by Matt St Clair
the severed head of "The Green Knight"
Normally, Arthurian legends are sword-and-sorcery fables. The latest Arthurian tale The Green Knight, which is primarily about Arthur’s nephew Gawain (Dev Patel) keeps the sorcery, yet there’s little swordplay. Unless you count a terrifying axe that keeps waiting to be swung. The Green Knight may be less action-oriented than other such tales but it's a visually stunning, cerebral dissection of the Messiah complex and its ties to monarchy.
Despite Gawain not being religiously devout, he’s still eager to become a knight at his uncle’s Round Table...
He's someone who believes that, because he’s putting his life on the line for his kingdom, he’s an almighty figure. His worthiness as a knight, tasked with warfare as well as maintaining order within the kingdom becomes put to the test once the mysterious Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) arrives. In the first act, which is more of a prologue, Gawain takes part in the Knight’s strange dual challenge and severs his head. The knight, who rides off laughing with this head tucked under his arm, tasks Gaiwan with a quest in one year's time. He must ride to the Green Chapel so that the headless knight can return the blow.
When we first meet Gawain, he’s awoken by a splash of water from his lover Essel (Alicia Vikander) who says, “Christ is born.” It's a playful acknowledgment of the holiday (the movie begins at Christmas) and a teasing of Gawain’s ego. “Christ is born, indeed!” he lustily replies, embracing her. As he clumsily makes his way to the Round Table, guzzling booze, it’s clear he must shed his hedonistic ways to be worthy of the chivalric position he hopes to claim. Patel expertly portrays both Gawain’s ego and hedonism and his more thoughtful nature and skepticism of his own nobility.
Patel anchors the surreal fantasy, surrounded by a capable supporting cast. With a dual role as Gaiwan's peasant lover and a mysterious high-born Lady Gaiwan meets near the end of his quest, Vikander fares best. Meanwhile, Barry Keoghan makes the most of his miniscule role as the dastardly Scavenger while Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Sarita Choudhury, Joel Edgerton, and Erin Kellyman work similar wonders with small parts.
The hazy cinematography by Andrew Droz Palmero paints subsequent Gawain’s journey to the Green Chapel like a fever dream. Daniel's Hart's horror-like musical score is searing and effective. The editing by editor/writer/director David Lowery helps this two-hour film run along smoothly.
Neverthless, The Green Knight is all about Dev Patel. All about his magnetic performance and of course, his physical beauty in this meditation on honor done with psychotropic, and somewhat erotic, flair by David Lowery (Seriously, there’s one horny scene that makes one wonder how it managed to successfully earned only an R-rating). Rather than go any deeper into the film's achievement, it’s best to simply let you take in this trippy masterpiece for yourself. A
The Green Knight is now playing in theaters.