Lancelot of the Lake
Having failed in their quest for the Holy Grail, the knights of the Round Table return to Camelot, their number reduced to a mere handful. Seeing a rift developing between Lancelot and Mordred, Arthur urges his knights to bury their differences and become friends. However, the king is unaware that Lancelot is having an affair with his queen, Guinevere. Lancelot is torn between his duty to his king and his love for the queen, whilst Mordred is determined to use his infidelity to destroy him.
Critics Sentiment
Lancelot competes incognito in the jousting tournament, observed in Bresson's fragmented close-ups
The knights drift in aimless resentment and mutual suspicion after the failed quest
Sentiment drops from 6.5 at the knights' defeated return to 5.0 during the aimless middle stretch of mutual suspicion, then surges back to 7.5 with the jousting tournament sequence.
Audience sentiment for Lancelot of the Lake follows a shallow valley arc: the striking, blood-soaked opening earns genuine admiration, the film sags in its austere middle section where Bresson's emotional flatness divides viewers most sharply, and the jousting sequence and brutal finale partially recover goodwill. The film's overall reception reflects a persistent tension between those who find Bresson's radical minimalism revelatory and those who find it soul-deadening, producing a moderate consensus score that masks wide individual variance.
Full cast
Luc Simon
Lancelot du Lac
Vladimir Antolek-Oresek
Le Roi (The King)
Laura Duke Condominas
La Reine (The Queen)
Patrick Bernhard
Mordred
Humbert Balsan
Gauvain
Arthur De Montalembert
Lionel
Daniel Benoin
Chevalier giflé
Charles Balsan
Christian Schlumberger
Joseph-Patrick Le Quidre
Jean-Paul Leperlier
Marie-Louise Buffet
Marie-Gabrielle Cartron
Antoine Rabaud
Jean-Marie Becar
Guy de Bernis
Philippe Chleq
Crew
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