Written And Directed by David Lowery
Gawain: "I'm ready now."
Green Knight: "Well done, my brave knight. Now ... off with your head."
It's a 14th century poem familiar to many and one that has had it's fair share of adaptations over the decades. With A24 and writer/director, this adaptation of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, it's more of a racy, violent, and somewhat artful affair at hand.
It's Christmas Day and our heroic knight, Gawain (Dev Patel) goes from sleeping with a local prostitute, Essel (Alicia Vikander) to being greeted by his mother (Sarita Choudhury) to taking part in a festive game that would end having a dramatic turn of events of his life. Gawain lamented about not being destined for greatness, only to wind up with a much deadlier destiny in mind.
The game itself involved the arrival of titular Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) who challenged the King's (Sean Harris) knights to strike him, only for him to return the same strike exactly a year later. With Gawain stepping up to the challenge, the not so brave but reckless knight sealed his own fate and with a year passing by very quickly, it was time for Gawain to face likely death.
Given a protective green sash by his mother, Gawain's journey to the Green Chapel was definitely a long affair with it's own unique set of challenges. The first being Gawain getting robbed, bound and gagged by a group of scavengers led by Barry Keoghan, who didn't take too kindly to the dashing knight brushing them off. It's a minor obstacle compared to other obstacles faced by Gawain.
Along the way, Gawain also found himself having to retrieve the skull of the ghostly Sister Winifred (Erin Kellyman) in the darkest of waters all the while a fox followed him and a group of giants appeared in one of the stranger scenes of the movie. Still though, Gawain's journey continued ahead and he soon found himself making some new friends.
The friends in question being the Lord (Joel Edgerton) and his Lady (Alicia Vikander). Gawain's dynamic with this pair was definitely the highlight of the movie. Between raising questions of the Green Knight and both of them in their own ways trying to seduce Gawain, there was also that rather chaste kiss that Gawain shared with the Lord before the two of them parted ways. Given how homoerotic this poem was, I thought that exchange played out rather interestingly.
As for the final confrontation. Gawain and the Green Knight. The fantasy sequence of Gawain's would be future could've definitely been shortened but as the film tested both Gawain's bravery and honour, the final and more ambiguous ending was certainly a way to end this particular tale. Did Gawain survive? Perhaps not. Perhaps he did. We will likely never know. Except we do, if we look at the source material.
- I liked the way this movie was broken into chapter titles. Both David Lowery and his wife provided the narration for the movie.
- Gawain's mother was implied to Morgan Le Fay while Sister Winifred was not a part of the original poem.
- In most interpretations of the poem, both the Lord and the Green Knight are usually the same person but here, they seem to be separate characters.
- Although obviously set in Medieval England, this movie was filmed in Ireland.
The Green Knight unashamedly embraced the arthouse feel of this poem. Dev Patel delivered a strong, engaging performance as the conflicted and often cowardly Gawain and it's undeniably gorgeously shot film with beautiful scenery, plenty of intrigue and moral ambiguity along with a stirring use of music to boot. It's definitely worth a watch.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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