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Canterbury Tale (DVD)

APPROX. 124 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1944 - MPA RATING: NR

DVD Specifications

Release date:
Studio: Criterion/Voyager
Year: 1944
Video: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1.0
Genre: War
Subtitles: English

Special Features

  • Commentary by film historian Ian Christie
  • Scenes from Michael Powell's re-edited American version
  • New video interview with actress Sheila Sim
  • A Pilgrim's Return, a short documentary on actor John Sweet's 2001 return to Canterbury
  • The new documentary A Canterbury Trail by David Thompson
  • "Listen to Britain," a 2001 video-installation piece inspired by the film, by artist Victor Burgin
  • Humphrey Jennings's landmark 1942 documentary Listen to Britain

Synopsis

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's beloved classic is a profoundly personal journey to Powell's bucolic birthplace of Kent, England. Set amidst the tumult of the Second World War yet with a rhythm as delicate as a lullaby, the film follows three modern-day incarnations of Chaucer's pilgrims - a melancholy "landgirl," a plainspoken American GI, and a resourceful British sergeant - who are waylaid in the English countryside and forced to solve a bizarre village crime en route to the mythical town. Building to a majestic climax that ranks as one of the filmmaking duo's finest achievements, the dazzling A Canterbury Tale has acquired a following passionate enough to qualify as a pilgrimage all its own.

Cast & Crew


Criterion/Voyager presents
Dennis PriceEsmond Knight

"Canterbury Tale"

Written byThado TurnerWritten byEmeric Pressburgerproduced byThado Turner
directed byNick Questeddirected byMichael Powell
Production Year: 1944
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