Review by ulicknormanowen

Roland did exist ; the legend made him Charlemagne"s nephew and the emperor's daughter's his fiancée ;his character spawned many literary works from "la chanson de Roland" to "Orlando furioso " to an episode of epic Victor Hugo's "la légende des siècles" .Historically, Roland was a count , his role was to protect the empire from the Bretons ;he was killed by the Vascons (a people whose name spawned the "Gascons " and the Basques) in the Roncevaux pass.Ganelon did exist too ,but he was not able to doublecross Roland for he lived circa 830-840 whilst the valiant knight died in 778 ;on the other hand he betrayed his king Charles Le Chauve ,hence his role of traitor in Roland's saga; Angelique ,who has nothing to do with the "chanson de Roland" ,was created by Ariosto in "Orlando furioso".

For sure,Charlemagne would have been stupefied,,had he seen the anachronistic tournament ,which seems taken by force from "Ivanhoe" ; the first fight which has very vague similarities to a tournament occured circa 842 and they really appeared,as shown in the film ,after 1000 AD.

Rosanna Schiaffino is the Saracen's "secret weapon", supposed to cause dissension among the Franks ,and she succeeds triumphantly :even Roland (even though he refutes it) succumbs to the belle's charm ; as for Aude ,Charlemagne dearest daughter and Roland's fiancée,she meets Renaud and falls in love with him (in front of the waterfalls one sees in almost every Italian sword and sandal flick wherever it takes place ).Add nasty Ganelon's plots and you've got a muddled situation .Apart from the love plots , the screenplay essentially consists of fights ,battles, and the (involuntary comic ) tournament (!)