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A Canterbury Tale Reviews

1944

70
from 1610 members

While World War II rages, an American G.I. and three Britons find themselves en route to the hallowed cathedral on the same Pilgrims' way taken by travelers some 600 years before and reported in Chaucer's epic poem. Read more

Starring	Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price, Esmond Knight
Director	Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Genres	Drama

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Critic's review of A Canterbury Tale
View all critics' reviews (2)
- Curious would-be propaganda piece with Old England bathed in a roseate wartime glow, but the plot seems to have little to do with Chaucer. Indeed, quite what Powell and Pressburger thought they were up to is hard to fathom, but the detail is interesting.
- 30044
- - Halliwell's Film Guide
  - 02 Mar 2006 at 15:38
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Most helpful member's review of A Canterbury Tale
View all members' reviews (27)
- - 20
  - 0
  Prime Cut Powell and Pressburger
  
  Powell and Pressburger as part of the British Film industry were encouraged to support the war effort in WW2 via their films. All of them are worth watching. ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 17624
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - Chunkysimon
  - 44 reviews
  - Falkirk
  - 09 Sep 2004 at 11:31
Most recent members' reviews of A Canterbury Tale
View all members' reviews (27)
- - 0
  - 0
  Strange, but nice
  
  THis film is hard to fathom! What it is trying to say seems just out of reach, and yet that doesn't seem to affect one's enjoyment of it! I think the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 919731
- - Barnseytheclaret
  - 180 reviews
  - Sheffield
  - 31 Aug 2010 at 22:01
- - 4
  - 0
  sentiment v sentimentality
  
  This look at life in Kent during World War 2 puzzled audiences at its 1943 release. Over the years it has grown in stature and is now accepted as one of the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 727187
- - Zamy
  - 552 reviews
  - London
  - 16 Mar 2009 at 15:59
- - 0
  - 0
  Strange but inspiring
  
  From a gentler age but in a tougher time (WWII) this film does what so many fail to do today. It lifts the spirits and gives hope.
  
  Powell & ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 702027
- - a customer
  - Leicester
  - 04 Feb 2009 at 18:09
- - 4
  - 0
  English Soul
  
  It's a great myth that the English have no soul and no folk art. Both are contained in abundance in the marvellous film, which is surely the definitive ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 634425
- - Lushd
  - 7 reviews
  - St Albans
  - 24 Sep 2008 at 18:29
- - 0
  - 0
  Classic
  
  A number of the negative reviews complain about the 'bizarre plot' but it's not really about the plot. Well worth getting beyond the opening.
  <... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 618829
- - chipotle
  - 1 review
  - Kilmarnock
  - 25 Aug 2008 at 12:47
- - 0
  - 0
  A Canterbury Tale
  
  A very powerful film, beautifully shot and full of wisdom - albeit driven by wartime propaganda. A delight.
  
  Report this review
- 606464
- - Idgie
  - 6 reviews
  - Cambridge
  - 31 Jul 2008 at 21:51
- - 1
  - 0
  A bygone age
  
  What a super film... from the accents (received pronunciation/cockney/Cornish/stiff upper lip)... to the innocence of boys being 'Swallows and Amazons' ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 601615
- - a customer
  - Wirral
  - 22 Jul 2008 at 08:37
- - 0
  - 0
  "...Of which virtue engender-ed"
  
  ACT opens with a brilliantly rendered evocation of a perennialist kind of Englishness. The first stanzas of the general prologue of The Canterbury Tales ('... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 587034
- - a customer
  - Lancaster
  - 23 Jun 2008 at 23:54
- - 6
  - 2
  Hasn't stood the test of time
  
  I live in Canters and so have wanted to see this film for a while. However, I must say I was disappointed. Most of the film is set outside Canterbury and only ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 496734
- - DaddyG
  - 1 review
  - Canterbury
  - 20 Nov 2007 at 12:25
- - 0
  - 0
  Essential Viewing
  
  I can imagine that this film might fail to entrance some (my sixteen year old son for instance) but somehow there is magic in the light that streams across the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 481386
- - a customer
  - London
  - 01 Oct 2007 at 15:35
View all members' reviews (27)

- - 20
  - 0
  Prime Cut Powell and Pressburger
  
  Powell and Pressburger as part of the British Film industry were encouraged to support the war effort in WW2 via their films. All of them are worth watching. ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 17624
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - Chunkysimon
  - 44 reviews
  - Falkirk
  - 09 Sep 2004 at 11:31
- - 10
  - 0
  Life in wartime was a pilgrimage
  
  A low-key effort from the Powell & Pressburger duo, I found this slice of wartime life far more affecting and involving than the more critically appraised &... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 306600
- - Tinderbox
  - England
  - 18 Jul 2004 at 17:45
- - 9
  - 0
  Best film I've ever seen
  
  This has to be the best film I've ever seen. With a notional and deliberately trivial 'main' plot based on the hunt for the glue man, the real story... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 285013
- - a customer
  - North Staffs
  - 12 Sep 2006 at 19:05
- - 6
  - 0
  Probably one of the weirdest films you will ever see
  
  A mysterious character terrorises the English country side,late at night, by pouring sticky stuff into the hair of young ladies.Three friends set out to solve ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 62386
- - a customer
  - Liverpool England
  - 06 Jan 2005 at 14:15
- - 6
  - 2
  Hasn't stood the test of time
  
  I live in Canters and so have wanted to see this film for a while. However, I must say I was disappointed. Most of the film is set outside Canterbury and only ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 496734
- - DaddyG
  - 1 review
  - Canterbury
  - 20 Nov 2007 at 12:25
- - 4
  - 0
  English Soul
  
  It's a great myth that the English have no soul and no folk art. Both are contained in abundance in the marvellous film, which is surely the definitive ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 634425
- - Lushd
  - 7 reviews
  - St Albans
  - 24 Sep 2008 at 18:29
- - 4
  - 0
  sentiment v sentimentality
  
  This look at life in Kent during World War 2 puzzled audiences at its 1943 release. Over the years it has grown in stature and is now accepted as one of the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 727187
- - Zamy
  - 552 reviews
  - London
  - 16 Mar 2009 at 15:59
- - 2
  - 0
  Utterly enchanting
  
  Not a film for the literal-minded (although pleasing to the literary minded), of all of ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 378951
- - Kathy
  - London
  - 28 Oct 2006 at 23:53
- - 2
  - 0
  Lyrical Beauty
  
  I'm ashamed to say that although I have watched some Powell/Pressburger films before (A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes, I ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 408583
- - Monochronic
  - 6 reviews
  - Nuneaton
  - 02 Feb 2007 at 23:30
- - 1
  - 0
  A very English movie
  
  I enjoyed this film - it wasn't what I was expecting, but it was a pleasant tale set in Canterbury. I loved the villain the director/writer came up with, ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 316918
- - RosG
  - Argyll
  - 20 Dec 2004 at 07:56

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Buy from Amazon.co.uk

- - Buy
- A Canterbury Tale
  
  While World War II rages, an American G.I. and three Britons find themselves en route to the hallowed cathedral on the same Pilgrims' way taken by travelers some 600 years before and reported in Chaucer's epic poem....