Canterbury Tale, A: The Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection, A Continuing Series of Important Classic and Contemporary Films

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's beloved classic A Canterbury Tale 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 en route to the mythical town and to solve a bizarre village crime. 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 pilgrims themselves.