Lavinia Collins's Blog, page 23

Best Secondary Characters in Arthurian Film and TV

1. Sean Connery as the Green Knight in Sword of the Valiant 

He’s green, he’s sparkly, he can attach his own head and in this barely recognisable bastardised version of Gawain and the Green Knight, he has NOTHING to do with Bertilak. But he IS Sean Connery, and he IS green and sparkly.

2. Sinead Cusack as an Evil Nun in Camelot

She’s fabulous, but she’s evil.

3. Joan Allen as Evil Morgause in the Mists of Avalon 

see above.

Please suggest any I’ve missed!

Film & TV Morgan le Fays – Who was best?

1. Excalibur 

Plus:

It’s HELEN MIRREN

She’s not afraid of committing of some sleuth incest to get what she wants

Does some pretty badass magic

Wears some seriously cool costumes

Minus:

Seems quite reliant on Merlin for much of the film

2. Camelot

Plus:

Is friends with an Evil Nun. 

Also not afraid to engage in some sleuth incest.

Also wears some seriously cool costumes

Shape-shifting magic

Minus:

Unnecessary “sad childhood” back story.

3. The Mists of Avalon 

Plus:

A pleasingly unique Morgan, who isn’t wicked or plotting

Minus:

Her only decent magic trick is making some mist disappear

4. King Arthur

Where is your Morgan le Fay? You disappoint me.

My verdict: 

It has to be Excalibur again – Helen Mirren’s Morgan is just the right mix of mental and ambitious, though Camelot comes close, since the best (dare I say it only good) thing about the TV show was its Morgan and her friend Sinead Cusack the Evil Nun.

Vote for your favourite and as always if there’s anyone else I ought to include let me know. It won’t be an awful hardship for me to watch another Arthurian film to add it to the list…

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Film & TV Guineveres: The Best and the Worst

1. Excalibur (1981)

Plus:

Enjoys kinky forest sex

Makes becoming a nun (right hand picture) look like a wise fashion choice.

Minus:

General air of helplessness

3. Camelot (TV series) (2011)

Plus:

Wants to have sex on the beach (come on everybody)

Minus:

Has no discernible personality

Is inexplicably married to someone much hotter than Arthur in the TV show, and still implausibly decides that she would prefer Jamie C-B.

3. Mists of Avalon (2001)

Plus:

Is (much) better in the book

Looks gorgeous

Minus:

Won’t stop going on about God

Excessive threesome guilt

General air of helplessness

4. King Arthur (2004)

Plus:

Fighty and Badass

Minus:

Looks like one of the ones from Avatar / A smurf

Baffling interest in Clive Owen’s extremely dull King Arthur

My Verdict

Excalibur‘s Guinevere is the clear winner for me, if only for the excellent nun costume at the end, although the weird forest sex scene was also a big factor. It was a shame that trying to fit the whole of the Mists of Avalon into a 3-hour TV series almost entirely flattened Guinevere’s character, because in the book it seemed like there was a lot more to her.

But what do you think? And is there some quality Arthurian TV/Filmmaking that I have missed, in my ignorance?

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