"Chanson de Roland" documentary filming

[Iagoba]

I´ve been in Roncesvalles this weekend with the people of the "Clan del Cuervo" and Ulfhednar, among other people (ox drivers, horse riders and so) filming the ambush scenes.

It´s divided in two parts, one of interviews and another one of the story of a fictional character, a Frank that dies in the ambush. No other famous characters apears (seems Roland had luck this time :lol: ). It will be translated to Spanish, Basque, French, English...

The filming will end in this year´s battle of Hastings reenactment, with the Normans singing the Chanson before the battle. Some people of the "el clan del Cuervo" will be there too (as in the last reenactment which took place)

The trailer can be seen here (only scholars, no battle scenes still):

[url:3tkgw7wg]http://www.idem4.com/roland/[/url]

And some images of the filming that took place yesterday in the TV:
[url:3tkgw7wg]http://www.eitb.com/videos/cultura/cine/detalle/233565/graban-documental-la-chanson-roland/[/url]

The expected release date it´s Spring 2010. Probably it´s the more ambitious and historically accurate documentary ever made in Spain.

[Jona Lendering]

Sounds extremely interesting! Keep us updated, please.

[Iagoba]

PS: The director it´s Olivier van der Zee

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

What is that relief in the first post? I've never seen it before!

[Iagoba]

It´s the (modern) monument in Roncesvalles-Orreaga, near the Royal Chapel of Navarra . It shows Roland killing the giant Ferragut, a scene of the Chanson.

[Matt Lukes]

Wild- I'd heard the Chanson de Roland has something like 500 verses so is surely long enough for an interesting film if a whole 90 minute one can be made of the Beowulf...

[Tjordulf]

Hi All,
By All accounts the documentary should be out soon. BTW, quick funny story,
My Avatar photo, is of me (obviously), on location for this documentary, we were on the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim trail, about 6 klicks out of Roncesvalles.
As you can see I'm sporting a particularly nasty 'gash' on my forehead, this is of course make up. We had just finished shooting the last scene of the day, the make up girl sat down next to me to remove said headwound, when suddenly some Pilgrims hiked past, I indicated to the make up girl and another colleague of mine, to follow my lead. At which point she gently dab my head with cotton wool, while I winced and moaned in great pain, while my colleague put his arm on my shoulder to comfort me, the Pilgrims nearly fainted as they walked past with jaws scraping on the floor! Just one of the funny and great times we had on this project.
Knowing the attention to detail that went into this, and the skill of director Olivier, this looks set to be a really good looking documentary.
Not the usual fodder where, for example Roman legionaries are all wearing armour ands helms akin to those of a General or some such. Or to distinguish between Vikings and Saxons, the Vikings are all Blonde, with plaits, and furry leggings , plus bearded axes that look like they weigh about 10 Kilos, whilst the Saxons are ALL wearing Maille and carrying heater shields and 12 Century swords. Plus, fighting in that, Sword in each hand, spinning, jumping, hollywood Samurai kind of way.