The Green Knight (2021)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Green Knight (2021) – D. Lowery

I do have a soft spot in my heart for Boorman’s Excalibur (1981), so when I heard that director David Lowery (A Ghost Story, 2017) was making a film of another Arthurian legend (from the 14^th century poem), I thought I may as well check it out (on an Amazon Prime free trial). And Lowery’s evocation of the medieval milieu does not disappoint (kudos to cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo and the art and design team). The story itself begins with a flourish – King Arthur’s layabout nephew Gawain (Dev Patel) is called to a Christmas dinner with the King where a mysterious Green Knight offers a challenge: anyone who dares can strike him but will have to receive a matching blow in return one year hence at the Green Chapel. Gawain takes up the challenge (borrowing Arthur’s sword – presumably Excalibur itself) and hacks off the knight’s head (presumably to prove himself in the eyes of the assembled knights/king/queen). Surprisingly, the Green Knight picks up his head, laughs, and tells Gawain he will see him next Christmas. The year passes quickly and the bulk of the movie follows Gawain on his journey to meet his fate. It’s a slow and dreamlike journey (with little action-adventure to speak of). He meets a few mysterious characters along the way, has some unusual or unfortunate episodes, and, well – he isn’t your usual hero. A magic belt that will protect its owner from any blow is his only protection, a fig leaf for his courage, if he can hold onto it. I won’t spoil the ending but suffice it to say that in the guise of telling a tale of yore, Lowery is really asking big questions about life’s purpose and about our expectations about bravery, success, and perhaps masculinity. Although the answers are far from clear here, one suspects that Lowery sees the classical values as misguided.