If you've seen a medieval fantasy film in the last decade, you know what exactly you're getting into. Projects like Game of Thrones have established a default visual aesthetic that few of these projects want to deviate from. Minimal color, lots of grime everywhere, an emphasis on gritty reality. Those qualities can be interesting in the proper feature, but it's time for something new. Enter writer/director David Lowery with The Green Knight. Adapting the 14th-century text Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Lowery has developed a fantasy film with an aesthetic so distinct it feels like the kind of movie that will soon spawn imitators clamoring to match its power. Good luck to such productions, as The Green Knight sets a high bar to clear.
Gawain (Dev Patel) is the nephew of King Arthur (Sean Harris). He is not the most storied figure to be involving in Arthur's life. In fact, Gawain has no legends to his name and wishes for a chance to establish his sense of honor. This opportunity comes knocking (literally) once The Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) barges in to Arthur's chambers on Christmas Day and challenges any of the men present to land a blow on him. Gawain embraces the challenge and slices off The Green Knight's head. After doing so, this wooden warrior reminds Gawain that, in a year's time, their game will be completed. This is when Gawain will come to The Green Church and allow The Green Knight to land a blow against him.
Flash forward a year and Gawain is petrified over the thought of confronting The Green Knight. But the time has come. Gawain must make a six-day journey to meet this figure and cement his "honor". Along the way, Gawain has a series of encounters that challenge his preconcieved notions of what it means to be a "hero" and live an "honorable" life.
Though hewking closely to its ancient source material, The Green Knight still manages to cover similar thematic territory to prior Lowery movies. An existential aura contemplating the purpose of living was previously seen in Lowery's A Ghost Story while an exploration of a deeply vulnerable human underneath a legendary reputation was the crux of his 2018 film The Old Man and the Gun. Excitingly, what The Green Knight reminded me of more than anything else was 1960s animated fare like Fantastic Planet or The Fabulous Baron Munchausen. Like with those films, The Green Knight's imagery is seemingly limited only by the imagination of its director.
Anything is possible here in terms of imagery and the limitless nature of those visuals result in a film that's just stunning to behold. I especially love how Lowery and cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo lather Gawain's journey with such evocative use of bright colors. Rather than using a toned-down color palette to convey a sense that this a fantasy movie for "grown-ups", The Green Knight employs, among other hues, a bright red aura for Gawain's nighttime dip into a lake while a yellow coating covers the screen as our protagonist gets closer and closer to the Green Knight's lair. The use of colors alone spark the imagination and dazzle the eyes.
Even better, Lowery tells The Green Knight in a way that allow the visuals to tell the story. This is a methodical tale that takes its time, it's more about vibes than hurried plotting. That suits me just fine, especially since it allowed me to appreciate the finer details in the camerawork like the detail put into those 360 degree shots! The atmosphere and the visuals are just as much the stars of The Green Knight as Dev Patel and those two elements justify their heavy presence and then some! The production design and costume work also come through spectacularly, with the latter facet also making great use of all those vivid colors to create outfits I've never seen before in a fantasy movie.
The visuals are luscious here in The Green Knight, particularly in the incredible practical visual effects work (such as the outstanding makeup work to realize the titular creature) used to bring this world to life. Simialrly top-notch are the performances, with Dev Patel especially shining in a richly-detailed turn as Gawain. He may inhabit a world full of giants and tree beings, but Patel's portrayal of Gawain struggling to figure out how he can leave a mark in a world full of legendary beings feels all too authentic. As with the best characters in fantasy storytelling, Patel excels in conveying the deeply human in fantastical surroundings.
Patel makes for a great vessel for Lowery to explore not just wondrous imagery but also to contemplate how we define an "honorable" life. The various figures Gawain encounters on his quest reflect the complexities of this mental exercise, particularly since some, like an unnamed scavenger (Barry Kheogan) who lose his siblings in a war, have been horrendously affected by powerful individuals who see their actions as "honorable". Can your life really be honorable if it means sowing the blood of others? On a more personal level for Gawain, is ignoring a woman (played by Alicia Vikander in one of her two roles) who loves you "honorable" just because she doesn't have what society considers a "proper" profession? Is causing pain and suffering the only way conventional society define "honor"? Is that something worth pursuing?
The Green Knight stews over these ideas as well other weighty concepts (such as paganism vs. traditional Christianity) with enough quiet heft to leave any moviegoer ruminating over these notions long after they leave the theater. Lowery goes about this contemplation without flinching at bleak answers, but not at the expense of delivering an unabashedly old-school fantasy adventure. As much a feast for the eyes as it is for the brain, The Green Knight is not like any fantasy film you've ever seen. It's about what you'd expect from a fantasy movie directed by the filmmaker behind A Ghost Story and I mean that as the highest possible compliment!
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