A Canterbury Tale

Canterbury Cathedral was a site for pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, and it was around the journey to it that Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his canonic book. Powell and Pressburger offer a sort of adaptation, shifting to Wartime, and follows three pilgrims: a London girl volunteering on a farm, an American soldier, and an English sergeant. While awaiting their mission, the three engage in solving a local mystery and deal with their personal stories. At the time of its release, A Canterbury Tale was not well-received, but 80 years on, it is seen as a work that triumphally captures the English spirit. The landscape, the pace, and the persistence are described with little sentimentality, until when the film enters its last chapter, it unexpectedly ties all the plots into an ending with an emotional punch.