Scanlines

LANCELOT OF THE LAKE

D: Robert Bresson; with Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan, Vladimir Antolek-Oresek, Patrick Bernard, Arthur De Montalembert, Charles Balsan, Christian Schlumberger.

New Yorker Video

This 1974 film by French director Robert Bresson has only recently been released on videotape. Bresson is a unique filmmaker quite unlike any other; his style has variously been called "austere," "transcendental," "demonstrative," and "contemplative." His output is relatively scant for a filmmaker whose work has been so influential on so many diverse figures. (Some of his most notable films include The Journal of a Country Priest, Pickpocket, Jeanne d'Arc, and Au Hasard, Balthazar.)

In Lancelot of the Lake, Bresson undertakes to show us aspects of the Arthurian legends as we've never seen them before. It's been 15 or 20 years since I saw this movie in an Austin theatre. Through the years, my lingering impressions of the movie involved the sound of clanging metal and the soupy quality of the night scenes. With this videotape reviewing, I discovered that these overriding memories were really quite valid. Lancelot's pre-title, opening images involve murky images of swords striking armor, clanging away repeatedly while searching for the opponents' soft spot. When a soft spot is punctured, the metallic clatter is abruptly usurped by the sickening, gushy splat of bursting gut. Aural sensations are, generally, a large part of Bresson's movies; in Lancelot of the Lake the sound sets the movie's tone in the opening seconds. Bresson's Lancelot is hardly the hero we've come to traditionally expect. His Lancelot is returning home in defeat, after years of searching unsuccessfully for the Holy Grail. So many of the Round Table knights have died and the survivors are pretty glum. Moreover, Lancelot is unable to maintain his resolve to forsake his love affair with the adulterous Guinevere, wife of King Arthur. Their affair leads to certain doom for all. In Bresson's hands, this is no longer some abstract tale about chivalry and derring-do; it is a human story about the demands of everyday life in King Arthur's court. Letterboxed subtitles are a nice touch on this video transfer.

- Marjorie Baumgarten

THE SINBAD COLLECTION (laserdisc)

Columbia TriStar Home Video

Until Jurassic Park hit the screens, the most convincing way to put dinosaurs (or other mythical or extinct creatures) on the screen was a process called dimensional animation. For three decades, beginning in the early 1950s, the unparalleled master of this process was an effects wizard named Ray Harryhausen. A generation of kids grew up (or not) on his monsters, and it is a testament to his inspired artistry that his films have an enduring, if somewhat limited, appeal.

Recognizing that there is a market for these films in laserdisc format, Columbia TriStar Home Video has recently inaugurated the "Ray Harryhausen Signature Collection." Its first offering was a widescreen presentation of First Men in the Moon, followed by a black-and-white double feature of It Came From Beneath the Sea and Twenty Million Miles to Earth. Their most recent release is "The Sinbad Collection" which includes The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. It's somewhat pointless to debate the value of the films themselves - you either appreciate that sort of movie or you don't - but it's probably worth mentioning that the overall watchability of the series declines with each effort. 7th Voyage is a true classic of the genre, and Golden Voyage, while never approaching that status, is certainly not without its moments. Eye of the Tiger, on the other hand, is a bland confection at best, and during its less exciting sequences (which occur all too frequently) you'll find yourself wondering how Jane Seymour's character manages to keep her waist-length hair so clean and snarl-free.

None of 7th Voyage or Golden Voyage is presented in CAV format, and only the climax of Eye of the Tiger is given the CAV treatment. This is unfortunate, because dimensional animation is one area where the ability to view a film one frame at a time really would be a welcome bonus. However, the cost of presenting all three features in CAV would likely have driven the already high price of "The Sinbad Collection" to an unacceptable level. On the plus side, Bernard Herrmann's spectacular score for 7th Voyage is presented in stereo, making it likely that the master used was the one created for the now out-of-print Pioneer Special Edition of the film. This alone made "The Sinbad Collection" a must-buy for me. There is also a bonus side (in CAV) featuring the presentation of Harryhausen with the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, along with assorted interviews and film clips. "The Sinbad Collection" has been released on videotape as well, with a somewhat more modest price tag. Not every Cyclops-lover has a laserdisc player.

- Bud Simons