This review contains heavy spoilers, so if those bother you, stop reading here.
Gawain (Patel) is the nephew of the king (Sean Harris), but he is not a knight himself. During a Christmas celebration, a massive Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) enters the halls and presents the king with his challenge: a knight from his court is to deliver a blow on him, and a year from now, the next Christmas, the knight is to meet the Green Knight in a faraway temple, where the blow is repaid in the same measure.
The only one to accept the challenge is Gawain. As he has no sword, the king lends one to him. To Gawain's surprise, the Green Knight kneels before him, allowing Gawain to chop off his head. As the room cheers, Green Knight stands up, takes his head, and tells them that the game is now on. A year from now, Gawain is to meet him, and the blow is to be returned.
A year passes quickly. Gawain's mother (Choudhury) makes him a magic belt, which is meant to keep him alive. She is also responsible for calling Green Knight, as she wants glory for her son. However, she has not told him this. And so, before Christmas, Gawain departs to meet his destiny.
On his way, Gawain is robbed of his possessions, including the massive axe Green Knight left as his token. Gawain ends up spending a night in a haunted mansion, where a spirit urges him to get her head, which has sunken in a lake. After this, a fox joins Gawain's journey, and a group of wandering giants take them closer to the green temple.
After a tiring journey, Gawain enters yet another mansion, where the lord (Edgerton) and the lady (Vikander, who has a double role in the movie as Essel, Gawain's prostitute lover) nourish him back to health. It soon becomes evident that both the lord and the lady want something more from Gawain, so he departs after getting a replacement magic belt from the lady.
Before Gawain arrives at his goal, the fox gives him a warning. Where he is going, there's no return, and it would not be a shame if he'd turn back now. The fox would not tell anyone, but Gawain drives it away and continues forth until he finally enters the temple, where the Green Knight silently sits on his throne. Gawain places his axe on the stairs and waits for Christmas to come.
Christmas comes, and the Green Knight wakes up. Gawain kneels before him, but before the blow is given, he runs away, certain he'll die. What follows is a montage of Gawain becoming king, Essel bearing him a son, and Gawain abandoning her for a more regal spouse. A war begins, and finally, Gawain perishes on his throne when he removes his belt. As he does this, his head falls from his shoulders, and again, we see him back in the free temple, where he is still kneeling. Again, before the blow is given, he halts the Green Knight, removes his belt, and thus embraces his destiny, whatever it might be.
The Green Knight might not be the kind of re-telling of the old chivalric romance you'd expect. It's not a playful tale of a brave knight who goes forth to vanquish evil. No, it's more of a psychologically reflective tale of a young man who, with one decision, ties his destiny to a matter he has no understanding of, but which he still, from a sense of however misplaced responsibility, tries to achieve. Or it can also be said, he has no choice in the matter after he so foolishly decides to step forward. It's a choice that has a lasting effect on his life, whether he wanted it or not.
Patel gives a fantastic performance as Gawain, who is looking for his destiny. As a nephew of the king, he knows what is expected of him, but he's never quite sure if that is something he wants for himself. Only in the end, after he finally removes his magical belt, is Gawain sure of the destiny he wants to embrace, even if that destiny is an unknown variable.
While the acting is overall great, The Green Knight hinges around Patel, who gives his all to a role that is far from straightforward. The movie as a whole is more of a mix of dreamlike and nightmarish sequences, through which Gawain travels to find what he is seeking, foolish or not.
The Green Knight is perhaps a movie that works better for older audiences. They might, far better than the younger audiences, have a reflection on those little things they chose back in their younger days, which had a cascade effect for the rest of their lives. Choices, made either daringly or with thought, accidentally or by design or perhaps in duress or willingly, which lead them to where they are now, in all good and bad.
I can't say how closely The Green Knight follows the tales it is based on, so that in mind, I can't really comment on its faithfulness to the sources in one way or another. It's, nonetheless, a visually interesting, well-narrated and well-acted movie. Patel, who carries the main weight of it, is especially good, but I'm hard-pressed to think any poor performance from the movie.
The Green Knight is not an action movie, so if that's something you are looking for, then all I can recommend is to look elsewhere. But if you are in the mood for a bit more poetic tale of a knight on an impossible mission, then this would be it.
Comments
Post a Comment