She didn't deserve him...

We disagre on so many things I don't think this is going to turn into a productive conversation, sorry. Let's see if it can feed the discussion anyway.
To me you can definitely not choose who you fall in love with. You may be able to exert some kind of control afterwards, once there is love, but certainly not control the triggering of these emotions. "Let's see, that guy is handsome, clever, affectionate, rich... Gee, I think I'll fall in love with him!" C'mon...
I don't understand the question "does that justify cheating on him?" There could be cheating with a good reason and cheating, clear and simple? To me, either you sympathise with the lovers, because their love was so strong they couldn't resist it, or you condemn them for committing adultery and cheating on their husband and friend, but the fact that Guinevere betrayed such a noble king as Arthur seems to me relatively of no consequence. After all, he has, like any character, qualities and flaws (I for one would never want him for a husband), he is not a perfect guy, and living with him would seem to me very tedious.
I see no difference in the "level of sin" between Lancelot and Guinevere. Why would her betrayal be more irksome than his?
Of course, maybe you just didn't like the actress. I did, but have no point of comparison, having never seen Andrews in that part.

I'm a Sidekick and proud of it.

Interesting topic.

For me, I disliked Guinevere from the moment she came on screen. I don't think it was the actress but the character. After hearing her first song I said to my wife (who was watching it with me), "What a spoiled little b*tch."

I was really hoping Lancelot did not show at her execution and she was burned at the stake. Sadly, there is no justice.

Moving on, King Arthur to me was a better human being. He had his flaws, but he actually cared enough about her to overlook the affair. He had enough restrain to not seek justice. Do you think Lancelot would have extended the same courtesy if he were king?

Arthur was the sense of reason in his time, whereas Lancelot to me represented the side of man that we are better off without - pompous, back-stabbing, lacking half of a brain and ruled by hormones.

Yes, I do hold them duly responsible for the adultery and I think they got off easy. Back then, they both would have been executed.

Now I don't care what anyone says, you cannot really choose who you are attracted to, but you very much so choose what to do about it. It is entirely possible to resist temptation. We all can, just some choose not to. Furthermore, I've never heard of a good reason to cheat - ever. It is likewise it is my experience that the only ones who try to justify it are cheaters themselves.

Guinevere got something she never deserved - someone who loved her. She was a spoiled child, and never was anything else. And children want attention, not 'love' in the real sense.

And in terms of Arthur and Lancelot again: try looking at it this way. A good diagnostic of your personality is pretending that everyone in the world acted like you, and what the world would be like as a consequence. If everyone was like Arthur, it would not be perfect, but people would be thinkers, rational, tempered by reason, and would have an honest desire to make a better world. If everyone was Lancelot, the world would digress into a Neanderthal testosterone fest where men can truly become animals.

So much of the King Arthur story, whether its this version or any other that retains the Arthur-Guinivere-Lancelot love triangel, rides on Guinivere. It's a very heavy burden for an actress. You can't play her as a slut or stupid because then we don't like her, we want her to burn, and we don't understand why Lancelot and Arthur are both willing to die for her. But you can't play her too virtuous, because then nobody believes she gave into her desire for Lancelot. And you also have to show her maturation, because she does start out he play a spoiled little girl, but, if done properly, grows into a beautiful woman by the end of the story. So, you see, it's pretty hard. I agree, I really didn't like Vanessa Redgrave's because she played it too far on the smutty side. But Guinivere can be a lovely, utterly sympathetic character if you have an actress that gets it right. It didn't help that Lancelot wasn't the best he could be either.

Actually, this particular show is challenging for all the principals. If any of the three main characters don't nail the performance absolutely, it doesn't matter how well the other two do because you don't understand why they care. It all falls apart under one weak performance. Lancelot's got to be self-righteous but not so abrasive we don't understand Ginny's attraction to him. In the original lore, Lancelot was truly virtuous, but pride goeth before a fall. He gives in to his passion and he ends up paying dearly for it. And as for Arthur, we have to believe Arthur is a good king, yet weak when it comes to those he loves. Richard Harris nailed that, of course, but one actor (or even several) cannot save a movie. Music can though, at least in my opinion.

Mordred can also be a dreadful experience. You often see him played as very effeminite, and yeah he's seductive and manipulative and everything, but this is a man that tries to kill his dad and brings down a whole kingdom. He can't be a Shrinking Violet, he's got to be powerful too. I was in a production where the actor decided to make Mordred more, for lack of a better word, "Macho" and it was infinitely better. He posed more of a real threat.

Red, blue, and green are all real colors. Yellow is a mystical experience shared by everyone.

I think everyone can find a Beatles analogy agreeable. Nice comparison.

I most enjoyed Arthur's (Richard Harris) and Mordred's (David Hemmings) acting in the film. For me, that's part of what made it watch-able. The actress's performance may or may not have been what made me hate her, seeing as I've not seen the play.

I can see clearly though that Lancelot's performance just took away from the film for me. He should not have attempted the French accent which just made it laughable.

But on Mordred's masculinity, what can be said about Mordred is that (sticking to the source material), he is in legend a slime but he is still a strong, dangerous man. As underhanded he may be, he did not 'wait' for the opportune moment when his father died or got sick, but raised an army and challenged his father's rule. Devious, yes, patience and cunning do not necessarily imply femininity.

Robert Addie's portrayal of Mordred in 'Excalibur' (1981) was not feminine, and was perfectly convincing.

I agree with the original poster. I LOVE Arthur and I think that any woman who preferred that silly, one-dimensional Lancelot was not right in the head.

Now I have to say that in the movie I didn't much like any of them. The movie was terribly heavyhanded and the performances over the top in my view. (Though I didn't see Julie Andrews in the role, only in a clip or two, I do have the cast album, and I know she must have been SO much better.) When I think of these characters I'm pretty much thinking of them in the play. And I think it's worth noting that in the play, things don't go as far between Guenevere and Lancelot, even though she does fall in love with him.

But he's still a twit and Arthur is still so much more likeable, so I still can't understand her being so foolish.

I believe that Arthur should simply have pardoned them both or let them run off together.When Lance came to the rescue,the knights should have just let him through-did they want her to burn?

When I was young I saw this film. I identified with Launcelot and was enamored of Guenevere and thought it was a beautiful love story.

Later when I was older I identified with Arthur, and realized that Launcelot had failed where he tried to succeed in being virtuous, and the Guenever was a less than perfect wife and a terrible queen.

Funny how I never saw the infidelity or understood the betrayel when I was younger, and when I matured I saw the film compltely differently.

It is a film that can still touch me in deep places because it helped form my idea's of love and romanticism. But it is now tarnished by feelings of regret and sadness for Arthur who is the true Hero in the film, one that only wisdom and maturity can find apparently.

The most simple explanation is usually the correct one - Databyter

Based on the thread title (sorry, OP) I thought this was going to be yet another squawkfest* on this message board. I was pleasantly surprised to find it is one of the most thoughtful and civilized discussions here.

So I'm bumping it up. Page one needs something other than argument threads.




*("I'm right! You're wrong!" repeated interminably = squawkfest)


last 2 dvds: Oliver Twist (1948) & L'horloger de Saint-Paul (1974)