Review of The Canterbury Tales (1972) by Grant S — 20 May 2015
Uneven, with some mildly interesting stories and some pointless ones.
Based on Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Pier Paulo Pasolini's adaptation doesn't do the book much justice. Many of the stories are plain dull and pointless. Some are interesting, but then end anti-climatically. (This is worse, in a way, as you get your hopes up of a decent story, and then it doesn't really go anywhere).
Quite similar to Pasolini's previous work, The Decameron, in many respects. Also doesn't have anything that ties the stories together (although The Decameron did at least have a summarising statement at the end, which was reasonably profound).
Performances here are better than the The Decameron, though there are some absolute shockers again. The lead character in the Chaplinesque scene involving the egg salesman takes the cake in terms of hammy acting.
This review of The Canterbury Tales (1972) was written by Grant S on 20 May 2015.
The Canterbury Tales has generally received positive reviews.
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