Glorification and Reality of Violence in Bresson and Malory
Violence is a common theme throughout every King Arthur story, with knights frequently killing on quests or in tournaments, but this violence is hardly ever realistically shown. Instead, it is both glorified and prolonged in ways that do not accurately represent the senselessness of the violence nor does it show violence as a bad thing. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur, fights between knights happen throughout, and often for seemingly no good reason, and last for hours. Even in the quest for the Holy Grail, knights kill and kill, even turning upon each other. This violence is critiqued in the film partially based off of, and inspired by, Malory’s text, Robert Bresson’s 1974 Lancelot du Lac. The contrast in the representation of violence in the two adaptations and stories of Arthurian legend reflect the violence happening during the time in which the two were made while also showing two different possibilities of what violence in media can be.
Malory’s 15th century text, Morte Darthur, seeks to tell the story of King Arthur from beginning to end. That being said, many people, including Arthur (as the title of the text foreshadows) die. These deaths are both glorified and undistinguished, they happen so often that it feels senseless, especially to the modern reader, but the context in which a fair number of deaths happen, in a tournament, duel, or one versus a group setting rather a large-scale fight, glorifies both the perpetrator while never critiquing violence itself. For example, Sir Galahad encounters seven knights on his quest for the Grail, one of whom threatens Galahad with death. In response, Galahad “put forth his spear and smote the foremost to the earth, that nearhand he broke his neck. And therewith the other six smote him on his shield great strokes, that their spears broke” (Malory 324).The language used, that of great strokes and smiting, places Galahad in a position of glorification. His acts of violence, of attempting to kill, are described by Malory in grandiose terms that reinforce ideas that violence is something that can bring the perpetrator glory and honor.
Malory, writing in the late 15th century during the War of the Roses was surrounded by violence as those around him fought for control of the English crown. However, during this time, dying for one’s country or beliefs was seen as an honorable death, even if the reality was the opposite. This is shown in how Malory writes of violence; he writes of the attackers like they are doing great deeds to bring honor to their crown (Arthur and Camelot), when in reality they are grittily and without second thought killing and hurting people. The time in which Malory writes is reflected in his writing through glorification of violence, which continues the tradition of Arthurian stories having senseless violence, but also places Malory historically in the time he wrote Morte Darthur.
Lancelot du Lac is a minimalist film that is often stiltedly acted, with no big expensive battle scenes or swelling instance orchestral music that emphasizes the violence when it occurs. Rather, the violence of the film is senseless and merciless, with very fake looking blood appearing from wounds, and with knights that topple upon each other, dead, nameless and without glory. Even the perpetrators, namely Lancelot, gain little glory from their actions, and even when they do, they still all fall to violence at the end. Knights, and even King Arthur, die with little or no recognition, and even Lancelot, the unbeatable knight, the knight who, at the beginning of the film, defeats multiple nameless knights. The undistinguished violence at the beginning compared to the end shows that even the “unbeatable” must fall at some point, and that there is no glory through violence, just death and pain. The minimalist aspects enforce this by not distracting the viewer with hundreds of extras distracting the scenes, special effects that suggest fantasy elements, or even realistic blood.
Bresson’s film, like Malory’s text, reflects the time in which it was written. Bresson, in early 1970s France, was only a little over ten years distanced from the French conflicts in Algeria (the Algerians fighting for independence against the colonialist French), and student riots had taken over Paris just a few years before. Bresson was surrounded by senseless violence that happened for no real reason or violence that harmed those who were fighting for what was right. By making the violence in his film small-scale and unrealistic in terms of special effects, Bresson is critiquing the grandiose language Malory uses and sets his scenes with, but also is reflecting upon the senseless violence France had inflicted for years.
