Ah, Lancelot

[ivyfic]

jethrien asked me to explain my newest obsession. Asked me to. These were originally in emails to trinityvixen since I thought everyone else’s eyes would glaze over, so if y’all are rolling your eyes at me right now, blame jethrien.


Over all, the movie suffered from a) predictability and b) extended cut sequences. I timed it. From the time you know they're about to go to battle to the next line of real dialogue is forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes. I mean, it's not trying to be anything other than an excuse for a battle sequence, but God that was boring. I skimmed through some of the extras (by which I mean I fast-forwarded until Ioan was talking) and from that I gather the creators thought that since their take on Arthur was so original they didn't have to try to make anything else original. One of them was saying who would ever guess you'd meet Guinevere in a prison cell. Well, me for one. As soon as I realized she was a Woad I knew that would be how we'd encounter her. How boring. And they toyed with greater ideas of freedom versus duty, but settled on spewing some pro-Democratic proto-American slop and didn't explore it further.

There was only one moment that was just disgustingly bad, and that was the completely gratuitous, superfluous and badly done flashback to Arthur's mother's death in the middle. Since that incident has no bearing on anything else he does in the film, motivates nothing, and the potential complications from it are ignored, what the hell?



Why I love Lancelot 101

-Ioan is hot.

-Lancelot is a slave. He clearly does not want to be a soldier, does not want to be in England, does not want to serve the Roman empire. But he has to if he ever wants to be anything else and, unfortunately for him, he's very good at it. So he's stuck in this terrible situation where he must become something he hates if he ever wants the chance to be free. By the time the movie happens I think he's realized that he will never be able to return home because of the things he's done: hence the lack of faith in any religion, and his statement about not deserving sons. He's a nihilist.

I think if he had his druthers he'd be a farmer out in Sarmatia. But instead he's here killing people he doesn't think should die, and, to his horror, finds that he does enjoy it. He holds himself apart from the other knights because if he admitted that he found companionship here in England he would have to admit to himself that some good came out of being forced to serve Rome.

This makes his relationship with Arthur fascinating. Arthur is, in the movie, fairly naive. I don't think he can understand how much Lancelot hates being here. So, assuming (as I think is fairly clear in the film – no, that’s not the slasher in me, watch the damn thing, it’s the only interpretation that makes sense) that they are lovers, Lancelot can love Arthur and hate him at the same time. Love him for who he is as a man and hate him for being his jailer in this hellhole. Love fighting by his side and hate fighting for a cause he cannot believe in.

I would also posit that he'd hide his strong desire to go home through most of his service (talking about it in the film being only the result of his imminent release from that service). So he creates this devilish persona that allows him to be the soldier he needs to be and holds the dream of the farmer secure deep inside himself. I'd be surprised if even Arthur knew what the token from his sister was.

Because of all this, his choosing to give up his chance at freedom to stay with Arthur should be huge. But since this is not a deep film, and the knights staying is a foregone conclusion, it's not. His choice to stay, I'd posit, is equal parts wanting to stand by Arthur and finally allowing himself to realize that this dream he has held for himself for so long of a home in Sarmatia is just that - a dream. He can't go home. He barely even remembers this home he's been clinging to. It has certainly changed and he would be out of place there. And he has changed too much. He's been playing the part of the killer for too long, he realizes he can't set it aside. So he essentially chooses to kill himself in battle.

And, of course, Arthur is completely oblivious to all of this.

The great thing is I can see Lancelot as a real villain. He's a complete mercenary with no ideals and no faith left. Yes, he will leave innocents behind to die, yes, he'll kill children as quickly as he kills men. The other knights still have this higher moral sense - one nurtures a child, others free prisoners or plan on settling down, but Lancelot has given up entirely on morality. He's this close to being a medieval Artie Bremmer.

All of this would be fascinating to explore in a story centering on Lancelot's relationship to Arthur, but even though I've found a few slash archives for the movie, they are all too focused on (badly-written) smut with no consideration to characterization and without any knowledge of the setting.

I also enjoyed that Lancelot is the exact opposite of Hornblower. Hornblower is Arthur in this film - devoted to his men, dedicated to his duty, unshakable in his belief that what he does in necessary and just. Hornblower's men, like Arthur's, are largely involuntarily in the service, so both feel a duty to men who have not chosen this life. Which makes Lancelot the shell of that - he does his duty because he has to. If he ever met Hornblower, he would despise his ideals.

And to close with just a hint of the slashiness in the film, Lancelot to Arthur: "I don't like anything that puts a man on his knees."

Comments

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Look! It's a comment!

The fact that I haven't actually seen this movie limits what can be said. I do find it amusing that you keep falling in love with movies that really don't deserve it on the basis of what they could have been.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

What can I say - it's the editor in me. If it weren't broke, I wouldn't be trying to fix it.

Or maybe the frustrated writer. I haven't been able to generate a good set of characters myself yet, but I can see the dramatic potential in other people's.

Also - Ioan is hot.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Well, duh.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

gratuitously reposts icon

[sasha-b.livejournal.com]

And, of course, Arthur is completely oblivious to all of this.

Ahahaha. You have discovered the truth of meh Arthur. He's an idiot. :p

Actually, and here's where I'll go geeky fangirl on you, I think he's oblivious to some things, but mostly he's someone to whom the concepts of right and wrong are so intrinsically part of him that once he's gotten it into his head that he's "right" about something, he's going to barrel ahead no matter who stands in the way. It's not that he's a bad person; rather, once he's made up his mind, especially if he thinks he's doing something for the good of someone else, look out.

It's funny I should find this post - amari_z and I were discussing this very thing yesterday. She's also got a fantabulous cracky!slash series of KA AU called Resurrection that I would highly rec.

I'm a huge KA fangirl and am always interested in talking to people about it, esp. ones who post more than "OMG Arthur n Lance 4eva!!"

I hope that you like the stuff of mine that I've written for KA - and if you don't, please please comment and tell me why. I'm a sucker for concrit and comments period.

Thanks for letting me ramble. :p

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

he's someone to whom the concepts of right and wrong are so intrinsically part of him that once he's gotten it into his head that he's "right" about something, he's going to barrel ahead no matter who stands in the way. It's not that he's a bad person; rather, once he's made up his mind, especially if he thinks he's doing something for the good of someone else, look out.

Exactly. Which is why I'm at work on my own massive KA AU. Because it was criminal for the film makers to set up such a tragic character and then not use him to advantage.

I am sure I will work my way through your stories while at the office. In the mind time, mind if I friend you?

[sasha-b.livejournal.com]

Awesome! KA has such a small *coughgoodcough* fanbase I'm excited to hear someone else is working on something.

Bear in mind, my Live By The Sword 'verse is modern day crap. So you may not like it. But I'll leave that up to you to decide. :p

And of course you can friend me. Ooops. Considering I already did friend you. :p

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind, my Live By The Sword 'verse is modern day crap.

Oh, I'm in Stargate Atlantis fandom. If I didn't love a good AU, I wouldn't get by.

Mine is a post-movie, Lancelot lives AU. I will save more tantalizing tidbits for when I have the first part ready to post.

[sasha-b.livejournal.com]

Weee! Looking forward to it.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

BTW - thanks for pointing me towards the Resurrection series. I stumbled on the first part, which mentions thoughts of writing more, but didn't see that there were, in fact, many more stories already written. Now I just hope my bosses don't expect me to do anything on Monday.

[sasha-b.livejournal.com]

Ahahhaaa! Trust me, once you start it, it's impossible to stop. Hope you like.