A Canterbury Tale

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Alec B A thoroughly strange movie but a rewarding one, especially by its end where the "Pilgrims" all receive their blessings or penances. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/28/24 Full Review Matthew B Not much happens during the two-hour running time of A Canterbury Tale. An American sergeant travelling to Canterbury gets off the train at the wrong stop, and is forced to stay in the small town of Chillingbourne. While there he teams up with a British sergeant and a young woman to find the identity of a mysterious assailant called The Glue Man, who pours glue over the hair of British girls who date American soldiers. Later the three companions travel to Canterbury where a final miracle is waiting for them. Such is the storyline, but the story is sometimes the least important part of a movie that is made with thoughtfulness, intelligence and great skill. What A Canterbury Tale lacks in narrative drive, it makes up for with its brilliant visual style and its rich literary, historical, contemporary and spiritual subtext. While the film is called A Canterbury Tale, most of the action takes place before the characters arrive in the city. Indeed only the final 20 minutes of the movie are set in Canterbury. Nonetheless the town looms large over the action. It is constantly referred to by the other characters, and we get glimpses of the distant city, with particular focus on its imposing cathedral. The title carries a deliberate echo of The Canterbury Tales, a collection of verses written in story form by the medieval poet, Geoffrey Chaucer. Indeed the film opens with the pilgrims from Chaucer's tale. We watch as they travel along the Pilgrim's Way, the road that leads to the cathedral, where they will seek blessings. While we watch their antics, a narrator quotes from Chaucer's work, or perhaps an imitation of Chaucer's style. However this is not a medieval tale, and this scene is designed to link the past and the present, both by similarity and by contrast. Soon we will see three modern pilgrims finding a blessing at Canterbury, but the Pilgrim's Way changes much over that time. The transition from the past takes place while we watch a hawker release his bird. He looks up at the bird and we watch it soar in the sky. The scene abruptly cuts to the present-day (1940s Britain). The sky-borne hawk has become a fighter place, and the hawker is replaced by a soldier, who gazes up at this modern invention in the same manner. The scene anticipates a similar and more famous time transition in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, but director Michael Powell used this image 20 years before Kubrick. A Canterbury Tale opened to poor critical reviews, and was less successful than earlier Powell and Pressburger collaborations. Perhaps that is because it is an acquired taste and not for everyone. It is unashamedly highbrow, and more interested in creating a mood than in generating suspense. For those of us who do appreciate A Canterbury Tale however, it is sublimely beautiful and moving. Watching the film is an enriching experience. I wrote a longer appreciation of the film on my blog page if you're interested in reading more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/a-canterbury-tale-1944/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/17/23 Full Review jordan m I couldn't see the forest for the trees with this one. I was apparently supposed to zoom out and view this as the filmmakers' love letter to England and its inhabitants. What I did instead was sit through an entirely too-long whodunit where the sole suspect ended up being the culprit. Worse, he gives a list of reasons for attacking women that reveals he was doing it to try and ensure that the townsfolk conform to his personal standards of decency. Worse still, those reasons are deemed acceptable by committee and he's set free to presumably continue his work. It's hard to imagine how this movie has maintained its status as a classic. The part with the guy getting to play the church organ was nice though. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review william d The cinematographer works wonders with the lighting. However, the story was just too inconsequential. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Regarded as something of a classic but I'm none the wiser as to why. The plot is absurd and the ending meekly ridiculous. The one interesting aspect is seeing wartime Kent and Canterbury. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member An atmospheric gem from another age. The story, the characters, the setting all go together to make a timeless masterpiece. I've watched this movie countless times, and it always completely engages me. One of my all-time favorites. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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