Near the end of the movie *SPOILER*:
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When Frik says to Merlin, "But why didn't...?" and Merlin answers, "I don't think they would believe me if I told them how the story really goes," what does Merlin mean by this? I know he's referring to the story he told his audience, but I'm still puzzled by these words. Anybody have an answers?
"I've been having these weird thoughts lately... like is any of this for real or not?" -Sora, Kingdom Hearts
I think he cleaned up his story for the children. Like the deaths, the sexual conduct. Or perhaps he was talking to us the viewers allowing us to use our imagination of the incredible magic that took place?
shareit ment that he gave the cliff notes version because truth is stranger than fiction.
if nothing else it should make people want to go read the books so they can see what they missed
What it (the scene/quote) does is clean up any inconsistencies in the Arthur legend that do/do not appear in the film, for those hardcore literary movie watchers unable to separate film from written literature for the duration of a few hours and enjoy a very well-made, beautifully acted television film. It was a very quick, easy way to address an inherent problem whenever literature/mythology/history is transferred to film (see Tom Bombadil/LoTR, Walt Disney, or any movie of any Michael Crichton novel.) Unfortunately, many people cannot seem to allow themselves to enjoy a film that does not stick to the book word-for-word (how many LoTR fans have actually read Hobbit and the "trilogy" itself...but that's another topic), so it becomes necessary to "justify" these inconsistencies. These are the same people who rail against Titanic for the dramatic, barely-brushing-history storyline, all the while ignoring the groundbreaking CGI effects and wonderful cinematography, but I digress (I just got done reading the "Worst Movie Ever" post, and had to vent at the stupidity.)
shareAccording to the movie novelisation (assuming for the moment that the contents of the novelisation are considered to be the "canon" version of events as far as the film goes), Frik says this because Merlin has altered his story so that Mab is not included- presumably so that she can't gain belief and come back from wherever it is she disappeared to (Merlin is stupid- sorry, I am very bitter about him defeating Mab). Basically, the assumption is that the way it happens in the film is indeed what happened, but the way Merlin tells the story when he is old is different (eg. he says that Morgan Le Fay was a sorceress, and it was her behind Mordred's creation, etc. God knows what explanation he comes up with for his own creation, it's not mentioned). I think it's quite clever, as Merlin's version of events is much closer to many of the original legends than the film itself- acknowledging that the movie doesn't always keep to the original legends, but also implying that it doesn't mean the original legends are neccessarily the right ones.
share