirations for the future of Camelot.Shortly after official welcoming all the newly appointed Knights of the Round Table,Arthur begins to feel uneasy when he notices his wife and Lancelot sharing some "stolen" glances,which leads Arthur to remember a terrible warning from Merlyn many years ago about how a person called "Lancelot" would cause Camelot to fall.
View on the film:
Whilst this enchanting "stage" take on Camelot has a strong witty comedy touch,that helps to make it feel much warmer than the more serious 1967 version ,the screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner sadly suffers from this version being given a much shorter running time,with the passage of time in Camelot feeling far too sped up,and the developing relationship between Guenevere and Lancelot not being given enough "silent" moments to allow a more natural feeling to their intense,conflicted relationship.
Impressively hiding almost all of the flaws in the screenplay,director Marty Callner, (who would later go on to direct some of the most well "stand up" specials of the last 20 years) smartly keeps away from presenting the film/stage production in a "still" setting,and instead uses a live audience and a number of perfectly framed close ups to make Camelot shine and to also give it a deep emotional feel.Being the only returning performer from the original 1967 film,Richard Harris gives an astonishing performance which shockingly exceeds his original brilliant take on Arthur.
Using the comedy moments in the film to display Arthur's heartfelt hopes of doing what is best for his fellow countrymen,Harris uses Callner's close ups to their full potential,as he almost wordlessly shows the agony and pain that Arhur experience's,as he begins to relies that he is unable to stop the destruction of Camelot.
Searching round on Amazon,and almost finding myself knee deep in non-Camelot related search results,I was at last rewarded for my long searching,when I eventually stumbled on DVD featuring the stage performance.With having looked for the film for a long while,and also finding out that Richard Harris had returned to star as King Arthur,I decided to pull a chair up,and witness the performance taking placing around the round table.
The plot:
Finding himself about to send an army to battle,King Arthur starts to think back to lesions he was taught in his childhood by a teacher called Merlyn.Having taken all of Merlyn's lesions to heart,Arthur starts to plan with his newly married wife (Guenevere) a system which would represent all of the ideas and dreams of the residents of Camelot.
Struggling to decide on how everyone can be represented,Arthur's "writers block" is broken,when Guenevere tells him about an old round table that her father owns,which would allow for no one to be seen as the "head" of the table.Getting deeply inspired by Guenevere groundbreaking idea,Arthur starts to gather up a group of knights who will represent everything that is good of the country.Nearing the completion of the group,a knight called Lancelot suddenly suddenly appears in Camelot.
Displaying an immaculate intelligences and cunning skills,Arthur soon warms to Lancelot as someone who shares all of his dreams and inspirations for the future of Camelot.Shortly after official welcoming all the newly appointed Knights of the Round Table,Arthur begins to feel uneasy when he notices his wife and Lancelot sharing some "stolen" glances,which leads Arthur to remember a terrible warning from Merlyn many years ago about how a person called "Lancelot" would cause Camelot to fall.
View on the film:
Whilst this enchanting "stage" take on Camelot has a strong witty comedy touch,that helps to make it feel much warmer than the more serious 1967 version ,the screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner sadly suffers from this version being given a much shorter running time,with the passage of time in Camelot feeling far too sped up,and the developing relationship between Guenevere and Lancelot not being given enough "silent" moments to allow a more natural feeling to their intense,conflicted relationship.
Impressively hiding almost all of the flaws in the screenplay,director Marty Callner, (who would later go on to direct some of the most well "stand up" specials of the last 20 years) smartly keeps away from presenting the film/stage production in a "still" setting,and instead uses a live audience and a number of perfectly framed close ups to make Camelot shine and to also give it a deep emotional feel.Being the only returning performer from the original 1967 film,Richard Harris gives an astonishing performance which shockingly exceeds his original brilliant take on Arthur.
Using the comedy moments in the film to display Arthur's heartfelt hopes of doing what is best for his fellow countrymen,Harris uses Callner's close ups to their full potential,as he almost wordlessly shows the agony and pain that Arhur experience's,as he begins to relies that he is unable to stop the destruction of Camelot.