THE GREEN KNIGHT Review
What makes a man honorable? Is it the number of foes he’s slain in battle? The places he’s traveled to and discovered? The family he’s raised and shaped? Or is it something beyond that? Or possibly, is it something less than what we imagine “honor” to be? The topic of honor and heroism haunts both director/writer David Lowery’s THE GREEN KNIGHT and the young man at the center of the story destined to be shaped by his own quest for something close to glory.
Gawain (Dev Patel) when we first find him is far from glorious, locked in the throes of love with a woman (played by Alicia Vikander, taking on more roles as the film goes on) of lower standing in the medieval time this story is set in and more or less banking off the royal reputation of his uncle, the King (Sean Harris. However, through Patel’s eyes we see that Gawain longs to become something of a legend, to become god-like in the ways that only knights could be and that opportunity comes in the form of the titular Green Knight (Ralph Ineson, draped in lovely practical effects with a hint of CGI), a mysterious being who strides into Gawain’s uncle’s castle and croaks a challenge: lay a single blow anywhere on the supernatural knight. In a rush, Gawain awkwardly accepts the challenge and wins, landing a blow on the knight’s head, severing it clean. Of course, this being an Arthurian legend (and only 20 or so minutes into the 2-hour film) the knight stands firm and cackles his way out of the king’s castle with a single promise: to return the exact same blow to Gawain in one year exactly.
Surely, a man who would make a move so bold and brave such as Gawain wouldn’t worry about the promise echoing from a dismembered head, would he? Alas, in Lowery’s THE GREEN KNIGHT the rest of the film dedicates itself to sinking into those worlds of Arthurian myth, where honor and bravery were viewed as worthy as gold, and digging into the worries and troubles that plagued the heroes within those tales. By the time Lowery guides us through a well-realized world of green knights, ghosts, talking animals, and giants towards an ending that is cheeky yet uplifting, the viewer learns that yes, heroes are just like us in the fact that they’re self-conscious about if they actually can slay the dragon (or Green Knight in Gawain’s case). It’s a refreshing approach to a centuries old tale and genre as Lowery views Gawain’s journey as something of an idiotic crusade of self-ego satisfaction moreso than a “straight-to-it” tale of a man easily defeating the bad guy and being hailed by the town’s peons for centuries. Of course, there are moments of mystical-ness and that A24-friendly sheen of brooding atmosphere that slows the film at times to a glacial pace, reflecting for better or worse, Gawain’s journey towards coming to terms with if he is a hero or not.
Throughout this journey, Patel puts in solid work, effortlessly flipping between a charming if aloof young playboy to a moment of fierce bravery and then to a pitiful and somewhat comedic balance of a scared, young man in over his head on an epic quest. Also, the man just physically and visually fits the timeless image of someone heroic, which Lowery further uses to his advantage on his own thematic quest to show the realities of a heroes' journey. The tale being Gawain’s, most other characters that arrive usually only show up for a scene or two (played by a few game performers such as Joel Edgerton and Barry Keoghan) to act as literal and metaphorical obstacles for Gawain which further emphasizes the isolation that Patel’s character faces on his journey; a young man lost among a seemingly mad world full of whispering and weird people. Like its characters, THE GREEN KNIGHT itself becomes a sight to behold; a world brought to life by a top notch crew of art directors and set and costume designers whose image of an Arthurian world hews closer to the religious iconography present in paintings of those times and, thanks to Andrew Droz Palermo’s excellent camerawork, evocatively drifts towards moments of psychedelia.
But this film is still about a journey and true to everything that that phrase brings, THE GREEN KNIGHT can feel like a chore at times, particularly in moments where Lowery focuses more on integrating the audience with the visuals and world in long takes or moments where nothing really happens. It’s an admirable artistic decision to make the audience feel the slog of the trip just as Gawain does but through 2-hours the film feels longer — granted, the stylish as Hell chapter titles always bring a bit of unspoken energy when they appear. Nevertheless, there’s genuine magic that slowly arises by the time the film nears its end, which possibly only works due to the fact that the journey towards its destination feels ponderous. In those final moments of THE GREEN KNIGHT, where the true tests of courage and heroism and more shine their light on Gawain, Lowery foregoes a dual between man and myth in favor of something much more intriguing: the battle between man and his own ideas of himself.
3.5/5
