I was quite skeptical during the first few minutes of viewing _Perceval_; I hadn't been aware ahead of time of its unique style. As I made the leap from thinking about this as a cinematic experience to viewing it as more of a theatrical production, I got into it more. I liked the minstrels -- I love that style of medieval music, and they provided both entertainment and a necessary Greek-chorus-like narrator role.
I do not speak French; however, by listening to the dialogue (instead of just reading the English subtitles), I was able to appreciate the rhythm and rhyme.
I found the level of Perceval's naivete hard to swallow at times. But the most disturbing thing was how the narrative became fragmented and then just petered out at the end -- mixing Gawain's and Perceval's tales, and not resolving either of them.
Overall, a stylistic tour-de-force, but a narrative disappointment.
I do not speak French; however, by listening to the dialogue (instead of just reading the English subtitles), I was able to appreciate the rhythm and rhyme.
I found the level of Perceval's naivete hard to swallow at times. But the most disturbing thing was how the narrative became fragmented and then just petered out at the end -- mixing Gawain's and Perceval's tales, and not resolving either of them.
Overall, a stylistic tour-de-force, but a narrative disappointment.