'The Green Knight' review — David Lowrey's spectacular fantasy epic
“I fear I’m not meant for greatness.”
This film is featured in my Best Films of 2021 list.
As the nephew of the great King Arthur and the future inheritor of his kingdom, the young Gawain fears his inability to live up to the stories of old and is faced with the overwhelming legacy of his family and friend. Gawain is dishonourable and an embarrassment to his family, but he longs for something to build his legacy upon. “You have no stories yet,” the Queen reminds him. Then, in the middle of the Christmas feast, in walks in a mysterious traveller with a peculiar game that could just give Gawain the fame and success he so desperately wants. Eagerly Gawain accepts, bringing upon himself a host of unintended consequences and begins a journey taking him into the wild parts of the world.
The Green Knight is based upon a 14th-century Middle English poem by an anonymous author rooted in the Arthurian tradition. Being seven-hundred years old, the original poem, known by the slightly longer title Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is defined by mystery and debate. Its meaning and intentions are the sources of much division amongst scholars. Writer and director David Lowrey’s adaptation of the ancient text embraces it for all of its controversy and ambiguity and creates a film that both embraces and changes the text in profound ways.
First and most obviously, gone is the title of Sir Gawain. Gawain isn’t a knight and never truly becomes a knight across the entirety of the film’s narrative. He deserves no title for he has no honour. He has fought no wars nor gone anything of great renown. All of the other characters are defined by their titles rather than their names — Sean Harris plays ‘The King’ rather than Arthur; Kate Dickie plays ‘The Queen’ rather than Guinevere — but Gawain gets no such honour.
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| Dev Patel in The Green Knight (2021). Image: A24. |
Gawain is portrayed by Dev Patel, previously known for his work in Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Lion (2016), who leads an overwhelmingly brilliant cast with a great performance — one that will almost certainly end up as one of my favourites of the year. He adds equal amounts of charm and foolishness and confidence and naïveté to the hero. Ralph Ineson menaces as the Green Knight himself. Alicia Vikander plays the dual roles as the Lady and Gawain’s romantic interest Essel, creating two characters that are opposites in interesting and nuanced ways. The supporting cast of Barry Keoghan, Erin Kellyman, Joel Edgerton, and the rest shine and are remarkable in their own moments throughout the film.
The second major change that the film makes is the additions and expansions it adds to the story. While the original poem glosses over the details of Gawain’s difficult journey to find the titular Green Knight in the Green Chapel, the film relishes in them. We are introduced to several side adventures Gawain engages in: first escaping a group of thieves on the road and second helping a ghost find her head. Gawain is worn down and destroyed by the time he reaches a safe haven at the home of the Lord and the Lady, played by Edgerton and Vikander respectively. Gawain loses his possessions, weapons, and health throughout his journey and breaks down our would-be noble hero into damaged goods.
There’s a pattern here that appears in the film’s visual design and style: it lacks the majesty so often associated with Arthur and the court of Camelot. Camelot is a dim, average castle. The armour is rough and damaged. The Knights of the Round Table, in a brief appearance, are covered in scars and tattoos. The ground is muddy and the rooms are dark. The film is more like Seventh Seal (1957) than Excalibur (1981). Everything seems stripped of its glory, but all for the better. The morals are corrupted and the means are multiple.
In his review of the film, critic David Ehrlich rhetorically asks the question, “Is it a paganistic tale about the fall of man, or is it a Christ-like quest about the hope for salvation?” And the answer, of course, is both. Gawain’s seemingly puritan rejection of the advances of the Lady is praised while his rejection of the prostitute Essel is villanized. The film’s themes of desire for power are expressed through how it deals with sex. Writer and critic Caitlin Kennedy wrote an excellent piece on the themes of desire, lust, and sex within The Green Knight and goes into much more detail than I will here. The Green Knight won’t embrace one way of morality and takes in all of the possible readings of it.
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| The Green Knight arrives in Camelot. Image: A24. |
The execution of the story itself is dirty, too. It’s muddy and downright confusing at times as actors take on multiple parts, Gawain moving in and out of dreams, and a prophesy of the horrible future awaiting him at the other end of it all. All of this makes The Green Knight a fascinating and engaging tale enriched with an understanding of the ancient history Lowrey is obviously intimately familiar with.
Lastly, the visual language of this film is truly breathtaking. Lowrey and his team have created a while that is beautiful and visually stunning, with nominations for cinematography and production are most certainly in the future for The Green Knight. Andrew Droz Palermo, who collaborated with Lowrey previously on A Ghost Story (2017), is the man behind the camera. The visuals here are dark, twisted, and memorable. The colours are vibrant and the light is striking and haunting. It’s all thanks to production designer Jade Healy, also known for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), who has made a Camelot and is gloomy yet completely unique. The production is simple yet striking with incredible detail in every piece. It’s a truly unforgettable experience.
Who are we in the face of greatness? Can we ever live up to the legacy of those who go before us? What is honour and what is our honour worth? These are the questions at the centre of Gawain’s quest. They are never answered by the time we reach the film’s ambiguous conclusion. This, I feel, will lead to a sense of hollowness to the film for many viewers. However, this ambiguity is part of the DNA of both the film and the original story. The Green Knight is about mixed messages and corrupted meanings. Maybe there is no purpose, but Gawain makes peace with that. He must follow the road he feels is right — even at the cost of his head.
Score: 5
The Green Knight is now playing in theatres.
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