2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #32
by Xavier E. Palacios
"The Green Knight"
3.5 out of 5
Directed by David Lowery
Rated R
In this re-imagining of the classic Middle English poem of Arthurian legend, Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), knight of the Round Table in Camelot and nephew to King Arthur (Sean Harris), is eager to prove himself a true, honorable Sir worthy of the crown, rather than the instinctive and immature man he is. On Christmas Day, the Round Table feast is interrupted by the strange Green Knight (Ralph Ineson), a magical figure who challenges the court to a game. With the promise of riches, he offers anyone in the court a chance to strike him in a duel without resistance, on the condition that whoever does so must come to his Green Chapel in a year's time and permit him to, in turn, strike them back without defense. Seeking his chance to make a name for himself, Gawain beheads the Green Knight, expecting to triumph and not for the being to retrieve his head unharmed and gallop away. One year later, Gawain, for the sake of his reputation, journeys across a mystical and bizarre Arthurian England, embarking on unreal and unnerving adventures that force him to consider what kind of man he really is as he comes closer and closer to his doom.
Unsurprisingly, I have always been interested in the stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table probably ever since the release of 1998's Quest for Camelot; meaning I knew perhaps the very genesis of the high fantasy sub-genre before I discovered The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and, remarkably, The Lord of the Rings. I was taken aback and surprised to learn in high school that Arthur's story ended in tragedy and failure. Lately, thanks to finally listening to cast albums of the Camelot musical, I have been revisiting and researching the Arthurian legends, particularly T.H. White's The Once and Future King. For in these tales are the kind of romantic, fairy tale, and childish notions of good and evil I used to believe in while simultaneously being about humanity's sin, corruption, and vain hopes that people can ever be better than the selfish beasts they really are. Simply put, and magnificently, the Arthurian narrative is about how people's ideas for a better world are figments of naïve fancy that are unsustainable and impossible, yet the very fact that there are those who once conceived of and believed in such a world and fought to keep a dream like Camelot alive for everyone's benefit means there is hope for and within the human spirit.
These ideas are sown throughout The Green Knight, a re-telling of an Arthurian legend I always fancied since I discovered the tale in college. Much more ambiguous and trippily told than before, giving this Arthurian England a sense of dreamy unease where the curtains of comfortable predictability have been ripped apart, Gawain, as he has done so for centuries in this story's telling, once again embarks on a quest not about conquering monsters but himself. Told in a visual style reminiscent to the atmosphere of Middle-English poetry, Gawain is challenged to ponder if he is really a man who does not actually believe in chivalrous virtues save when they can profit him, is lustful and incapable of real love, and forever cursed to be a cowardly and inexperienced warrior, adventurer, and hero by his own incapacity to improve his mind and spirit. Maybe he wishes only for the superficiality of glory and, like his fellow Knights who will ultimately help destroy Camelot, can never hope to achieve real honor. With a terrific leading man, lovely fantasy, an eerie tone, and fitting twists to the tale, The Green Knight, while far from my favorite picture of this cinematic year, is a worthily weird venture through a time and place that never existed save in the constant imagination of humankind. Happily, the film was not what I was expecting and left me asking questions.
Oh, I still wish 2017's infamous King Arthur: Legend of the Sword could have been made by filmmakers who truly understood the timeless legend and, so, would have had a greater chance to go on and make the proposed, six-part adaptation of the rise and fall of Camelot. But at least there are those who comprehend these tales, and The Green Knight is the result of such creative intelligence.
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The 2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #32: "The Green Knight"
Non-FictionThe thirty-second entry of the 2022-2023 Film Journal focuses on "The Green Knight" and has me taking a look at why the Arthurian legends remain so compelling after all these centuries.
