The Madness of Roland

Billed as "the world's first interactive multimedia novel," this brilliantly fulfills the latter half of its claim (i.e. “multimedia novel”) while dismally failing the first (i.e. “interactive”). It's an art film whose commercial value arises from the novelty of the medium. Based on the legend of the Paladin Roland, a knight in the service of Charlemagne, the tale of Madness of Roland is told from multiple points of view which you can select at will. Each character tells their own, often contradictory, version of the story. Roland uses text, digital color paintings, animation, QuickTime video, professional "radio theatre" narration, hypertextual links and a complete original soundtrack to transport you to the world of Charlemagne's France.