Sometimes a film hits you differently after seeing it more than once. My first experience with The Green Knight was a mixed bag. But watching it again I gained appreciation for what director Lowrey was doing with his journey here and I've updated my thoughts.
Nothing in Lowery's catalogue had prepared me for this stunning art film dressed up as a fantasy epic. His work is hot and cold for me as his Ghost Story frustrated me but his adaptation of Pete's Dragon surprised and impressed me. But regardless of that The Green Knight is a memorable experience. Imagine Julie Taymour, Tarsem, and Terrence Malick decided to tell an Arhurian legend and you approximate what watching The Green Knight is like. It is visually striking, rather slow, with a poetic narrative that often leaves you pondering what is happening throughout.
The story actually sticks rather closely to the ancient legend, a morality tale about sticking to your word. I mean I think so. The film ends suddenly on a note of mystery, sort of. So maybe the ending doesn't quite... well that really isn't that important. The strength of the film isn't in literally interpreting the story, which meanders a bit. It is in the emotional journey we are on with Patel's knight.
The Green Knight is just damn striking to watch. Lowery sticks to his operatic vision creating a mythical world for his hero to quest in. It is a verdant, overgrown medieval kingdom of animism. The human artistry is equally lush. Everything about the film is aesthetically rich. And with all this it is incredibly lived in. Patels' hero is beaten down and we feel it. There is a deep visceral texture to the story that exhausts us (in a good way) so that the emotion of the crusade is felt. People don't speak naturally; instead they give speeches outlining their philosophies and confess their deepest desires suddenly and without prompting. Because this is legend. It isn't reality. It is emotion.
And at the heart of this film is Patel in a beautiful and painful performance. His heroic journey is painstaking so there is no doubting his character's authenticity. His story is a bit episodic but it maintains a consistency, especially in Patel's performance, building his character's arc intricately.
Then, as the film reaches its ending, there is the moment of truth, and then it just ends. Are to insert the ending of the legend as written centuries ago or are we do interpret our own ending for Gawain? The more I thought about it the more I appreciated the ambiguity which lets us explore different options.
The Green Knight was fascinating throughout even when it felt it dragged a bit on some of Lowery's side quests. Still The Green Knight was a spectacle that still gave me somethings to contemplate and that made it worth the runtime.
The Green Knight
Starring: Deve Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie
Writer/Director: David Lowery
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