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List Price: $39.95Amazon.com's Price: $35.99 You Save: $3.96 (10%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0715515018920
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Criterion
Release Date: July 25, 2006
Running Time: 124 minutes
Sales Rank: 15883
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: January 21, 1949
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's beloved classic is a profoundly personal journey to Powell's bucolic birthplace of Kent England. Set amidst the tumult of the Second World War yet with a rhythm as delicate as a lullaby the film follows three modern-day incarnations of Chaucer's pilgrims -- a melancholy 'landgirl' a plainspoken American GI and a resourceful British sergeant -- who are waylaid in the English countryside and forced to solve a bizarre village crime en route to the mythical town. Building to a majestic climax that ranks as one of the filmmaking duo's finest achievements the dazzling A Canterbury Tale has acquired a following passionate enough to qualify as a pilgrimage all its own.System Requirements:Running Time 124 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 715515018920 Manufacturer No: CC1639DDVD
Amazon.com:
One of the most beloved of all British films, A Canterbury Tale marks yet another occasion to celebrate the Criterion Collection's growing DVD legacy of Powell and Pressburger classics. Originally conceived as good-natured propaganda to support the British-American alliance of World War II, the film became something truly special in the hands of the Archers (a.k.a. writer/director/producers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger). Taking its literary cues from Chaucer's titular classic, it begins with a prologue that harkens back to Chaucer's time before match-cutting to present-day August of 1943, with the night-time arrival of U.S. Army Sgt. Bob Johnson (played with folksy charm by John Sweet, an actual American GI) on the shadowy platform of Canterbury station in the magically rural county of Kent (where Powell was born and raised). He is soon joined by two fellow train passengers: Alison Smith (Sheila Sim), a brashly independent recruit in the British Woman's Land Army; and Peter Gibbs (Dennis Price), a sergeant in the royal Army, and before long they're tracking clues to find 'the glue man,' a mysterious figure who's been pouring 'the sticky stuff' on unsuspecting women as the midnight hour approaches. Their investigation leads to Thomas Colpeper (Eric Portman), a village squire whose local slide-shows celebrate life in an idyllic rural England threatened by wartime change. As Graham Fuller writes in an observant mini-essay that accompanies this DVD, is this a whodunit? Historical documentary? War film? Rustic comedy? It's all these and so much more: As photographed in glorious black and white by Erwin Hiller (faithfully preserved by one of Criterion's finest high-definition digital transfers), A Canterbury Tale has an elusive, magical quality that encompasses its trio of Canterbury 'pilgrims' and translates into a an elusive, spiritually uplifting sense of elation that has made it an all-time favorite among film lovers around the world. --Jeff Shannon
On the DVDs
In addition to one of the most crisply detailed black-and-white transfers you're ever likely to see, disc 1 of A Canterbury Tale includes a feature-length commentary by film historian Ian Christie, author of the now out-of-print Arrows of Desire (the definitive study of Powell & Pressburger films) and a foremost authority on British films in general. Disc 2 is loaded with Canterbury extras, including a pleasant reminiscence by actress Sheila Sim; a documentary about John Sweet (who is seen visiting Canterbury in 2000, for the first time since filming A Canterbury Tale in 1943); and a charming new documentary that follows contemporary Canterbury 'pilgrims' as they revisit locations used in the film. There's also 'Listen to Britain,' a seven-minute video-installation piece inspired by A Canterbury Tale by artist Victor Burgin (and programmed to loop from start to finish and back again, as it did in museums); and the original 'Listen to Britain,' by Humphrey Jennings--a classic wartime documentary from the classic era of British non-fiction film that celebrates the sights, and especially the sounds, of rural England in the early 1940s. All in all, these are excellent features that place A Canterbury Tale in evocative historical context. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Don't expect The Wife of Bath
This is another of those movies I caught on late-night TV, and eventually ended up buying.
In some ways it kind of reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's "Kim". There's not really a plot, as such, there's just people who come together for a while, do their thing, and part.
A couple of things make it clear this is a WWII propaganda film made to encourage wartime Anglo-American friendship and understanding: Sgt Johnson impresses the locals with his knowledge of lumber, and then ... Read More
Rating: - A Treasure of a Film
A CANTERBURY TALE is an enchanting film from British filmmakers, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film takes place during the height of World War II and originally served as a propaganda tool for the British Ministry of Information. But underneath the exterior of the film, there is a deep underlying meaning of revisiting and taking a pilgrimage to the past in order to understand the present.
Powell and Pressburger invoke British romanticism and spiritualism that is clearly ... Read More
Rating: - Fine Film - Glorious Remastering - But Needed a Single CD
Criterion here offers a remarkable film; quiet and unprentenious and unspoiled by heavy plot machinations or ersatz pumping-up of story. The battle of the village boys remains the high point, but the entire film resonates the director's love for his native Kent countryside. The amateur American actor gives the interplay among the characters a decided contrast and conveniently served to mark the differences between the American and the British. The cinematography was as natural as ever with this team's films. ... Read More
Rating: - England - land of hope and glory
I am so glad this extraordinary film has been remastered, returned to its original edit, and preserved on DVD. I love some of Michael Powell's films -- some I'm lukewarm about -- I love this one. A CANTERBURY TALE is quite lovely. It's not quite perfect -- don't be put off by the little "glue man" mystery -- it's a device -- and it works in the overall plot. These actors are superb, and the film is a moving tribute to England and her people during the darkest days of WW II. I cannot say enough about how beautiful ... Read More
Rating: - A Canterbury Tale
Wonderful Movie from the 2nd world war period. Poetic & very british. Movies like this are no longer made.
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