La chanson de Roland

Don't be fooled by the name of the film. This is not a screen version of the medieval epic of Charlemagne, the Frankish warrior-hero Roland and traitor Ganelon. It's a movie inspired by the song of Roland. The Middle Ages are shown here as imagined fantasy world, as in Ingmar Bergman's "Seventh Seal", Robert Bresson's "Lancelot du Lac" or Grigory Kozintsev's "King Lear".

A group of pilgrims and vagrant artists who have joined them are travelling through Spain to the places of Roland's military glory, to the monastery of Santiago de Compostella. Performers are entertaining the pilgrims with the scenes from the epic. The characters of the film are easily moving from their real world into the epic world of Charlemagne and Roland. Beggars, vagabonds, artists are turning into warriors-heroes of the epic, fighting an unequal battle with the Saracens. The scenes from the epic tale are shown here as medieval people could imagine the The Song of Roland and its heros. The reality surrounding the pilgrims is grim. Serfs rebelled, and the knights (no longer epic heroes) are brutally suppressing the rebellion.

So it's medium-budget arthouse fantasy film about the world of the Middle Ages and social problems of society. The paintings by Bosch and Peter Bruegel were among main influences on the director. It is obvious that the director, the film operator and the actors wanted to convey the atmosphere of the epoch much more than to make standard or scientifically correct historical movie.

Cons of the film: it's not historically correct recreation of the epoch of Charlemagne, the theatrical attitude to depiction of the Middle Ages in general, the failures in the drama.

Pros: it's atmospheric film with picturesque images, always impressive Klaus Kinsky in the roles of Roland and wandering artist Klaus, the music of the ancient instruments (harp, flute, drums) and fragments of authentic medieval melodies, woven by composer Antoine Duhamel into his soundtrack.

It has a gritty, medieval epic quality and the artistry of a Pasolini film. The film is the oldest surviving work in French literature, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity from the 12th to 16th centuries. Widely unseen, it lacks Kinski's usual genre horror sexploitation gimmicks that lead to cult fandom and distribution. Instead it is one of his rare non-Herzog art films, and brings an intriguing folkish meta cinema narrative where Kinski plays two characters, the storyteller and the knight. Kinski was a committed, disciplined artist to his craft. A mad man could not perform a hundred films and complete each character. I found The Song of Roland an incredible effort with an alien feeling that called to mind Fellini Satyricon and the best works of Pasolini.

If you have seen Frank Casssenti's previous effort ,"L'Affiche Rouge" ,you will notice it's based on the same pattern: thespians who recreate events of their past: WW2 resistant fighters martyrs seen by 1976 comedians in "L'Affiche" , count Roland's saga in Carolus Magnus' time circa 800 seen by troubadours of the twelfth century in "la Chanson De Roland ".There's a big difference though: the Nazi reprisals are historic facts whereas "La Chanson De Roland" was written at the end of the eleventh century,thus long after the so called events .(the historians tell us,for instance,that Roland was killed by the Basques,not by the Sarazens .

"La Chanson De Roland " was written to glorify the chivalry,to sing their praises ,and in the end,to vindicate the three classes of the French society of the Middle-Ages (one of the characters hints at it):those who pray,those who fight and those who work.In a Marxist vision of this Chanson De Geste, the director's main purpose is to show us that this legend is the medieval "opium of the people" ;so is religion,as we see this "Pilgrim's Progress" through these dark times -although modern historians such as Regine Pernoud told us that the Middle-Ages were not such a dark period- : fever,famine,pillagers.

In its form ,after "L'Affiche Rouge" ,it's more of the same:"the show in the show".But the "Chanson De Geste" was performed in the castles with a great economy of means: spoken,sung ,mimed ;in the movie it's given a cinematographic treatment ,with some stage performances ,just like the 1976 work.This is debatable,if the movie should be shown by teachers as the precedent user suggests.

The movie stars Pierre Clementi,who was in "l'Affiche rouge";also featured are ambitious thespians such as Alain Cuny and Dominique Sanda (wasted) as well as a cast-against type Klaus Kinski as Roland/the comedian.Jean -Claude Brialy briefly appears.

The moral of the movie is Crystal clear: you can carry on with your pilgrimage to Compostella ,or take a rebel stand and join the rebellious peasants ;that's what the comedian who plays Roland does,forgetting a hero from an obscure past epitomizing a regime which will last till August 1789 in France.

Like this? Try this.......

"La Voie Lactée" Luis Bunuel,1969.

First of all, "La chanson de Roland" is a great film. But, unfortunately, it's quite an unknown one. Unlike other "medieval" films (e.g. Anthony Mann's "El Cid") there's no "sword-battle-american-pulp-shit" stuff, but a hard intellectual effort in order to offer us a realistic version of the European Middle Ages. And also an extraordinary respect for the text it is based on, which proves that there's an exact point between plain translation into images and "commercial" or "updating" stupidness (but you must be clever enough to find it!). The director seems to know this ancient French literary masterpiece as deeply as sir Lawrence Olivier knew Shakespeare's greatest plays. Last but not least, Kinski is superb, either as the poor "jongleur" who's traveling to Santiago de Compostela with his mates, or Roland, the hero from the story he tells during their pilgrimage. I'd recommend this film to any viewer, and specially to teachers who'd like to find an easy, powerful way to show their students how "different" and fascinating the Middle Ages can be.