‘The Green Knight’ Review
There's a scene at the halfway point of The Green Knight where the young Gawain (Dev Patel) and The Lady (Alicia Vikander, in one of her two roles in the film) have a conversation about the color green. "Green is the color…of life," says the Lady. “And of rot,” retorts Gawain. Early in his journey, he came across this concept when he was robbed, tied up, and left for dead.
The film tricks us into believing Gawain is dead as the camera pans around the forest, and we see it blooming with lush greenery, a far cry from the cold, black environment that previously surrounded us. Then the camera stops on Gawain's decayed body, bound and gagged in the same spot where we left him. The film makes us sit with this grisly sight where time has left Gawain behind, and nature has moved on past his embarrassing end. As the music builds in intensity, we cut back to Gawain, flesh still intact and the forest restored to its previous decay. Frightened by the thought of his story ending here, he jerks into action and severs his bonds, pushing on towards a more noble, yet just as meaningless, death.
This sequence is another example of director David Lowery's fascination with time. Throughout his filmography, he's portrayed it as an unstoppable force of nature that moves too quickly and destroys everything in its path. In his earlier film A Ghost Story, he explored the nature of time through the eyes of someone already dead, and in The Green Knight, he uses it to dissect the meaning of legacy and honor in the age of King Arthur.
Based on the 14th-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the film portrays Gawain as a green (eh? eh?) manchild who spends his days drinking in a brothel with his lover Essel (Alicia Vikander again). He has no great tales to tell his uncle and aunt, the King and Queen (Sean Harris and Kate Dickie), and he still lives at home with his Mother (Sarita Choudhury). He's stuck in a state of arrested development, and it's only with the appearance of the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) that he accepts a quest that will test his resolve and mettle.
When the Green Knight—a towering, tree-like creature in this adaptation—barges into King Arthur's court on Christmas, he proposes a game where one of Arthur's knights may take a single swing at him. In return, they must seek him out in one year to receive the same blow from the otherworldly knight. Gawain, eager to prove himself, accepts the challenge without fully understanding the consequences. The Green Knight allows Gawain to decapitate him, only to pick his severed head up and remind the bewildered boy of his appointment next year.
Lowery makes this ancient tale accessible to a modern audience by setting up Gawain's struggle with bravery as the film's focal point. Gawain comes across several opportunities for an easy out in his journey, and his fear is so palpable you feel like you would take one yourself. There's no glory or fanfare to be had from this quest where he will most likely die; it is a true test of honor and commitment. "Is it wrong to want greatness for you?" the King asks Gawain as he reminds him of his upcoming appointment once the year is out. That's all Gawain will have in the end: no head and renown throughout the land.
Unlike most King Arthur adaptations, The Green Knight does not idealize quests, nobility, or chivalry. Lowery and Cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo bathe most of the scenery, particularly Camelot, in cold mist and dark colors. The King and Queen—heavily implied as Arthur and Guinevere—are old and frail. Their warm smiles mask pain and sickness, and the bleak, inhospitable environments reflect their decay. Honor and courage aren't what they used to be in their day, that is if they ever meant anything in the first place.
The film builds on this subversion of Arthurian legend by combining the dirty realism of fantasy properties like Game of Thrones with folk tale logic. Every costume and set is highly stylized but feels textual. You can feel the fabric of Gawain's yellow cloak and the weight of the King's halo-shaped crown. The film transports you to the past but in an unfamiliar world, a world that only exists in legend but feels tangible when you see it on screen.
But it's Dev Patel who anchors this story with his understated performance. Gawain is an unflattering character in many ways, but Patel makes him agonizingly human. He's not afraid to come off as naive, cowardly, or selfish. His long hair and strong beard give him the sturdy look of a royal, medieval knight, but his youthful Slumdog Millionaire face exposes Gawain's naivety. When the film loses track of its emotional stakes, Patel carries the story along with his crippling fear and painful insecurities.
While the emotional weight lies on Patel, the exciting supporting cast rounds out the journey. Barry Keoghan, Sean Harris, and Joel Edgerton get less than 10 minutes of screen time, but they make the most of it. Alicia Vikander, in particular, shows off her range as Essel and the Lady. We've seen her elegant, regal side before, but she's just as credible as an unrefined common woman with a thick northern accent. This cast of characters challenges Gawain in different ways throughout his journey, whether it's taking advantage of his naivete, testing his altruism, or tempting his sexual desires. But they each share a trait with the Green Knight, tying the film around one central theme.
My one major complaint with the film lies with Gawain's mother. The original poem reveals Morgan le Fay—Arthur's stepsister—as the mastermind behind the entire journey. She summoned the Green Knight to King Arthur's court to test his knights, and she kept tabs on Gawain through disguises. It was a deliberate choice on Lowery's part to make Morgan le Fay Gawain's mother in this adaptation. He's said in interviews that, similar to Gawain, he was living with his mother for too long, and she's the one who convinced him to leave home. The film heavily implies Morgan's hand in the plot, but it's more abstract.
Given that this relationship is Lowery's gateway into the story, you'd think that the Mother would have a more substantial presence in the film. But once Gawain leaves Camelot, Sarita Choudhury has nothing to do for the rest of the film. She doesn't have an opportunity to shine like the rest of the supporting cast, and you never get a strong read on Morgan or her relationship with Gawain. Perhaps if Gawain had more hallucinatory conversations with her throughout his journey, the story would have a stronger emotional core.
Despite Patel's committed performance, Lowery missing the mark on this crucial relationship impacted my emotional investment in the story. I admire the film's artistry, atmosphere, and thematic strengths, but it didn't move me. I didn't feel the weight and exhaustion of the journey once Gawain reached the end. As a result, the pacing drags at points, especially when Gawain holes up in the castle with the Lord and Lady.
But despite these obstacles, The Green Knight has stuck with me. I can't stop thinking about its arresting visuals, particularly the sickly yellow fog covering the forest leading up to Gawain's climactic confrontation. I can't get Ralph Ineson's booming, gravelly voice as the Green Knight out of my head or the score that ranges from medieval strings to pulsating synth. Time will eventually obliterate everything, including me and my memories of The Green Knight. But Lowery has ensured that he'll last a little longer than most of us with this bold adaptation.
★★★★