Rating: A+
Of all the tales that make up the Arthurian mythos, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of the weirder ones to adapt.
It’s also one of the most captivating. The epic poem, which first appeared about 700 years ago, has managed to carve itself into the annals of British and western literature, becoming one of the foundational texts upon which modern lit and modern fantasy is built. Indeed, it’s been retold by no less than the grand daddy of fantasy himself, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Still, it remains one of those texts only known by the nerdiest of nerds and isn’t widely read outside of English major and fantasy circles. Unlike, say, The Sword in the Stone or Lancelot and Guinevere, Sir Gawain’s tale is one that eludes the consciousness of most readers and, though important, remains widely unknown.
It makes sense, then, that writer/director David Lowery would try his hand it bringing it to life. Lowery is a director unrestrained by the confines of convention; after all, he once made a movie starring Casey Affleck in a sheet (A Ghost Story). And it was beautiful. His eye for the unconventional serves him well here, making The Green Knight one of the year’s most magnificent films.
Dev Patel stars as Sir Gawain, Arthur’s nephew and a young man who has yet to make a name for himself among the knights of the round table. One Christmas, a mysterious Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) crashes Arthur’s party and proposes a game: any man my strike the knight anywhere he pleases, on the condition that next year the man meet the Green Knight in his home to receive the same blow in return. Eager to make his name, Gawain accepts and cuts the knight’s head clean off. To his surprise, the Green Knight survives the blow and informs him they’ll meet again in one year.
Like so many epic poems, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight serves as a metaphor for the travails a young man must go through before he is called a man. It is a tale of learning honor and honesty, forging a boy into a gallant hero who abides by the rules of chivalry. Lowery has turned this into a vast and glorious thematic and visual playground, exploring not just honor and adulthood but the journey of learning to accept one’s own mortality.
Lowery does play around a bit with the mythos, which might be a point of contention for some. For example, in the myth, Gawain’s mother is Morgause, Arthur’s half-sister. Here, his mother is another Arthurian sister, the witch enchantress Morgan Le Fey (Sarita Choudbury). In the original tale, the Green Knight was merely a plot device; here, the Green Knight is summoned by Le Fey as a means to force her shiftless son to grow up.
Though some may find these changes somewhat egregious, the general malleability of myth allows for these changes and gives Lowery a bit more room to maneuver the complex themes of the story. This allows the auteur to explore the intricacies of the hero’s journey in striking ways. While he never holds his audience’s hand, Lowery weaves a captivating and entrancing spell.
The Green Knight is not a movie for everyone, however. Contrary to the marketing, this is a slow burning film that focuses on the journey of a single man rather than the kind of action fantasy we’ve come to expect in the years since Lord of the Rings hit theaters. This willing and able to set aside expectations, however, are in for a remarkable feast for the sense and heart. Lowery has done the impossible in bringing this tale to life and making it more palatable for modern sensibilities. It is as stunning a work of art as cinema has produced and more than worthy of its poetic namesake.
The Green Knight is now available on VOD.
