My Review of "The Green Knight"

The Green Knight came out back in 2021. It was still deep into the pandemic and was one of the few movies that was in the theatres. A friend of mine told me that he walked out of the movie theatre while watching it. Meanwhile I was hearing some good reviews for this movie. I wanted to see for myself what the real deal with this movie.

The movie starts off with a very moody and somber environment. We meet with our main protagonist Gawain. He's the nephew of the King Arthur. I guess with that there's some expectations from the public. Unfortunately for him he's kind of a slacker. He's aimless and doesn't really have any aspirations for anything despite the expectations from him. It's obviously he's loved by everyone but he doesn't want the prestige of his position.

As with life we all get caught up with peer pressure and that happens to Gawain early on in the movie when the Green Knight arrives. The Green Knight is this monstrous character that demands a champion to fight him. Gawain takes the responsibility as King Arthur is very weak in his old age. Somehow, Gawain easily defeats the Green Knight although there are consequences to his actions.

The Green Knight gets up from defeat and declares a horrifying prophecy and tells Gawain that he has to take on the adventure he prophesize. Gawain being Gawain is a bit of a coward and doesn't know what to make of it. Though he does reap the benefits of beating the Green Knight.

When time comes for Gawain to take on his prophesized adventure he doesn't know what he's going to get himself into. What we get is an interesting exploration of Gawain's rampant personal thoughts throughout his adventure.

I actually really appreciated his constant existential thoughts. He's wondering if he even needs to take on this adventure. Technically he doesn't have to go through with it but it is about his personal pride and honor. Gawain also has to realize what is important to him. There are so many elements in his life that he has to account for. Although he lives a pretty cushy life he does have a lot of interesting decisions to make.

Remembering back to my friend walking out on this movie, I can see why. This movie is very long movie that will linger on certain scenes to take in moments. It allows you to absorb the emotions that Gawain is feeling while going through the motions.

It does help that the art direction for this movie is amazing. The costume designs alone will take your breathe away. There are so many intricate designs and textures to the wardrobe of this movie. Each camera shot is meticulously taken with some sort of emotional meaning behind it. They put a lot of thought and work in this movie.

You can tell this is not a movie for everyone. Special effects are surprisingly sparse. This is more an exploration of Gawain as a character and his self discovery. There is also a lot of witchcraft in this movie. where you don't know either if Gawain is going insane or he's actually experiencing them. It kind of made me go a little crazy, though I kind of loved this misbalance of equilibrium of the movie

Overall, I still had a good time with this movie but I understand why my friend walked out on this movie. It is not for everyone, those that it will work for are few. I get what they were doing with this movie so I was able to enjoy it but I won't be able to watch this multiple times. That's why I have to give this movie a 6 out of 10. This exploration of Gawain was a breathe of fresh air but not totally for me.