Tag Archives: John Boorman

Excalibur (1981, directed by John Boorman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

During the Dark Ages, Britain is at war.  King Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) leads his men against The Duke of Cornwall (Corin Redgrave).  Uther and his men swear their allegiance to God and St. George but they trust in the magic of the mysterious Merlin (Nicol Williamson).

Merlin negotiates peace between Uther and Cornwall but Uther throws that peace away when he becomes obsessed with Cornwall’s beautiful wife, Igrayne (Katrine Boorman).  Merlin uses his magic to disguise Uther as Cornwall so that Uther can spend one night with Igrayne.  When Cornwall is killed in battle, Uther marries Igrayne and realizes it was never necesarry to use Merlin’s magic and that Merlin, who has the power to see the future, knew that.  Merlin takes Uther and Igrayne’s infant son from them and then disappears.  Later, Uther is killed by by three of Cornwall’s men.  Before dying, Uther drives his magic sword, Excalibur, into a stone.  On the true king of England will be able to remove it.

Uther’s son, Arthur (Nigel Terry), grows up with no knowledge about his parentage.  When he accidentally draws Excalibur out of the rock, Merlin returns to counsel the new king.  And the new king has much to learn, as not all of the nobleman are willing to accept him as their ruler.  Arthur proves himself worthy to be king while his half-sister, Morgan (Helen Mirren), waits for her chance to get revenge.

Excalibur is one of the most ambitious films made about King Arthur.  John Boorman fits the entire legend of Arthur, Lancelot (Nicholas Clay), Percevel (Paul Geoffrey), Guinevere (Cherie Lunghi), and the search for the Holy Grail into one movie and, as a result, there’s not a dull moment.  Boorman presents the reign of King Arthur as a conflict between England’s pagan past and the new era of man.  Merlin and Morgan’s magic is powerful but, in the end, power is determined by bloody battles fought by men encased in clunky armor.  Arthur, Lancelot, and the other knights claim to live by the honorable, chivalric code but only one of them is able to live up to the ideal.  The others become consumed by lust, jealousy, and a thirst for power.

In my opinion, Excalibur is the best movie made about King Arthur, mostly because John Boorman takes the story seriously and makes us feel like we are watching people who truly are living in different world and a different time.  The chivalric code is necessary to keep the peace in a time when there are multiple pretenders-to-throne.  Mordred (Robert Addie) is not just a villain because he seeks to overthrow his father but also because he is the one person to have no respect for the code or the mystic power of the Holy Grail.

Excalibur has a large cast with many familiar faces.  Keep an eye out for Patrick Stewart as one of Arthur’s earliest supporters and also Liam Neeson as a surly Sir Gawain.  Of all the Lancelots who have appeared in the movies, Nicolas Clay is the best and Helen Mirren is the perfect Morgan.  Nicol Williamson steals the movie as the mysterious Merlin.  And while Nigel Terry was too old for the scenes where Arthur is supposed to be a callow teenager, he grows into the role just as Arthur grew into being king of the Britons.

Monty Python and The Holy Grail will always make me laugh but John Boorman’s big, beautiful, and bloody Excalibur is the best film about Camelot.

Scene That I Love: Dueling Banjos from John Boorman’s Deliverance

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Diliverance (1972,dir by John Boorman, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)

Today’s scene that I love comes from John Boorman’s 1972 film, Deliverance.  For the longest time, I thought that this scene was improvised and the kid with the banjo just happened to be hanging out around the set.  That makes for a nice story but I have recently read that this scene was actually scripted and the kid, while a local, was hired ahead-of-time to show up and play the banjo.

From Deliverance, here are the Dueling Banjos!

8 Shots From 8 Films: Special John Boorman Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 92nd birthday to British director John Boorman.

Boorman is one of those great director who sometimes doesn’t seem to get as much credit as he deserves.  An undeniably idiosyncratic director, Boorman easily moved from genre to genre and who brought his own individual style to each of his films.  Sometimes, critics and audiences responded to that vision and sometimes, they didn’t.  And yet even Boorman’s so-called failures have come to be appreciated over the years.  Zardoz is a cult classic.  Even The Exorcist II: The Heretic is not quite the disaster that some insist.  If nothing else, it’s one of the strangest studio productions to ever be released.

At his best, Boorman is one of the most influential directors of all time.  How many neo-noirs have ripped off the look and the feel of Point Blank?  The ending of Deliverance has been imitated by a countless number of horror films and, indeed, every backwoods thriller owes a debt to Boorman’s film about four businessmen spending a weekend canoeing.  Excalibur is one of the most elegiac of all the Arthurian films while Hope and Glory retains its power to make audiences both laugh and cry with its portrayal of life on the British homefront during World War II.  Meanwhile, films like The General and The Emerald Forest gave underrated characters actors like Powers Boothe and Brendan Gleeson a chance to shine.

So today, in honor of the career and the legacy of John Boorman, here are….

8 Shots from 8 John Boorman Films

Point Blank (1967, directed by John Boorman, DP: Philip H. Lathrop)

Deliverance (1972, directed by John Boorman, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)

Zardoz (1974, directed by John Boorman, DP: Geoffrey Unsworth)

The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977, dir by John Boorman, DP: William A. Fraker)

Excalibur (1981, dir by John Boorman, DP: Alex Thomson)

The Emerald Forest (1985, dir by John Boorman. DP: Philippe Rousselot)

Hope and Glory (1987, dir by John Boorman, DP: Philippe Rousselot)

The General (1998, dir by John Boorman, DP: Seamus Deasy)

Scenes That I Love: Lee Marvin on Point Blank

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

100 years ago today, Lee Marvin was born in New York City.  One of the great screen tough guys, Lee Marvin played stoic and determined men who you didn’t want to upset.

That was certainly true of his role as Walker in 1967’s Point Blank.  A thief who was double crossed by his partner and the organization to which his partner was in debt, Walker is determined to get back the money that he stole from someone else.  Relentlessly, Walker moves from one mob boss to another and repeatedly, those bosses make the mistake of thinking that they can double cross him again.

Point Blank (1967, directed by John Boorman)

In this scene, which was reportedly considered to be shockingly violent by 1967 standards, Carter (Lloyd Bochner) attempts to fool Walker, just to discover that Walker is smarter and far more ruthless than anyone realizes.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Linda Blair In The Exorcist II: The Heretic

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror scene that I love features Linda Blair in 1977’s The Exorcist II: The Heretic, the sequel to the film for which she received an Oscar nomination.

Linda Blair was only 13 when she was cast a Regan McNeil, the girl who is possessed by a demon in The Exorcist.  She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, only losing the award after it was revealed that Mercedes McCambridge had dubbed Blair for the scenes in which she was possessed.  Blair has gone on to have a long career, appearing in movies that may not have been as honored by the Academy as The Exorcist was but which are still often very entertaining when taken on their own terms.

In The Exorcist II, Blair returned to the role of Regan.  Now in her late teens, Regan says that she can’t remember anything about being possessed.  Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) and Dr. Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) think that Regan is repressing her memories and, in this scene …. well, I don’t really know how to describe this scene.  Seriously, The Exorcist II is such a strange movie!  Basically, Dr. Tuskin has a hypnosis machine while allows people to link minds.  Dr. Tuskin links with Regan’s mind and then Lamont links with Tuskin’s mind.  It’s all incredibly silly but it does allow for this scene in which “good Regan” shares the screen with “possessed Regan.”

Here is a weird scene from a weird movie, featuring a total of four Oscar-nominated performers.  (For the record, Burton was nominated multiple times and, the same year he appeared in this film, he also appeared in Equus, for which he received his final nomination.  Louise Fletcher won for One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.  Max von Sydow would later be nominated for Pelle the Conqueror and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  And, of course, Linda Blair was nominated for The Exorcist.)

Scenes That I Love: The Opening of John Boorman’s Zardoz

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Zardoz (1974, dir by John Boorman, DP: Geoffrey Unsworth)

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 90th birthday to the great British filmmaker, John Boorman!  Here is a scene that we love, the opening of Boorman’s 1974 film, Zardoz!  Fresh from directing and receiving an Oscar nomination for Deliverance, Boorman turned down a chance to direct the original Exorcist so he could bring Zardoz to cinematic life.

(Of course, Boorman would direct the first sequel to The Exorcist.)

Directed by John Boorman and featuring Sean Connery, here is the opening of Zardoz!

8 Shots From 8 Films: Special John Boorman Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 88th birthday to British director John Boorman.

Boorman is one of those great director who sometimes doesn’t seem to get as much credit as he deserves.  An undeniably idiosyncratic director, Boorman easily moved from genre to genre and who brought his own individual style to each of his films.  Sometimes, critics and audiences responded to that vision and sometimes, they didn’t.  And yet even Boorman’s so-called failures have come to be appreciated over the years.  Zardoz is a cult classic.  Even The Exorcist II: The Heretic is not quite the disaster that some insist.  If nothing else, it’s one of the strangest studio productions to ever be released.

At his best, Boorman is one of the most influential directors of all time.  How many neo-noirs have ripped off the look and the feel of Point Blank?  The ending of Deliverance has been imitated by a countless number of horror films and, indeed, every backwoods thriller owes a debt to Boorman’s film about four businessmen spending a weekend canoeing.  Excalibur is one of the most elegiac of all the Arthurian films while Hope and Glory retains its power to make audiences both laugh and cry with its portrayal of life on the British homefront during World War II.  Meanwhile, films like The General and The Emerald Forest gave underrated characters actors like Powers Boothe and Brendan Gleeson a chance to shine.

So today, in honor of the career and the legacy of John Boorman, here are….

8 Shots from 8 John Boorman Films

Point Blank (1967, dir by John Boorman, DP: Philip H. Lathrop)

Deliverance (1972,dir by John Boorman, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)

Zardoz (1974, dir by John Boorman, DP: Geoffrey Unsworth)

The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977, dir by John Boorman, DP: William A. Fraker)

Excalibur (1981, dir by John Boorman, DP: Alex Thomson)

The Emerald Forest (1985, dir by John Boorman. DP: Philippe Rousselot)

Hope and Glory (1987, dir by John Boorman, DP: Philippe Rousselot)

The General (1998, dir by John Boorman, DP: Seamus Deasy)

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Lee Marvin Edition

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Prime Cut (1972, directed by Michael Ritchie)

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

96 years ago, Lee Marvin was born in New York City.  After getting kicked out of several prestigious prep schools for “bad behavior,” 18 year-old Lee Marvin enlisted in the Marin Corps, was briefly a corporal before getting demoted back to private (again, because of “bad behavior”), and was wounded in action during the Battle of Saipan.  (Marvin was one of the few members of his unit to survive the battle.)  After he was discharged from the Marines, he worked as a plumber’s assistant at a local community theater and, after being asked to temporarily replace an actor who had fallen ill, Marvin decided to pursue a career as an actor.

Marvin became one of Hollywood’s premier tough guys.  He played his share of gangsters, cops, and cowboys but, because of his background, he was a natural for playing military men.  Whether it was The Dirty Dozen, The Big Red One, or The Delta Force, Lee Marvin was a natural leader and brought authenticity to every military role the played.  His final film was The Delta Force, which just happens to be the greatest film ever made.

In honor of Lee Marvin’s birthday, here are:

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962, directed by John Ford)

Point Blank (1967, directed by John Boorman)’

The Big Red One (1980, directed by Sam Fuller)

The Delta Force (1986, directed by Menahem Golan)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Burt Reynolds Edition

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today would have been Burt Reynolds’s 84th birthday.  In honor of a legendary career that is only now starting to really be appreciated, here are 4 shots from 4 of Burt’s best films.

4 Shots From 4 Films

Deliverance (1972, directed by John Boorman)

Smoky and the Bandit (1977, directed by Hal Needham)

Sharky’s Machine (1981, directed by Burt Reynolds)

Boogie Nights (1997, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)

A Scene That I Love: “The Sword Has Been Drawn” from John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today is the 87th birthday of director John Boorman.

A former journalist and documentarian, Boorman got his start as a feature film director in 1965 when he was offered the chance to direct Catch Us If You Can, an enjoyable take on A Hard Day’s Night that starred the Dave Clark Five.  Boorman went on to establish himself as one of the most idiosyncratic and unique directors working in the British film industry.  Among the films that Boorman would direct: Zardoz, Deliverance, Point Blank, The General, Hope and Glory, and The Emerald Forest.  Among the films that Boorman was offered but turned down: The Exorcist, Fatal Attraction, Rocky, and Sharky’s Machine.  Few directors can claim a filmography as varied and unique as John Boorman’s.

During the 70s, Boorman made an unsuccessful attempt to put together a film version of Lord of the Rings.  Boorman intended to tell the entire story in just one film but he couldn’t find financial backing for his epic vision.  So, instead, Boorman directed Excalibur, an film about King Arthur which, thematically, has as much in common with Tolkein as it does with Malory.

Starring Nigel Terry, Nicol Williamson, Helen Mirren, Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne, and Liam Neeson, Excalibur is my personal favorite of the many cinematic adaptations of the Arthurian legend.  (I like it even more than Monty Python and the Holy Grail, though it’s a close race.)  In the scene below, Arthur (Nigel Terry) first removes Excalibur from the stone.  By removing the sword, Arthur confirms that it his destiny to bring “the Land,” (as Britain is referred to as being in Excalibur) together.  Not everyone is convinced but Leondegrance knows a king when he sees on.  (That’s not surprising, considering that he’s played by Patrick Stewart.)