The Great Green Hype

    Since it’s debut trailer shook my soul with it’s captivating visuals and haunting, mythic energy, I have been waiting in deep anticipation for David Lowery’s “The Green Knight” to hit theatres. And when July 30th finally arrived, I rushed to the earliest showing I could find and happily threw down my hard earned cash for what I’d hoped would be an encapsulating rendition of the old Arthurian legend I knew and loved. And did I get that? If I’m being honest … No. I most certainly did not, but does that mean the movie is bad? Well, let’s unpack that. 

    At its heart, “The Green Knight,” in its most basic conceit, is a coming-of-age tale centered around a young, spoiled, aspiring knight named Gawain. On Christmas day, when he’s partying it up with his uncle, King Arthur, and his legendary knights of the round table, they are suddenly put upon by the unexpected arrival of the Green Knight, issuing a challenge to any man brave enough to try and lay a blow against him. The catch? If they do so, the Green Knight, in one years time, will strike back with a matching blow. The game is as simple as that.

    Jumping at the chance to prove himself equal among his peers, Gawain accepts the challenge and strikes what seems to be a fatal blow. However, to his horror, the Green Knight survives and now Gawain has no choice, but to traverse to The Green Chapel in a year's time and face the Green Knight to fulfill his obligation. The question is, when the time comes, will he do it? Or rather does he have to? 

    From the start of the film, up to the time Gawain sets out on his journey, the movie was everything I hoped it would be: tense, mysterious, mythical, enthralling, and otherworldly (very much akin to Pan’s Labyrinth). But the moment he ventured out into the wilderness, the movie begins to slow to a beautiful, but painfully slow crawl, where I was just begging for anything to happen. And to the film’s credit, things do happen, eventually. However, the time between meaningful events is long and arduous and even when those events take place, they typically play out in the most slow and overindulgent fashion to the point where I found little reason to be invested in Gawain’s journey. 

    This trend continues until about the last twenty minutes, when the movie really starts to pick up and offers a powerhouse of beautiful and moving moments, most of which is amazingly done without a single word of dialogue. The problem is that I found it hard to feel the thrust and punch of that final twenty minutes because of the immensely boring slog that led up to it.

    With all that being said, there is a well realized coming-of-age tale that lies within this film, one that touches on themes of honor, courage, manliness, the perception of a meaningful existence, and many more, all of which is bolstered by the amazing performance of Dev Patel (Gawain). Moreover, I cannot deny that the cinematography on display is nothing short of masterful. So, if you’re someone who is really into the technical aspects of filmmaking, this film beckons for you to pour over it meticulously. Between sweeping vistas, immaculate music, and eye catching effects, both vfx and practical, that bring this low fantasy world to life, this movie is a treasure trove of cinematic wonder. It’s just unfortunate that in terms of entertainment, I found much to be desired.

    If I had to sum up my opinion of “The Green Knight,” I’d say it’s great art, but bad entertainment. I found it to be a beautiful, wondrous, and extremely well crafted and well acted cinematic slow burn, tailor made for lovers of the craft. However, I don’t think casual viewers will find this one particularly engaging or dare I say unfathomably boring. And if I’m being entirely honest, I’d have rather stayed home and chanced on a random, low rung Netflix feature than paid to see this movie, because that movie would have at least been entertaining. 

Levi Mock (July 30, 2021)