Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Grendel Grendel Grendel (1980)

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clip ‘Poor me’

Original classification rating: G. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

Grendel (voiced by Peter Ustinov), alone on his birthday, sings with the support of a group of oysters.

Curator’s notes

In one of the film’s musical sequences, the monster Grendel is portrayed as a sad and lonely figure, although the mood is lightened by the comic routine featuring a row of singing oysters. Human superstition is conveyed by the stone carving of the great dragon spirit and subverts Grendel’s description of himself as ‘silly’.