Guenevere's execution from Camelot

[shadowwarrior775]

I'm in the stage production of this play being put on by the local theater, and alot of this is pretty close to what we're doing. it's cool to see it in movie form

[kalawanginair]

This was before Watergate ... the vulgar reality of Viet-Nam was only beginning to rear it's ugly head ... We still believed in Truth ...Hope ... in Love ... "don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one Brief Shining Moment ...

[beardo373]

In 2011 this movie seems downright campy. Somehow I suspect that it didn't in 1967.

[scoutramsay]

"Let her die, your life is over. Let her live, your life's a fraud. Kill the queen, or kill the law." Wow, talk about chills.

[oneexseal]

13pangea, i do agree with you. ik love women, but they, as well as men, have a knack for screwing up things - i stand corrected!!!! But, great movie, yes?

[Lumotaku]

wow they changed the lyrics from the musical. Yeah guiniverre in the legend has all the flaws of a real woman that was pampered and the feminists couldnt have that so they made that avalon bullcrap;

[Method12321]

@Lumotaku I'm curious as to what you mean by feminists couldnt have that so they made that avalon bullcrap. In what way?

[oneexseal]

I totally agree with you unknowable1968 - if it were not for this woman, Camelot may have run for so much longer - leave it to the female species to ruin something, eh?

[13pangea]

@oneexseal yeah, but just think where you might be without us.

[unknowable1968]

when you think about if it were not for a woman Camelot may not have fallen

[JVMerlino1963]

Amusing trivia: the guard in armor at 1:45 is Gene Merlino, who sang for Franco Nero (Lancelot) in this movie. But somebody else is singing for him in this scene!

[JVMerlino1963]

Amusing trivia: the guard in armor at 1:46 is Gene Merlino, who sang for Franco Nero (Lancelot) in this movie. But somebody else is singing for him in this scene!

[MusicallyDelusional]

I love this song, it's so spooky and sounds amazing.

[cujo9]

fear not lady Guenevere! brave english knight to the rescue.

[swanlakegirl]

you know what surprises me? Is that the song is um.. well quite happy. You wouldn't expect this to contain an execution

[MusicLifeLove1000]

There was a version that I read where Guinevere wasn't sentenced to death but Arthur sent her to a abbey to become a nun for the rest of her days and Lancelot was banished from the round table, something like that, but then again I think I was reading the entire life of Arthur and not just this story.... Still love the movie! :P

[robertquentincobb]

One of the Greatest Performances in Stage and Movies. Richard Harris is amazing! RIP. Thanks for posting.

[nywolf1953]

Love This Song! Thanks for it and the video

[smichelle65]

The only thing more romantic than this scene, with Franco Nero riding off with Vanessa Redgrave, is their real-life love story; they met on this film, had a child together, were on-and-off for the next 30 years, and got married in 2006, after the fiercely independent, free-thinking Redgrave *finally* said yes.

[Hethrin]

Yes, as opposed to being "burned at the stake until partly singed."

[queenastilon]

@Hethrin or "until nicely browned all over" 

[BalinSilay]

Why didn't they just stone Guenevere to death? The woman adulterer in the bible was going to be stoned but what about the man that was with her? Why did he go free and not get stoned?

[LEGOMANIAC419]

@BalinSilay Because Jesus said, "He among you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone."

[TheGuardianizz]

@BalinSilay DUH! Cause he's a man.

[ncfwhitetigress]

@BalinSilay Because he escaped.

[GregoriusTheBrown]

@BalinSilay Well, technically, she wasn't being executed simply for adultery, but for treason.

[LEGOMANIAC419]

Now, I know Lance and Gwen brought the whole thing on themselves, but seeing Lancelot coming to Guenevere's rescue fills me with a sense of gallantry.

[BalinSilay]

@LEGOMANIAC419 Hello, Legomaniac: Lance & Gwen got what they wanted (each other) and Arthur got what he wanted (Gwen & Lance) - they're all even steven. A hundred years from now nothing really matters except how much you have LOVED. This is why this story is still very much alive today. :)

[queenastilon]

@TheGuardianizz Agreeing about the fairy tale aspect.

Some argue that you could take the characters' names and tell any story with them, but I must say I'm too much of a traditionalist to accept the current BBC hit series' version: Guinevere as an ethnic minority servant girl and Merlin a young lad instead of the wise old man we all "know" (ahem) advised and taught young Arthur.

[longman718]

@TheGuardianizz Is that so? I never knew. Thank you for telling us. So you are saying that Geoffrey edited the original legend?

[TheGuardianizz]

@longman718 Actually I was mistaken, what I mean tot write was that Lancelot was never a character till Chretien's third Arthurian story, which was written even LATER than Monmouth's was. Basically think that Arthur lived around 6th century before the Saxon invasion, then 600 later in 1136 came Geoffrey's version - STILL no Lancelot mentioned. Then came Chretien and his Lancelot. In Celtic Myths and folklore legends like Culhwch and Olwen, Gwen was accused of betraying Arthur, not cheating.

[TheGuardianizz]

@longman718 The experts agree that Geoffrey of Monmouth's supposed History of Britain is NOT a historical work based on facts, but is rather a detailed piece of literature mentioning names and other records, basically what we would call today a historical fiction - like Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

[longman718]

@TheGuardianizz Oh, so basically he put the characters and their names into a piece of literature (where anything could happen). Now it is clear, thank you. Yes and true, I also noticed the same thing with Anna Karenina and many other books I read.

[BalinSilay]

Bunch of savages gathering round to watch a spectacle. Why didn't they practice this in privacy....why the audience? Primarily, no one should have the right to sentence anyone to death. Goodness. This is where the current law came from - back from ancient, medieval era - and it has not evolved at all. We are still practicing medieval ideas. Wars, too, are ancient, prehistoric actions that should no longer be practiced. What good would it have done to burn the queen at the stake?

[neoregulus777]

@BalinSilay The very open, public space was chosen because it gave Lancelot a large, raucous crowd to hide in and a much better shot at rescuing Guenevere. The benefit to Guenevere's execution would have been to assure the fractured nobility that Arthur's new laws really DID apply to everyone equally, regardless of wealth or favour. Besides all that, it hardly seems like the crowd is made up of bloodthirsty animals when they're all urging Lancelot to prevent the execution. =)

[BalinSilay]

@neoregulus777 Hi, Neoregulus, the fractured nobility of Arthur's new laws could have been applied w/ a lesser sentence. The crowd was not exactly bloodthirsty - they just accepted. But okay, that was then. I know this is only theatre, but each time I watch this (I have the dvd), I parallel it w/ our present society, we're now modern era but our traditions, minds & laws have not caught up w/ current time. I read current events & still see medieval thinking. Tell me what you think?:)

[GregoriusTheBrown]

@BalinSilay

"Prehistoric," "Ancient," and "Medieval" are mutually exclusive terms, but you use them interchangeably. This is simply incorrect. Please stop.

More importantly, what about it currently being the modern era has any bearing upon the legitimacy of capital punishment? Surely, if it is unjust, it was unjust even during medieval times. If it is just, then the mere fact that it was also practiced in Arthur's time is completely inconsequential.

[BalinSilay]

@GregoriusTheBrown Hello, thank you for your comment. Take some world history courses, Asian history, European history courses, also study different religions and read the Old Testament. Then we can talk.

[GregoriusTheBrown]

@BalinSilay

I'm sorry, that is simply not an actual response. You have no way of knowing what sort of courses or books I have read. And quite frankly, it's irrelevant.

As a side note, why specifically Asian and European history? Why not African or Australian history? Why read the Old Testament and not the Talmud or the Quran? What "other religions" are you referring to? More importantly, what does any of this have to do with what I said?

[queenastilon]

@BalinSilay Re the public nature of this execution, they have always been public events up until very recently - taking the long view.

You raise an interesting question: why? I don't know how much is known of social psychology concerning this, but even in biblical times (and before) it was the norm for all to witness executions. - to satisfy mob bloodlust? - the scapegoat idea (see Christianity for vicarious redemption through bloody sacrifice)? possibly as an example or all of the above.

[AmericanEvita]

It's this scene especially - Guenevere has been trialed for adultery and treason against the King - that doesn't suit Julie Andrews' version. Can anyone honestly believe that if Julie were Queen of England, she'd commit adultery ? Vanessa Redgrave gave a far more realistic, convincing performance as Guenevere

[GreatDarkSpot]

@AmericanEvita I have a hard time thinking that Julie Andrews would sleep with Richard Burton in the first place, but her voice is far superior to Redgrave's. I just wish she hadn't let Blake Edwards influence so much of her career.

[franksmith16]

the music from this part is so perfect

[franksmith16]

I would have had Mordrid killed if I was Arthur

[Californos1988]

When the man that you love, falls in love with the woman that you love, desperate love insues

[titanicpiano14]

Epic scene! I love it!

[flicker2754]

I often hear how the movie pales by comparison to the Broadway production, but not so here. How could they have portrayed this as effectively on stage? This is such a suspenseful and heartbreaking sequence.

[mrboombasticx]

Excellent! This is my favorite scene in the film, second, possibly, to the knighthood scene. (I love the music that plays while Lancelot is knighted.)