Canterbury Tale (DVD)

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As the mystery of the Glue Man recedes into irrelevance (I won´t give it away, but there´s only one suspect) the characters head inevitably to the cathedral in Canterbury, modern pilgrims retracing the steps of their predecessors. Each character receives a blessing of sorts when they reach Canterbury, and if you want to criticize this film for anything, you can point to the schematic way in which each of these revelations or catharses is delivered. But these pilgrims have come a long way; surely they deserve some reward, don´t they?

I can only think of a handful of films more beautiful than "A Canterbury Tale," and a few of them were made by Powell and Pressburger. The movie offers many pleasures that have very little to do with goals or central tensions, and everything to do with the moments in-between that make up life. Dilly-dallying never looked so grand.

Video

The film is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Like several recent Criterion releases, the image is picture-boxed which means there are thin black bars on the sides as well as on the top and bottom. However, most DVD players automatically zoom in on the image, and viewers with such players won´t notice the picture-boxing, and you actually see more of the original negative, though there is a very slight loss of picture resolution (certainly nothing I can spot.) The image quality on this digitally restored transfer is gorgeous, with sharp contrasts and only moderate damage from the original source print (a few scratches and flecks) is occasionally noticeable.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the audio.

Extras

Disc One contains the digitally restored transfer which is accompanied by a feature-length commentary by film historian Ian Christie (which I have not yet had a chance to listen to). This disc also has two excerpts from the American release of "A Canterbury Tale." The film did not perform well in the UK, so Powell re-edited it for American audiences, cutting out twenty minutes, and adding a bookending sequence in which Bob recounts the story of the film (thus making it a flashback) to his new wife, played by Kim Hunter in one of her earliest roles. Both the prologue (along with a very different title sequence) and epilogue are included here.

Disc Two houses most of the extras. An interview with Sheila Sim (20 min.) was recorded in February 2006 for Crtierion, and a short video documentary called "John Sweet: A Pilgrim´s Return" was shot in 2001 by Nick Burton and Eddie McMillan. Both pieces are fairly typical recollections by cast members, both of whom remember their experiences with Powell and Pressburger quite keenly even sixty years later.

"A Canterbury Trail" is a pleasant little documentary (24 min.) "A Canterbury Tale" is so intimately tied to its locations, you can understand why its enthusiasts are interested in Paul Tritton´s annual walking tour of the film´s locations. In 2005 (the centennial of Powell´s birth), David Thompson recorded one of these tours and also shot footage of other nearby locations.

"Listen to Britain" (x2). In 1942, Humphrey Jennings filmed the short (18 min.) "Listen to Britain," a poetic documentary that captures the sights, and especially the sounds, of a country securing itself against war. This lyrical film is so well-remembered that English artist Victor Burgin made a 2001 short by the same title. This seven-minute film cuts from an image of Sheila Sim in "A Canterbury Tale" as she soaks in her first view of Canterbury Cathedral with modern-day shots taken from inside the woods she would have been looking through. Burgin´s piece was originally intended as a museum installation that would loop continuously (as this piece on the DVD also does) so visitors could enter and exit the space at any time and still be immersed in it. On DVD, it plays more like a lovely little curiosity than anything else, but it´s still a fun extra.

The insert booklet includes essays by film scholars Graham Fuller and Peter von Bagh, as well as a remembrance by actor John Sweet.

Closing Thoughts

"A Canterbury Tale" doesn´t receive as much attention as Powell and Pressburger´s more famous films, especially "The Red Shoes" (1948) and "Black Narcissus (1947)." As far as I´m concerned, however, it is one of their three best collaborations, along with "The Red Shoes" and "I Know Where I´m Going!" Not that you can wrong with "One of Our Aircraft is Missing" (1942), "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" (1943), or "Tales of Hoffman" (1951) either. If by some horrible twist of fate, you have not yet seen a Powell and Pressburger film, start with any of these, and I doubt you will be disappointed.

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