#perceval (1978)

[queer-ragnelle]

collection of meme/reaction gifs i've made for the arthurian theater discord server

[the-poetasters-pen]

one of my all-time favorite movies ever❣️

[queer-ragnelle]

What are some of the weirdest stories/books/movies etc you've encountered in your Arthuriana journey? Whatever weird might mean to you (good/bad/unsettling/unexpected/surreal/goofy)

Hi anon!

This is honestly a tough thing to answer because what even constitutes a weird Arthurian retelling? They're all pretty weird haha! But I definitely have a few that come to mind

The French film Perceval (1978) is super weird in a great way! It's shot on a stage with painted backgrounds and metallic trees and structures for the set. Real horses are brought on. A troupe of bards provide diegetic music, playing instruments and singing a narration of events on screen while also acting as characters in their own right (such as the jester Kay throws into the fire). Perceval and Gauvain narrate their own stories in third person at times too. It's surreal! It's as if Perceval's world is "fake," since his mother has kept him isolated for so long, it's a distorted view of reality. This is the closest adaptation of Chrétien de Troyes's Story of the Grail I can think of, it's nearly word-for-word, BUT! They removed the racism and antisemitism. Two thumbs up! The ending is bananas. There's no describing it, you just have to watch. You can download this movie from my MEGA drive or it can be watched for free on Tubi! (Content warning for nudity and some gore.)

The film Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979) is my favorite adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The main character Tom works for NASA developing an android named Hermes. Through a comedy of errors, both Tom and Hermes end up launched into space at the speed of light, traveling through time, and crash land in Camelot, 508AD. Mordred mistakes Tom for a monster (due to his space suit and orb-shaped helmet) but Tom quickly wins Arthur's trust and allowed to hang out. He meets Sandy, a girl who thinks her dad has been transformed into a goose, and together with her and a page named Clarance, works to return home. It's exceedingly silly. I much prefer the character Tom (and Hermes, who is identical in appearance to Tom and jousts for him) to Sir Boss in the Connecticut Yankee film from 1949 with Bing Crosby. Tom's gun is funnier than the original as it's more like a science-fiction laser that blows things up. He also has a magnet ray he uses to draw armored knights where he wants. Not a good film, but goofy and fun. You can download this movie from my MEGA drive! (No content warnings, it's a family movie!)

The film Excalibur (1981) obviously has to make this list. Coincidentally, it's mostly for Percival again. The Grail Quest segment accounts for just 20 minutes of the entire film, but it feels like eons. And it's So Weird. It's safe to call it horror. Percival meets struggle after struggle, encountering many dead comrades along the way, raving mad townspeople struggling to survive, Morgan and Mordred attempting to steer him wrong. He's eventually hung from a tree and has a vision of God's voice. (Hallucination or real?) The dead knight dangling above him sways and his spurs cut Percival free. From there he runs into Uriens and holds him as he dies, struck down by miscreant knights. Percival eventually achieves the grail, obviously, but it's not until he's pushed the absolute limits. It's probably one of my favorite sequences in film ever. 11/10. You can download this from my MEGA drive! (Content warning for nudity, rape, gore, and incest.)

As for books, I recommend The Modern Arthur Trilogy by Peter David. The first one is Arthur running for mayor of NYC, the second one is President of the United States, and the third one he sort of becomes a god. It's wild. Other characters include Guinevere, Lancelot, Morgan le Fay, Mordred, Percival, Merlin, and of course the Lake of the Lake. The sequels randomly add Gilgamesh and Enkidu (and later Noah, like the guy with an ark in the Bible??) and it's all very strange indeed. The first book is definitely the best but Gilgamesh/Enkidu were pretty freaky (affectionate) so I did enjoy that, although the whole premise of book two is...meh. I listened to the graphic audio books which were awesome, the sound effect of Arthur falling down the subway stairs in full armor is worth every penny. (Content warning for incest, murder, cannibalism, racism, and terrorism)

[queer-ragnelle]

Hello @queer-ragnelle,

I hate to be a bother, but I was wondering if there was any other way to watch Perceval (1978); I use a MacBook and don't have a way to play an .mkv file. If I'm missing something, please let me know.

Thank you.

Hey there!

I recommend downloading VLC Media Player to get the most out of those MKV files. It’s free and compatible with all platforms! You can enable subtitles easily in there, even use it to play a playlist of things (which is how I stream a tv show for hours at a time without continuously adding the next episode), or increase the brightness on your playback of a dark movie (I do this with The Green Knight (2021) lol).

Perceval (1978) used to be free to watch on Tubi, but it’s been removed.

All the more reason to save this stuff! Hope you’re able to get it working on your Mac.

[lefay-if]

What adaptions are your favourite? I like the silly and whimsical ones that aren't meant to be taken seriously because a lot of these tales were and are silly. I'm more critical of the serious or "grounded" adaptions and tend to not like them them because they all have warped senses of reality for the time periods these tales were told or take place during. I can forgive inaccuracies if its a comedy or told like a tale but not if its meant to be taken seriously (such as these adaptions all having dark lighting/ grey colouring, bleak atmospheres, because of course they do /s).

Hello~

I can see what you mean. I'm usually a little more lenient with time period stuff, even though I too am usually a little disappointed when it's all completely out of whack. But if it's on the fantastical side and I enjoy it, I'm more than willing to overlook it.

I usually do not like gritty adaptations, though, with the exception of The Green Knight from 2021, which I thought was dramatic but very cool. I don't like when it's all turned into a dark power fantasy where all the knights are oh so manly and everyone has perfect faces... I know that not all Arthuriana is whimsical and yes, lots of it gets quite dark in places, but idk. I like my whimsy. Whimsical and unserious adaptations feel so much more alive.

My favorite thing ever is Monty Python's Holy Grail. At this point, I've probably mentioned that often enough around here on my blog. Monty Python in general has been pretty influential for how I write humorous scenes. I love how giddily unserious the entire Holy Grail film is, and I have to admit, the way my Arthur acts sometimes is more inspired by Graham Chapman than any other actor who has ever portrayed Arthur. I just love the way he speaks.

"You make me sad :(("

"You don't have any arms left!!"

"Oh when you're King, you have to know these things, you know."

I have watched Holy Grail far too often at this point. My partner showed it to me, it was his comfort movie first and then it also became mine.

Moving on, I recently started watching Kaamelott. I was unconvinced first, but I got a recommendation on tumblr so I decided to give it another go and realized that I was completely wrong about it. It's so good. My favorite is the Lady of the Lake. Appears out of nowhere, gives you a quest, no you don't get any magical help but I brought you a cake to eat on the road. I also love Guinèvre in this, she has such a cute little face and way if speaking... she's such a gremlin and Arthur doesn't deserve her. I also started the show thinking Arthur was a dick to his knights, but a few hours in, after observing all the crap he has to deal with, especially from Perceval and Caradoc, I realize that he is actually extremely patient and kind. I would have punched them by now. It also made me so happy when Morgan showed up even though Arthur wasn't dead yet... I could go on. Extremely humorous show.

I also very recently got to watch Perceval by Éric Rohmer, which is such a good film. It's like a play, and it's very strange. Even the colors are bizarre. But it's extremely enjoyable and it's Perceval depicted at his finest. Bovine stare, teeny tiny voice and everything. I really enjoy depictions of Perceval the most, I think. He's my favorite knight. In a platonic way. Not like Gawain, who is also in the movie, and oh boy he just serves in every iteration doesn't he. Anyway, great movie, and a really cool adaptation of one of my favorite medieval texts. I think I've said so before but I enjoy Chrétien the most and I wish there were more adaptations of his texts.

There should be a Knight of the Cart fantasy-comedy. Just saying.

I also liked Excalibur from 1981, even though it has glaring issues and does the whole dark-thing and of course has Morgan as a villain. But she's still played by Helen Mirren and her chemistry with Merlin is off the charts and I really liked that she was the one to entrap him in this. Might have inspired me or sth ;]

Also, Guenevere's actress looks so beautiful. The scene where she wakes up next to Lancelot in the woods with the sword stuck between them, and then her curling around the sword... omg. Be still my heart. Also, chainmail veil!

So one might say I like that film for style over substance.

[lefay-if]

By the way, I recently had the opportunity to finally watch 70s Perceval Le Gallois. I had such a good time but I have things to say

First off, this absolute bovine stare of his.

When you're waiting for your mom to stop crying so you can have dinner:

That escalated quickly:

"Why isn't he saying anything?" - "Why isn't she saying anything?" - "Man, this is getting awkward..." - "I'll just look anywhere BUT her, yeah, this feels natural..."

NOT THE MAIDS WATCHING THEIR LADY HITTING HIM UP AND DISCUSSING WHILE IT'S GOING ON.

Gawain: "Come on little guy, time to go..." (I really wanted to find a pic of the scene that follows where Gawain LITERALLY leads him off by the hand like he's his insane kid brother xD but all the pictures online of that are grainy and black and white)

Then there's also the scene where Perceval literally friendzones the maid who smiled at him and she looks SO SAD but I couldn't find a picture of that

10/10 movie would recommend