Touches You

Powerful

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Between the movies that integrate the series called Moral Tales and those which integrate the other one called Comedies and Proverbs the French director Eric Rohmer turned himself to historical or legendary themes such as those which inspired La Marquise d'O and this one Perceval Le Gallois. In them all he revealed his genius as a creator of stories and types always in a gentle narrative style not so dramatic but no less psychologically deep. This movie is based on a story by the 12th century novelist Chrétien de Troyes and while respecting the text surrounds it by beautiful images, music and chants also inspired in mediaeval tunes very appropriate for the theme. The sceneries are not real and rather symbolic which underlines the legendary nature of the story of Perceval whose mother, having lost her husband and two sons in combats, has educated him in the ignorance of chivalry. But one day he meets five knights whom he takes for God and four angels. This leads him to go to King Arthur's court to have knighthood conferred upon him. From then on the story develops itself in a series of romantic scenes and episodes of mediaeval taste in the suave usual Rohmer's style. Of course those people who prefer dramatic or violent movies will not appreciate this one. It's however a good movie of its kind.

Eric Rohmer's Perceval Le Gallois transports us back to the Middle Ages, offering a magical vision of the Grail legend in poetry, music, and simple imagery. The film is set in the time of King Arthur and his roundtable. By using costumes based on religious paintings of the Middle Ages, and sets of miniature gold castles and metallic trees, standing silhouetted in front of a painted canvas backdrop, Rohmer creates a sense of childlike wonder. Though based on an unfinished 12th century novel by Chretien de Troyes, the text has been modernized for modern audiences. Female and male choruses sing the connecting narration in traditional rhyming couplets and, with true theatrical flair, actors speak not only their lines but also the thoughts of the characters. Perceval (played by Fabrice Luchini in a performance I found to be the film's biggest drawback) is a naïve youth who lives with his mother. When he is awed by his first encounter with a knight, he determines to go to King Arthur's court to become a knight. Securing the blessings of the King, he takes lessons in chivalry from the wise Gornemant de Goort (Raoul Billerey). His adventures and a subplot involving Gawain take up the remainder of the film. Perceval first captures the heart of Blanchefeur (Arielle Dombasle), then those of other fair maidens, always remembering the simple tenets taught to him by Gornemant. With a powerful depiction of the passion of Jesus Christ and an episode involving the Bloody Lance and the Holy Grail, Perceval gives us a modern insight into chivalry, and also allows us to glimpse the underlying mystery of life.

I'm at a loss over what I could say about Eric Rohmer's Perceval. I was so deeply affected by it. I'm guessing that many will be annoyed at the French New Wave style, which I personally love. I'm definitely a French New Wave fan. I'm not really a Rohmer fan, though. This is only the second Rohmer film I've seen, after his 1997 film An Autumn Tale (I think that's what it's called). I was unimpressed with that. Perceval will probably lead me to see more of his films, although, from what I've heard, this film is stylistically different than anything else he has ever made. Heck, I haven't seen anything at all similar in style in the many, many films I've seen. It's as if it takes place within the world of the theater. Naturalism is thrown out the window. The landscape is reduced to a bare minimum. Trees are sculpted out of metal, and are more symbols of trees than trees themselves. Castles are small, like the skenes of ancient Greek theater. The palette is made up of mostly primary colors. White appears frequently, and there are a couple of scenes with some purple. Silver and gold are abundant. This goes for the sets and constumes. The acting is exaggerated, I think, to imitate a Medieval style. Best of all, a lot of the narrative is sung to gorgeous Medieval arrangements. This is perhaps the most hypnotizing aspect of the film.The only thing that has a tendency to disappoint is the narrative. It's choppy, things go unresolved and so forth. It didn't bother me too much. I've actually read some Medieval literature, and it doesn't generally obey Aristotle's rules. The main piece that feels unresolved is the story of Gawain. Only after about one hundred minutes does he become important, the story follows him for a while, and then it goes back to Perceval, never to return again. Still, this didn't bother me too much. There's not an individual scene in the film that lacks beauty. Several are amongst the most beautiful ever captured on film. Perceval even contains the second most powerful version of the Passion of Jesus Christ I've ever seen in a film, slightly behind the one in Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev. I know that I will come back to Perceval as soon as I can to study it closer and love it more. It's instantly one of my favorite films. 10/10.

The first time I saw this film, I thought it was terrible; Plan 9 from Outer Space Terrible, but the more I thought about it, the more the film grew on me. Soon, I came to realize Rohmer's vision about this film...Perceval le Gallois is the film adaptation of the medieval epic poem "Perceval" by Chretien de Troyes, and it is the story of Grail seeking Arthurian knight Perceval(Parsifal to Wagner, and Parzival to Wolfram von Eschenbach, who is my favorite) I came to realize that Rohmer was making the film as though medieval Chretien had had access to a camera. The use of the decidedly un-realistic sets is designed to give the viewer an impression of medieval entertainment and style, and the fantastic, magical tone of the work. The use of the minstrels is a great way to let the viewer in on how a medieval audience would have experienced this story, without sets or actors, just the story teller and his accompaniment. This film is pure genius, and is a must see, even though it is extremely difficult to locate.