Review of Excalibur

Excalibur (1981)
7/10
I think people are just a little too hard on Morgana...
12 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
... after all she witnesses what amounts to the rape of her own mother, and then sees the product of that rape inherit a kingdom (Nigel Terry as Arthur Pendragon). Of course she wants revenge, and justice in the most ironic way for what happened to her mother. Let me explain.

Uther Pendragon has peace, has his throne, has a truce with the duke of Cornwall. At a dinner celebrating the truce, Cornwall shows off his beautiful wife, Igrayne. Uther ruins the truce in an unspeakable breach of etiquette by going for Igrayne right there in front of everybody. Hostilities rebegin. Uther begs Merlin to let him have Igrayne by the spell of making so that he looks like her husband, Cornwall. Apparently it was the custom for husbands and wives to have sex in front of their toddler children, and furthermore Uther does not even bother to take his armor off during the act! That's what I mean by rape - Igrayne is being duped into having sex with Uther Pendragon. Morgana, Cornwall and Igrayne's child, looks on, sees through the spell of making, and also envisions her father dying on the battlefield throughout her mother's rape. This is something she never forgets.

With Cornwall dead, Uther takes Igrayne for his own, and nine months later she gives birth to a child - Uther's from the rape. But, alas, Uther promised to give Merlin anything that came from his deception, so he must turn over the child, Arthur Pendragon, to Merlin. Uther decides a deal is not a deal, and pursues Merlin and the child, only to be killed by Cornwall's vengeful troops who are still hanging about. Merlin thrusts Excalibur into a stone and proclaims whoever shall draw the sword from the stone will be king. Why do the people keep listening to this guy? I guess the fact that he could turn anybody into a toad is part of it.

Time passes, Arthur grows up looking and acting like nobody special (Nigel Terry), and is assisting Kay, a knight in a tournament whose sword is stolen. Arthur just sees the sword in the stone, does not know its significance, and just pulls it out to give to Kay. Merlin announces that Arthur has accidentally pulled Excalibur from the stone and he is king.

Well it turns out that more than just the communist peasants in Monty Python's Holy Grail believe that pulling a sword from a stone is not the basis for an acceptable form of government, and Arthur has to work to solidify his kingdom. In the process, he marries Guenevere, daughter of one of his allies, and convinces Lancelot to join him. But Lancelot and Guenevere fall for one another, finally giving in to their feelings. When Arthur comes upon their post coital slumber he plunges Excalibur into the ground and wanders off broken.

Now all of this time Morgana (Helen Mirren) is still bitter about her mother's rape and the product of that rape, Arthur, getting a throne because of her mother being deceived. She tricks Merlin into revealing the spell of making, traps him in a crystal, and then decides turnabout is fair play. She makes herself appear as Guenevere, causing Arthur to think his queen has returned to him, and he sleeps with her, conceiving an incestuous child. This child grows to manhood and challenges Arthur for his throne, which is easier than it would normally be because Arthur would have to kill his own son/nephew, plus the land has become barren and the people are starving because nothing grows from the ground, blaming the king. So how does all of this turn out? Watch and find out. This film is very atmospheric. Nicol Williamson steals the show as Merlin with his odd glances and one liners and looking very "unmagician" like at times. If he hadn't played a complete tool in "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can" a year later, I might still like seeing him in this role.

So what have we learned here today? Crime does not pay, the career options are not good for queens who commit adultery, and bitter half siblings can really mess up your life if you give them the chance. Recommended.
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