Magic, wonder, and regret are a powerful combo in fiction; and, it is certainly a powerful combo in film. Today on the blog we are looking at the 1998 mini-series Merlin starring Sam Neil, Helena Bonham Carter, Rutger Hauer, James Earl Jones, Martin Short, Isabella Rossellini, and more.
Summary
The mini-series follows the story of Merlin (Sam Neil), as he ventures from youthful naivete to aging wisdom, battling against Morgan Le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter) and Mab (Miranda Richardson) through time to subvert her evil plotting.
The mini-series begins with Merlin reflecting on his life. Merlin is born of Fairy Queen Mab who is attempting to get the masses to revert back to the pagan ways of the past. She has found herself on the wrong side of a theological struggle in the country. Meanwhile, the country itself is beset by war and turmoil, and it is with this background that Merlin is born and is raised by his guardian Ambrosia after his mother dies in childbirth.
As a teenager, Merlin saves Nimue, a noble daughter, from being swallowed by quicksand by using a little magic. At that, Ambrosia reveals his magical heritage and sends him to Mab, where he is to learn the ways of magic. Merlin does not want to aide Mab in her mission (mostly due to apathy), and he later finds that Mab allowed his mother to die in childbirth; additionally, he comes to find out that Ambrosia is dying of a sickness. A series of events ensue and Ambrosia dies and Merlin swears to use his magic to destroy Mab due to her malevolence.
Much later, Merlin is brought to the evil King Vortigern to be killed (so his blood can be used to keep his castle from falling), but Merlin reveals a vision of Vortigern’s defeat at the hands of Uther. Nimue is nearly killed to bring out Merlin’s power, and Merlin warns Uther about Vortigern’s plan to surprise attack him during winter. Merlin kills Vortigern during the battle and gifts Excalibur to Uther.
However, Uther loses his mind and is tricked in giving up Excalibur by Merlin, and he also sleeps with the wife of the Lord of Cornwall (murdering he and his men afterward).
Merlin: Hundred are dead because you have an itch.
Merlin (1998)
Uther: Will you help me scratch that itch?
Merlin, through a previous deal, is now the overseer of Uther and Igraine’s child, Arthur. After years of tutelage, Merlin prepares Arthur in the ways of kindness and equity, and the boy eventually draws Excalibur from the stone to become the new king of Britain.
Through Merlin’s lack of foresight, others conspire against him, and Arthur ends up sleeping with his half-sister Morgan Le Fey (a ploy created by Mab). The incest-child, Mordred, is reared to destroy Arthur. Regardless, Arthur builds Camelot and marries his love Guinevere. Before setting out for Camelot, Arthur appoints a protector of the kingdom–Lancelot. Guinevere and Lancelot engage in an affair while Arthur is gone, and Lancelot’s wife commits suicide in response, due to Mab’s meddling.
Arthur returns and learns of the betrayal and then engages in a battle with Mab’s army controlled by Mordred. The two engage in a fight and both are mortally wounded. Arthur tells Merlin to get rid of Excalibur and Merlin argues with the Lady of the Lake, learning that Galahad was the protector all along, and that the old ones are dying because the denizens of the realm have forgotten them. Using this knowledge, Merlin defeats Mab by employing this very tactic.
In the end, Merlin Joins an old Nimue in a manufactured paradise and uses his final magic trick to make them both young again.
Analysis
I find that this mini-series really deals with the idea of regret. A regret for actions, choice, and for living a past that cannot be controlled.
As Merlin states: “Things fall apart, they say. Uther had betrayed me, killed Cornwall. But then, I’d betrayed Igraine by helping Uther seduce her. So the wheel of life turns – one betrayal leads to another and another. The innocent die. It haunted me for the rest of my life.”
Mab is fighting to be replaced by a new religion and so lives in a regretful state, one that looks toward the future–but a bleak one at that. Arthur’s regretful tryst with his half-sister plagues him and mirrors his wife’s infidelity, as well. While magical, the movie benefits from the sorrowful notes that it plays at the right moments. After all, the story of King Arthur is not one of triumph, but of tragedy.
Conclusion
I have a nostalgic spot for this film, and I think after I saw it on TV I must have asked my mom to rent it 100 times from Blockbuster Video. I think some things that really lock this mini-series down is the attention to detail and want of some amount of historical accuracy, setting the film in more lore-specific Arthurian folklore, as opposed to many more that feature long swords and anachronistic nomenclature.
And whether by expense or passion, the productions is still marvelous.
In a review for The Washington Post, Tom Shales states: “Any way you look at it, this production is indeed something to look at, glittering with effects and wonders and amazing vistas, magical in that it’s sometimes hard to separate the real mountains from the matte paintings of mountains, the genuine sets from the computer-created illusions. It’s the magic of one era employed to re-create the magic of another.”
It’s also important to note that this film was nominated and won multiple awards, from Best Actor, Actress, and Supporting Actress from the Online Film and Television Association, to a few Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Art Direction, Costume, and Makeup.
Works cited
Shales, Tom. “‘Merlin’: Magical History Tour.” The Washington Post. April 26, 1998. Web. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1998/04/26/merlin-magical-history-tour/ddbe8598-bc88-42fa-940e-401bb523629e/
