Don't be fooled by the name of the film. This is not a screen version of the medieval epic of Charlemagne, the Frankish warrior-hero Roland and traitor Ganelon. It's a movie inspired by the song of Roland. The Middle Ages are shown here as imagined fantasy world, as in Ingmar Bergman's "Seventh Seal", Robert Bresson's "Lancelot du Lac" or Grigory Kozintsev's "King Lear".
A group of pilgrims and vagrant artists who have joined them are travelling through Spain to the places of Roland's military glory, to the monastery of Santiago de Compostella. Performers are entertaining the pilgrims with the scenes from the epic. The characters of the film are easily moving from their real world into the epic world of Charlemagne and Roland. Beggars, vagabonds, artists are turning into warriors-heroes of the epic, fighting an unequal battle with the Saracens. The scenes from the epic tale are shown here as medieval people could imagine the The Song of Roland and its heros. The reality surrounding the pilgrims is grim. Serfs rebelled, and the knights (no longer epic heroes) are brutally suppressing the rebellion.
So it's medium-budget arthouse fantasy film about the world of the Middle Ages and social problems of society. The paintings by Bosch and Peter Bruegel were among main influences on the director. It is obvious that the director, the film operator and the actors wanted to convey the atmosphere of the epoch much more than to make standard or scientifically correct historical movie.
Cons of the film: it's not historically correct recreation of the epoch of Charlemagne, the theatrical attitude to depiction of the Middle Ages in general, the failures in the drama.
Pros: it's atmospheric film with picturesque images, always impressive Klaus Kinsky in the roles of Roland and wandering artist Klaus, the music of the ancient instruments (harp, flute, drums) and fragments of authentic medieval melodies, woven by composer Antoine Duhamel into his soundtrack.
