Lancelot du Lac

One of Robert Bresson's last films is in some ways one of his best. In it he strips away the Arthurian legend to its barest essentials. There are no epic battle sequences (though arrows fly, swords clang, and there is a beautifully staged jousting tournament), no rousing speeching, in fact Arthur himself is a mere background character. This is a film about the weakness of the flesh -- both literally and figuratively -- the knight's seemingly ineffectual (and constantly clanging) armour does not protect them from blows of the sword or an archer's arrows, and Lancelot's vow to God to end his adulterous affair with Guinevere is short lived. As is the story of Arthur and his knights, Bresson's film is a tragedy. The beginning sees the knights returning home from their quest for the Holy Grail, but are dismayed to have found nothing. The metaphor seems to be that their quest was not only for the Grail, but for God himself, and they have found nothing. Thus, a loss of faith, the weakness of the flesh, and power struggles quickly leads to their downfall and a somewhat brief, though poetic conclusion.