Filmmaker John Boorman is considered the godfather of contemporary Irish cinema, having famously fostered the talents of writer/director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), and actor Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) among others. Although raised in London, Boorman has lived in Ireland's County Wicklow for over 40 years as well as shooting four features there. The first was the surreal dystopian fantasy ZARDOZ (1974), a project self-initiated when he was forced by United Artists to abandon his version of The Lord of the Rings starring The Beatles. At the time of its release ZARDOZ was derided as a bizarre folly after his unprecedented popular success with Deliverance (1972), however, despite a healthy cult following, its lasting legacy may be that it marked Boorman's introductory use of the spectacular Irish countryside. Surrounded by rugged mountains and boggy grasslands, Wicklow was an ideal setting for his Freudian themes of an evolved civilisation, where the superego Eternals, are overthrown by their id-like warriors, the Exterminators. This ongoing conflict of the rational versus the natural would be further developed in the director's three subsequent films: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Emerald Forest (1984),and Excalibur, his first truly Irish filmin production and character. With Excalibur, Boorman was finally able to realize his long held ambition to film the King Arthur myth, and he took full advantage of the then burgeoning pool of acting talent in Ireland to tell the violent and carnal tale, by showcasing such future international stars as Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne and Ciaran Hinds. The story of the Round Table and the Grail quest had always held him in thrall, reflecting his belief in the profound magic of the elemental world, personified in the film by the whimsical Druid wizard Merlin (Nicol Williamson) and the sensuous witch Morgana (Helen Mirren). As envisioned by Boorman, the Arthurian age heralded the ebbing of mystical spirituality to make way for the dominance of Christainity, a belief system based more on reason, and therefore less connected with the primordial earth. This dichotomy could also be applied to the Irish character itself, often in strife between the emotive, i.e. earthy urges of conviviality, versus the "higher" mental aspirations of art and intellect. With ever-present organic greenery reflected upon the gleaming steel surfaces of sword blades and knight's armour, Boorman foregrounds his themes of man and nature, and is aided in these sensorial allusions by the painterly eye of cinematographer Alex Thomson (Legend), the baroque style of costume designer Bob Ringwood (Batman) and accompanied by the exhilarating Wagnerian music cues of Trevor Jones (The Dark Crystal). Made entirely in his adopted homeland of Ireland and cast with his own children in important roles, Excalibur more than any other work is John Boorman's testament film, communicating through the ancient medium of mythology, man's eternal struggle with himself and his environment. DVD & BLU-RAY
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