Review: 'The Green Knight'
Review: 'The Green Knight'
“…a daring new vision for a fantasy film.”
If your expectations for The Green Knight—the long-delayed and highly anticipated new release from studio A24—have in any way been shaped by other fantasy adaptations such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, or Game of Thrones, best to check them all at the door. They will be of no use to you here.
The latest feature from writer-director David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Old Man and the Gun) is not the least bit interested in guiding you through the mystical world of the classic Arthurian tale. Rather than staying on the blazed path, it veers off into stranger lands in search of something deeper than blockbuster escapism. Even from the very first frame, its version of “Once upon a time” feels less of a welcome than it does a haunting incantation. Before long, it will be clear: the sooner you bend the knee to its unconventional cadence, the more likely you are to appreciate the dream that it is, and not the adventure you might want it to be.
The film’s premise appears to be rather straightforward. After having struck the formidable Green Knight during a Christmas “game,” Gawain (played brilliantly by Dev Patel) must ride to a place called the Green Chapel in one year’s time to receive the same blow that was dealt to the Ent-like knight. The only problem? Gawain lopped off his head.
Nearly a year after the fateful encounter, Gawain sets off on his journey to the Green Chapel, but the highly stylized first act has now been replaced by a solemn stillness. With the eerily dissonant score absent and the vibrant color scheme now muted, all we’re left with is a quiet long-take of a young man riding his horse as he leaves all he’s ever known behind him.
The minimalistic tracking shot of Gawain’s departure also stands out in how it calls attention to the notion of a knight’s stature. His posture projects a stoic and confident demeanor, but we know it’s merely an act. In this moment, Gawain may look like the knight he feels he should become, but it’s only the beginning of his arduous journey. As for the rest of the film’s more ruminative tone, set by this particular scene, it could be praised as emotionally textured or criticized as narratively inaccessible—either way, it’s a daring new vision for a fantasy film.
The Green Knight has a lot on its mind, but its preoccupation with the inevitability of death is the thematic element that pervades every scene—and Gawain’s conscience—like a thick fog. At one point, we see Lowery’s camera slowly turn the rugged landscape until our perspective has been completely inverted, as if mimicking a clock. Time is constantly slipping away from us.
The film may build to an arresting second encounter with the Green Knight, but what ultimately plays out would have us believe that the film could alternately be titled The Last Temptation of Sir Gawain. With his time finally up, he needs to have convinced himself that he has the stomach to keep his word. After all, can he truly be a knight without it?
Director David Lowery
Stars Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton
Release year 2021 | Runtime 2h 10m
Rated R for violence, some sexuality and graphic nudity.
One of my favorites of the last few years. I’m a sucker for Arthurian legend and what I liked most about it was the large thematic question “What is Chivalry?” I was delighted by the films exploration of modern chivalry paralleled the way the original oral tradition explored the chivalry of England during the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance!