☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
A
Canterbury Tale (1944) – M. Powell & E. Pressburger
The more I sit down to watch what I
think are going to be “minor” works by Powell and Pressburger (creators of The
Red Shoes and Black Narcissus), the more I find myself bowled over by
masterpieces of wonderment. Although not as amazing as (5 star rated) I Know
Where I Am Going (1945), this lyrical wartime idyll follows three young people
who find themselves in the tiny village of Chillingbourne, located on the
pilgrim’s road to Canterbury Cathedral (made famous by Chaucer, who gets a nod
in the opening moments of the film). A mysterious “Glue Man” is putting said
substance in women’s hair in startling after dark attacks and the three leads
(a “land girl” sent to help production on a local farm, an American GI, and a
British soldier) try to solve the mystery.
But Powell and Pressburger are less interested in the Glue Man and more
interested in showing us the beauty of the English countryside and its simple
pleasures. As our three pilgrims make
their way to Canterbury, we are treated to a wave of cinematic epiphanies,
truly glorious moments, and a rather plotless poetic film suddenly gains
structure as they each receive the blessings that they had been seeking. Only the Glue Man’s quest remains.
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