“The Mists of Avalon” review
by V.E. on January 22nd, 2008
filed under entertainment, recap/review, spirituality
Official | IMDb | Wikipedia | Amazon
I’d forgotten that The Mists of Avalon was a mini-series before I popped it into the DVD player this evening. A decent movie, but I kept thinking, “It can’t be much longer now until the end.” Based on a book of the same name, the story follows Morgaine le Fay—legendary King Arthur’s half-sister—through her life as a child, training with her Aunt Vivianne on the island of Avalon, and ultimately producing the offspring, Mordred, who killed King Arthur… Although, since the story is interwoven and convoluted, it could be easily argued that Arthur helped produce Mordred because he… well, he did. I’ve never read the book, but I hope it’s better than this movie/mini-series.
Morgaine and Arthur are born of the same mother by different fathers, are separated at a young age by Merlin (the great sorcerer) and Vivianne (Avalon’s high priestess and Lady of the Lake and sister to their mother), and then—many years later—are both part of a Beltane ritual that ends up having Arthur get Morgaine pregnant… Then, later, after Arthur has married Gwenwyfar (aka: Gwenivere), Arthur asks Lancelot (his best friend and cousin) to have sex with Gwenwyfar in his bed so she will conceive and bear him (Arthur) a child. Then, should anyone ask, Gwenwyfar may say truthfully that she conceived the child in the king’s bed. With trepidation, Lancelot and Gwenyfar both go along with this and the three of them end up in bed together to get her pregnant. (It doesn’t work, apparently because Morgause, Arthur’s mother’s sister, has cursed Gwenwyfar’s womb with magic to make her barren.)
Morgaine leaves her son, Mordred, with her mother’s other sister, Morgause, and returns to Camelot to live with Arthur there. Morgause proceeds to corrupt Mordred’s mind and turn him against Arthur (who he doesn’t know is his father for a long time and isn’t happy with it when he finds out), Morgaine, and everyone else so that he can rise to power (and her, Morgause, along with him). To top all of this off, the “Saxon barbarians” are waging war against the Britons, and there’s conflict within Britain between the Goddess religion, of which Morgaine and her relatives are a part, and the new Christianity, of which Lancelot and Gwenwyfar are a part; both religions over which King Arthur must keep the peace.
If you’re confused, don’t feel bad. It’s a confusing story, and I’m glad that the directors and producers decided to make it into a mini-series rather than a feature-length film because feature length isn’t long enough. They probably could’ve done well with a couple more hours in there somewhere to help more fully explain Lancelot’s marriage, Morgaine’s mother’s becoming a nun near the end, and other things that seemed rushed. However, I was already getting tired of the movie at its current length, so I’m also glad they didn’t make it any longer. I appreciate the focus on the Goddess religion and its rituals, and I think that Morgaine was right to point out (at the end) that Avalon’s Goddess hadn’t died out as had been thought; the Goddess had adapted to survive in the Christian era as Mary, Mother of God. With that said, The Mists of Avalon isn’t particularly historically accurate and the story gets lost in the relational confusion.
My final vote? I say, if you’re looking for a retelling of the King Arthur legend on screen, try King Arthur (Official, IMDb, Wikipedia, Amazon) instead. If you’re looking for weird sexual relations and treachery at every turn, then great: this is the movie for you. But honestly, the book has got to be better (although I don’t know that for sure, so don’t quote me), so I recommend reading it instead of wasting time on this mini-series.
[...] “The Mists of Avalon” review I say, if you’re looking for a retelling of the King Arthur legend on screen, try King Arthur (Official, IMDb, Wikipedia, Amazon) instead. If you’re looking for weird sexual relations and treachery at every turn, then great: this is the … [...]