WHEN HONOR WAS EVERYTHING. WHEN COURAGE MADE KINGS.
How do you like your knights, dames and duels? Ridiculous and funny à la Monty Python, or anachronistically tongue-in-cheek in the vein of A Knight’s Tale (2001)? Or do you prefer a somber treatment, with blood, speeches and noble heroes? My boring answer is: depends on the quality of the film. The Green Knight falls into the latter category, even if it is hard to find a simple label for it. The film divided audiences and critics… but how can you resist an adventure so brimming with imagination?
A magically summoned knight
It is Christmas morning in the kingdom ruled by Arthur (Sean Harris), who is arranging a feast with all his knights at the Round Table. Arthur’s nephew Gawain (Dev Patel) has just spent the night with a common woman, Essel (Alicia Vikander), and stumbles back to the king’s court. He is a knight, but has yet to make his mark; King Arthur is willing to give him a chance, though.
Then, suddenly, the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) joins the party. He’s been magically summoned and challenges anyone at the court. If they can land a blow on him, they will win his green axe but must receive an equal blow from him next Christmas. Gawain takes up the challenge and manages to decapitate the Green Knight – who picks up his head and leaves. One year later, it is time for Gawain to meet him again.
One of the most influential stories about King Arthur
The journey to the Green Chapel becomes an eventful one, to say the least. The story was inspired by that classic poem from the 14th century, ”Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, a chivalric romance whose author we know nothing about. It is however one of the most influential stories ever written about King Arthur and the myths surrounding him.
Many scenes are open for interpretation, reflecting the writer-director’s curiosity and willingness to have the audience ponder what they’re seeing.
While writing the screenplay, David Lowery stayed faithful to most ingredients in the poem, but made crucial changes that serve his intentions nicely. Not only does he turn Gawain’s mother into the engine behind the Green Knight, making her the one to truly test Gawain’s character, but Lowery also changes the ending, adding a much darker streak in order to drive home points about courage, masculinity and the necessity of taking responsibility for your actions. Many scenes are open for interpretation, reflecting the writer-director’s curiosity and willingness to have the audience ponder what they’re seeing.
Now, about those somber films I mentioned earlier. Lowery was inspired by Excalibur (1981) in general and Barry Lyndon (1975) in particular, for one scene. Perhaps that led some people to view The Green Knight as an overly solemn and pretentious movie, but I approve of Lowery’s approach; this is a clever, original and strikingly beautiful film that casts a spell on you. Its moments of dread and imagination are eye-catching, sometimes strange, but always interesting – talking foxes, giants and all.
Patel is a good choice to play Gawain, a young man who has much to learn and usually makes all the wrong decisions. Ineson certainly commands your attention as the towering Green Knight, with help from a booming voice, prosthetics and tricks that make him look larger than life. Cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo shot the film in Ireland, where the locations become a seamless part of the fantasy. It resembles a dream where everything makes sense in its confined universe, but not outside of it.
The Green Knight 2021-U.S.-Canada. 130 min. Color. Written, directed and edited by David Lowery. Cinematography: Andrew Droz Palermo. Cast: Dev Patel (Sir Gawain), Alicia Vikander (Essel/The Lady), Joel Edgerton (The Lord), Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Ralph Ineson, Barry Keoghan.
Trivia: Previously filmed in Britain as Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) and Sword of the Valiant (1984), and also as a TV movie, Gawain and the Green Knight (1991).
Last word: “There are no VFX at all. We went through a lot of crazier designs, but ultimately I wanted him to be an actor underneath that makeup. We even talked about doing things like a puppet. I decided the best thing to do was cast a really great actor and design some incredible prosthetics around him.” (Lowery on the design of the Green Knight, Vanity Fair)
