{"id":9089,"date":"2009-08-13T16:58:59","date_gmt":"2009-08-13T23:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9089"},"modified":"2023-11-18T00:41:03","modified_gmt":"2023-11-18T07:41:03","slug":"canterbury-tales-the-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9089","title":{"rendered":"Canterbury Tales, The (1972)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You take a path to Canterbury &#8212; well, good luck. The holy blessed martyrs will reward you.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Poster-197x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-58779\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Poster-197x300.png 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Poster-672x1024.png 672w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Poster-177x270.png 177w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Poster.png 679w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA group of pilgrims travel to Canterbury, telling various bawdy tales along the way.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Episodic Films<<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Hugh Griffith Films<\/li>\n<li>Pier Paolo Pasolini Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPier Paolo Pasolini&#8217;s follow-up to his delightfully irreverent adaptation of Boccaccio&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=103\"><em>The Decameron<\/em> (1971)<\/a> was this disappointing take on Chaucer&#8217;s <em>Canterbury Tales<\/em>. Casting many of the same actors, and utilizing authentic-looking costumes, sets, and props, Pasolini once again excels at viscerally evoking the grime and vibrancy of medieval Europe &#8212; but the same can&#8217;t be said for his storytelling abilities. Pasolini only loosely follows Chaucer&#8217;s actual text &#8212; indeed, it&#8217;s frustratingly difficult to figure out exactly who&#8217;s who, or which particular tales are being told; instead, he selectively draws from the book&#8217;s characters and situations in order to depict his own uniquely bawdy vision of hypocrisy, sexuality, and religion during the Middle Ages. <\/p>\n<p>The opening story (&#8220;The Merchant&#8217;s Tale&#8221;), about a lecherous merchant named Sir January (Hugh Griffith) whose beautiful new wife, May (Josephine Chaplin), cuckolds him while he&#8217;s under a spell of blindness, is only mildly amusing, but at least promises more of the same type of naughty tales we saw in <em>The Decameron<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind-1024x556.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"348\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind-1024x556.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind-768x417.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind-1536x833.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blind.png 1823w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The next vignette takes on a much darker tone, as we watch two different men &#8212; one wealthy, one poor &#8212; being spied on while committing the heretical act of &#8220;buggering&#8221;, then blackmailed. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail-1024x618.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58783\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail-1024x618.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail-768x464.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail-1536x927.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail-447x270.png 447w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Blackmail.png 1681w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The gruesome outcome poignantly points out the hypocrisy of medieval &#8220;pardoning&#8221;. The rest of the film, unfortunately, quickly goes downhill, as tale after tale fails to provide either much humor or insight. We&#8217;re exposed to plenty of explicit sex and genitalia, several explosive farts, and &#8212; in Pasolini&#8217;s infamous vision of hell near the end of the film &#8212; a red-skinned devil literally defecating friars.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell-1024x559.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"349\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell-1024x559.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell-768x419.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell-1536x839.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell-495x270.png 495w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Hell.png 1837w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Those who enjoy such coarse imagery will be delighted, but the rest of us will simply suffer. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fine historical costumes, sets, and production design<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor-1024x553.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"346\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58786\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor-1024x553.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor-768x415.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor-1536x830.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor-500x270.png 500w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Squalor.png 1845w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls-1024x563.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"352\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58787\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls-1024x563.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls-768x423.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls-1536x845.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls-491x270.png 491w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Stalls.png 1823w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The second tale, about the gruesome hypocrisy of &#8220;pardoning&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5-1024x554.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"346\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5-1024x554.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5-1536x831.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5-499x270.png 499w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Canterbury-Tales-Sets5.png 1831w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s worth a look simply as the second in Pasolini&#8217;s famed &#8220;Trilogy of Life&#8221; (followed in 1974 with <em>Arabian Nights<\/em>). Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary&#8217;s book.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0067647\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eyeforfilm.co.uk\/reviews.php?id=1193\">Eye For Film Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.tvguide.com\/canterbury-tales\/review\/129759\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-canterbury-tales\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You take a path to Canterbury &#8212; well, good luck. The holy blessed martyrs will reward you.&#8221; Synopsis: A group of pilgrims travel to Canterbury, telling various bawdy tales along the way. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Black Comedy Episodic Films<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9089"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93370,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9089\/revisions\/93370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}