Review of Perceval (1978) by Lyndon G — 26 Nov 2007

The colorful fake sets, the peculiar narration, the simplistic quality of the 12th century source material. Zany? It takes itself seriously. The story is told in Old French couplets sung by minstrels at interludes and recited by the characters, often in third person.

(This actually really works.) The music is pleasant, the stage like what you'd see at a play, only much more immersive. Perceval's first encounter with a knight reminds me of 2001 (an alien, monolithic knight).

Determined to become one of these creatures, Perceval wanders around misapplying his mother's simple teachings until a knight mentor tells him to stop telling everyone what his mother taught him, and in fact to stop talking so much, unless absolutely necessary.

Soon there is a scene with the opposite lesson: talking too little is just as bad as talking too much. The subject matter may be simplistic, but such old stories have a way of catching you off-guard with their directness, then just so with circumspectness.