The Green Knight (2021) Review

"Was it not just a game?"

-Gawain

On Christmas, King Arthur's (Sean Harris) round table is approached by the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) who challenges any one of them to land a blow on him, but in one year, they will have the meet the Green Knight on their knees and receive an equal blow.  Arthur's nephew, Gawain (Dev Patel), accepts the challenge and decapitates the Green Knight.  A year later, Gawain embarks on a dangerous quest for honor as he goes to meet the Green Knight.

What Works:

Technically, this is a beautiful film.  The cinematography is impeccable with lots of slow, long takes and some great atmospheric shots.  It gives the film an epic scope, even with it being such a small-scale tale.  The use of lighting is also amazing.  There is lots of unnatural green and red lighting, which always goes a long way with me.

The performances are fantastic across the board.  Patel, Joel Edgerton, Alicia Vikander, and Ineson all give fantastic performances and Sean Harris, who I've never been a big fan of, gives the best performance I've ever seen from him and it isn't close.  Besides Patel, I just wish they had all received more screen time.

This film is somewhat told in a series of vignettes about the different obstacles Gawain faces on his journey.  The best of these is absolutely his encounter with Winifred (Erin Kellyman).  I wouldn't call any of these vignettes straightforward, but this is the one that I understood the most in terms of developing Gawain as a character as he does something kind without expecting anything in return.  It helps that Kellyman gives easily the funniest performance in the movie, which I was not expecting.

Finally, the 3rd act is simply wonderful.  I won't give it away, but it starts off really strong, before making me frustrated and angry, before finally granting me some relief with a fantastic final scene.  It's quite the emotional roller coaster and put the film as a whole into greater perspective.

What Sucks:

The second act is definitely the weakest part of the film as Gawain travels the countryside.  Between his various encounters, there are too many sequences of Gawain walking through the wilderness.  He doesn't have any human companions, so there is no dialogue, which would make these sequences work better.  They help build the atmosphere, but they go on for too long and I definitely felt my interest waning at times.

Finally, I love weird movies.  If a movie can make me go WTF, I love it.  This movie definitely fits the bill.  The problem I run into is when a movie is weird and ambiguous for no discernible reason.  There needs to be some purpose behind it, even if it takes me a while to figure out what that purpose is, like season 3 of Twin Peaks for example.  There are parts of this movie that are weird without explanation and I don't know why they are in the movie other than to be weird and surreal.  The scene with the giants is the biggest offender.  If you have any ideas to the purpose of that scene, please let me know.

Verdict:

The Green Knight does have scenes that are too slow and ambiguous for the sake of being ambiguous, but beyond that, it's a true work of art.  The cinematography and lighting are incredible, the performances are career standouts for many of the actors, there are some really interesting sequences, and a phenomenal ending.  It won't be for everyone, to be sure, but, for the most part, The Green Knight has got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good