Thursday, January 05, 2006

Speaking of Medieval Literature


I was amazed to see an advertisement for a movie of Tristan and Isolde, a medieval french tale of romance and chivalry most famously spun by Chretien De Troyes . The tagline is "before Romeo and Juliet there was... Tristan and Isolde." I am not sure that's going to sell a lot of tickets. I guess the question is whether it's going to hang in theatres until Valentine's Day.

As with most french chivalric romances, it's the story of a knight who falls in love with his master's wife. There is a great deal of cheating followed by a great deal of bloody retribution. Yes, exactly like Arthur, Gwenivere and Lancelot.

James Franco stars, so that's good I suppose.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:05 PM

    I'm pretty sure I studied this story in High School in my British Literature class along with all the usual King Arthur/medieval stuff. It's actually a good story (from what I remember). The fact that I actually remember it should account for something. It'll be interesting to see how the movie turns out.
    And, Matt, I'm totally impressed with your soon-to-be-published writing skills. I hope it all works out for you...can't wait to read your final product.

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  2. And I'm impressed that you read Tristan and Isolde in high school! I can't believe how much smarter everyone is than me. For instance-- I just discovered Steinbeck like two years ago. Or I should say, my wife forced me to read Steinbeck two years ago. Now I force her to listen to me reading passages of Steinbeck out loud. That'll teach her!

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