Review: The Green Knight

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Gawain (Dev Patel) is the King's nephew and knight in training when he accepts a challenge from The Green Knight. (Ralph Ineson) One year later, he's tasked with tracking that Knight down, and encounters much more on the way.

This has been one of my most anticipated films of the year, and I purposely avoided reading the book so I could go in as blind as possible, now after leaving it, I wonder if that was the best choice. I had to sit with this a bit. I liked it, but I wanted to love it.

Dev Patel is a fantastic actor and I'm 100% here for him getting leading roles, especially in projects like this. He doesn't have a ton of dialogue, but he's very easy to watch. Alicia Vikander also gives a wonderful performance in her two roles. 

The standout of this film is the cinematography. It's absolutely gorgeous and it will be a travesty if it's not an Oscar nominee, let alone winner. I loved how everything looked. It was so eerily beautiful. 

Let's talk about the thing I had to sit with, and this is 100% me just being unfamiliar with the story itself, I felt like I barely knew anything about Gawain prior to this quest. I especially didn't understand his mother's motives and had to look it up when I got home. He has no inner monologue, not many remark on him. So much of this film is symbolism, that I just felt like he took a backseat to the visuals.

While I didn't love it like I wanted to, I think this is definitely worth seeing, especially if you're in a place that's safe enough to view on the big screen. Much like director David Lowery's last film, A Ghost Story. It leaves you with plenty to ponder.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Why would you ask me that?" - Winifred (Erin Kellyman)

Comments

  1. thevoid99August 3, 2021 at 4:55 PM

    I really enjoyed this film and I think I liked it a lot more than you did for the atmosphere and surrealistic presentation. I can answer you about Gawain's mother. She is a version of Morgana Le Fay who was King Arthur's half-sister and a sorceress that had dark motives towards Arthur and Merlin. The film Excalibur has a unique take on the King Arthur story that has Helen Mirren as Morgana and watch out for a young Liam Neeson in that film.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 4, 2021 at 6:17 AM

      My unfamiliarness with these tales really was my downfall here. I felt better about everything after I went to the internet for clarifications, but I was quiet lost.

      Delete
  2. RuthAugust 3, 2021 at 9:42 PM

    Hey I saw this last week too and though I enjoyed Dev's performance, the showing at my local cinema was so dark I could barely see the details. So that dampen my enjoyment a bit, plus the theater was soooo cold! I do want to rewatch this though, and see if I could get more out of it the second time around.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 4, 2021 at 6:16 AM

      Aww I hate when the surroundings an effect a film! Hopefully you enjoy it more the second go around.

      Delete
  3. keith71_98August 4, 2021 at 8:46 AM

    I know what you mean about going in blind. I did the same thing and it's hard to tell if that was a good decision or bad.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 6, 2021 at 6:14 AM

      I lean towards bad, because I would've preferred the clarity while watching, and not being confused, going on the internet later then going "oh, now that makes sense."

      Delete
  4. Often Off TopicAugust 5, 2021 at 3:26 AM

    I know how much you've been looking forward to this so I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It's been pulled from the UK release schedule so I'll be waiting patiently for a VoD release but I'll watch anything for Dev!

    ReplyDelete
  5. LukeAugust 12, 2021 at 1:01 PM

    I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Right now it's my favorite of the year. I love journey narratives so this was right up my alley. It's also absolutely necessary to see on the biggest theater screen possible.

    ReplyDelete

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