There are numerous adaptations of the Arthurian legend, but none is as Robert Bresson‘S Lancelot Du Lac. This unique masterpiece by one of France’s greatest filmmakers will be visually remastered with a new 4K restoration set to premiere at the Film Forum. The restoration is set to run from Friday, September 27th to Thursday, October 3rd in honor of the legendary auteur Breeson. Admirers of Breeson’s work will be happy to hear news, as his other masterpiece, The devil, probably will also be shown in beautiful 4K before Lancelot Du Lac.

Lancelot du Lac (translated: Lancelot of the Lake) is a retelling of the love story between Lancelot, one of Arthur’s best knights, and Queen Guinevere (the king’s wife). The story takes place shortly after the miserable failure of Arthur’s knights to recover the Holy Grail, with only 30 of 100 soldiers returning battered from battle. In the aftermath, Lancelot finds comfort in Guinevere’s arms and begins an affair that tears apart the once-formidable Round Table and culminates in the discovery of his loyal knight’s betrayal.

In typical Bresson fashion, the film represents a bold reversal of what one would normally expect from medieval romances. Lancelot du Lac is free of the fantastical elements that often accompany Arthurian legends and instead focuses on the essentials, humanizing each main character and highlighting their flaws. A revised description of the film reads:

“Riderless horses gallop through dark forests, limbs are chopped off, the knights have failed to find the Grail, and Lancelot loves Guinevere adulterously. Bresson’s LANCELOT DU LAC is a merciless deconstruction of the legend, with jousting footage consisting almost entirely of horse legs and flags being raised and lowered, the knights always in full, clanking plate armor, and all of this leading up to a devastating final hecatomb.”

“Lancelot Du Lac” was critically acclaimed

Lancelot Du Lac premiered at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival and, despite its cast of non-professional actors, was well received by critics and won the FIPRESCI Award. The film has a solid 95% rating on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and reached second place on Michael Haneke‘s Sight & Sound poll of the best films of all time. Geoff Brown of Time Out praises the film in its review as “breathtakingly beautiful, fascinating, exhausting, uplifting, astonishing – all the things you would expect from a masterpiece.” The New Yorker Penelope Gilliatdescribes it as: “Dazzlingly austere and beautiful… With LANCELOT DU LAC we find ourselves once again in the inimitable Bresson world of watertight seriousness.”

In addition to directing, Bresson also wrote the screenplay and paid tribute to the works of the French poet Chrétien of Troyes for his vision. The camera work was done by the Oscar winner Pasqualino De Santis who also worked with Bresson on The devil, probably, L’Argent (1977). The film, which contains a devastating indictment of France after May 1968, will also be shown in 4K at Film Focus from Friday, September 20th to Thursday, September 26th.

Lancelot Du Lac The 4K restoration will premiere at Film Focus from September 27th to Thursday, October 3rd.