PERCEVAL

Rohmer's concept is to portray the 12th century of the Perceval story through the idealized terms with which that period mythologized itself. The result is a uniquely enchanting experience. Rohmer has found his perfect Perceval in Fabrice Luchini, a comic innocent whose wide-eyed impressionability registers every stage of Perceval's initiation into the rituals of courtly life. Although closely related to Rohmer's other films (Perceval is a brother to the Jean-Louis Trintignant character in 1969's “My Night at Maud's” and Claire's sisters from 1971's “Claire's Knee” also are evident) the old French rhyming text and the painted sets give a unique look and sound to this, his most exhilarating film. “Eric Rohmer's Perceval is a medieval Buster Keaton who pursues the Grail in a bumbling, inefficient but charming manner.” – New York Film Festival “Intelligent, polished, spiritual and deeply rewarding.” – After Dark