Nicol Williamson
Merlin
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Helen Mirren: Morgana. Showing all 41 items. Jump to: Photos (37) Quotes (4) Photos. 14 more photos. Quotes. Morgana : Your eyes never leave me, Merlin. Merlin : Can't I acknowledge beauty? Morgana : Can't you acknowledge... love? Perhaps you ache for what you've never known. Merlin : Perhaps you lust for what you cannot have.
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Morgana le Fay (Helen Mirren) is the main antagonist in the 1981 fantasy film,
The sorcerer Merlin (Nicol Williamson) retrieves Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake for King Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne). With it, Uther secures a brief allienace with Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall (Corin Redgrave), but Uther's lust for Cornwall's wife Igayne (Katrine Boorman) soon ruins the truce. Merlin agrees to help Uther seduce Igayne on the condition that Uther gives Merlin whatevr results from his lust. Merlin transforms Uther into Cornwall's likeness with the Charm of Making. Corwall's daughter Morgana senses her father's death in an assault on Uther's camp. Igayne is fooled by the disguise, and Uther impregnates her. Only the devastated Morgana knows the truth and hates Merlin and Arthur ever since.
Nine months later, Merlin takes Uther's son Arthur (Nigel Terry). Uther pursues but is mortally wounded by Gorlois's knights. Uther thrusts Excalibur into a stone, and Merlin proclaims that "he who draws the sword from the stone, he shall be king."
Years later, Sir Ector (Clive Swift) and his sons Kay (Niall O'Brien) and Arthur attend a jousting tournament. The victor, Sir Leodegrance (Patrick Stewart), wins a chance to try pulling Excalibur from the stone, but he fails. Kay's sword is later stolen, and Arthur pulls Excalibur after failing to stop the thief. Word spreads, and Merlin announces to the crowd that Arthur is Uther's son and hence the rightful ruler.
Leodegrance immediately proclaims his support for the new king, but not all are willing to accept. While the others argue, Merlin and Arthur enter the forest, and Merlin tells the boy that he is the rightful king, and that he and the land are one. Overwhelmed, Arthur falls into a long sleep.
When he wakes, Arthur comes to aid Leondegrance, whose castle is under siege by Arthur's enemies. During the battle, Arthur asks Sir Uryens (Keith Buckley) to knight him, and hands him Excalibur to do so. Uryens is tempted to strike the boy down, but, deeply moved by Arthur's display of faith, Uryens knights the boy, then falls to his knees and declares loyalty, leading the others to follow suit.
•Helen Mirren appeared as the voice for the Snow Queen in the 1995 animated film The Snow Queen..
Apr 10, 1981 · Excalibur: Directed by John Boorman. With Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi. Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
- (67K)
- Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
- John Boorman
- 1981-04-10
It stars Nigel Terry as Arthur, Nicol Williamson as Merlin, Nicholas Clay as Lancelot, Cherie Lunghi as Guenevere, Helen Mirren as Morgana, Liam Neeson as Gawain, Gabriel Byrne as Uther and Patrick Stewart as Leondegrance. The film is named after the legendary sword of King Arthur that features prominently in Arthurian literature.
Jan 18, 2019 · Helen Mirren and Nicol Williamson in Excalibur - Warner Bros. Photo: Warner Bros. Morgana has us on her side when she imprisons Merlin, though she becomes twisted in the end. Still, in a way, she’s an early feminist fantasy icon.
His relationship with Morgana (the lovely Helen Mirren) is actually the most interesting thing in the film. Morgana borrows Merlin's magic to deceive Arthur and to stay young. Inhabiting a dragon's cave that is apparently somewhere beneath Camelot, she wears brass brassieres and other obligatory props, but she's intriguing.
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Arthur's evil half-sister Morgana (Dame Helen Mirren) sires a son with him, who may prove to be his downfall. — Greg Bole <bole@life.bio.sunysb.edu> Forged when the world was young, Excalibur, the mystical sword of power since the dawn of time, is bestowed to Uther Pendragon by the powerful wizard, Merlin, to unite the land under one King.
