Depicting a young and deglamorized Arthur’s court, Bresson relentlessly shows the violence of medieval jousting and the bloody outcome of warfare for which all medieval knights were trained, along with the destructive adultery of Lancelot and Guinevere. The script is loosely based on the MORT ARTU, a thirteenth-century version of the Arthur legends. Like many films with medieval themes, this received mixed reviews and was spoofed the next year in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL.