The Green Knight

The Green Knight

An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend, The Green Knight tells the story of Sir Gawain, King Arthur's reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men.

  • Released: 2021-07-29
  • Runtime: 130 minutes
  • Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
  • Stars: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Barry Keoghan, Erin Kellyman, Ralph Ineson, Emilie Hetland, Anthony Morris, Megan Tiernan, Noelle Brown, Youssef Quinn, Aaron Edo, Margeaux Wright, Tyrone Kearns, Helena Browne, Brendan Conroy, Ethan Dillion, Chris McHallem, Atheena Frizzell, Donncha Crowley, Patrick Duffy, Janet Grene, Simone Haines, Tyrone Kearns, Tom Leavey, Anaïs Rizzo, Joe Anderson, Nita Mishra, Tara Mae, Emmett O'Brien, Sam Uppal Lynch, Adam Karim, Ruth Patel, Rose Patel, Rachel Quinn
  • Director: David Lowery
 Comments
  • thesar-2 - 30 May 2024
    The Lord of the Green
    It's not easy being Green. Sometimes, you could even lose your head.

    I understand where this fable came from, but to me, watching The Green Knight, was like reading a poem. And while I'm not into poetry, nor have I read very much, I did like how this enormously slow-paced adventure made me feel.

    Once upon a medieval time, a cowardly man who feels unworthy of the affection his King bestows upon him, accepts a challenge (well, more so game) from the Title Character: If this man can strike down Greenie, he'll have won his place...for exactly 365 days. Then, it's time to pay the piper.

    The movie is mostly the journey one year ahead when the man "must" wander from the kingdom to meet his fate. I guess to prove his might, pay a debt, end the movie, etc. It's a beautiful film, indeed. It's just...as pointed out...Very, VERY slow. As if this "Poem" is just a few pages stretched vastly thin.

    I did like how it ends, though I saw it coming from the very get-go. And even with the predictability, I liked it even more showing me why, I suppose, it *had* to happen this way. See what happens when Scar wins?

    This was highly recommended to me and I'm not 100% sure I can do the same. I guess if you really like slow-burns, set in medieval times with few action scenes or events, you'd like this.

    Intrigued? Get that remote handy throughout. You'll need to repeatedly rewind and launch closed captions to understand half of the mumbling dialog.

    ***

    Final Thoughts: Here are my Top 24 Favorite A24 Releases:

    1. Hereditary (2018) 2. X (2022) 3. Talk to Me (2023) 4. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) 5. Green Room (2016) 6. Ex Machina (2015) 7. Pearl (2022) 8. Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) 9. Midsommar (2019) 10. The Disaster Artist (2017) 11. Good Time (2017) 12. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) 13. Moonlight (2016) 14. Uncut Gems (2019) 15. Room (2015) 16. Saint Maud (2021) 17. Eighth Grade (2018) 18. The Spectacular Now (2013) 19. Under the Skin (2014) 20. The Lobster (2016) 21. The Witch (2016) 22. Lady Bird (2017) 23. The Lighthouse (2019) 24. The Monster (2016)
  • lasleym - 25 March 2024
    Slow and steady wins this epic quest
    The opening scene clearly showcases how the rest of the telling of the green Knight will go. Slow, methodical, a trick of the eye, as pieces, unfold, that you weren't aware, because you were looking at something else. The entire telling of the green night plays this way. Slow, methodical, visually stunning, and you must pay attention to the entire thing less you miss an important point. Each actor plays their part perfectly whether conniving or serious, or mysterious, or loving. The Director leaves, mini tricks, throughout, testing the sincerity of Sir Gawain. It ultimately feels like a visually stunning retelling of this 700-year-old poem.
  • poochydapimp-716-760545 - 25 January 2024
    One of the worst movies I've ever seen...
    Despite some absolutely beautiful shots, this movie was absolutely terrible. Horrible editing leading to extremely choppy shots, a ridiculously random plot with 90% of the movie leaving you wondering what the hell you just watched. I love heady movies, but this completely missed the mark. It was trying to shove 10 pounds of garbage in a 5 pound bag and it did not work. I really wanted to like it, but it was so boring and unrelentlessly dumb, the beautiful shots could not make up for everything else that was terrible. Hollywood, of course, rated it well because of their delusional agendas and detached beliefs of what makes a good movie.
  • fatcat-73450 - 25 November 2022
    The Tale of the CGI Fox
    The most striking thing about this movie is that it's set in Arthurian times (I think medieval, but it might have even be before that) and is more or less faithful to the time period, but the person who plays Gawain (whose whole identity was that he was some sort of Scottsman in the original tales) is an Indian. Yes, this is not a contemporization of the original tale. No women shooting crossbows in war, no one-liners, no rock music. It's meant to be an immersive return to the time period, yet we have this one oddity. It's a little jarring when we see his mother and child are also of the same sort, but I suppose we can get over it for most of the movie, since they don't dwell on it.

    As for the rest of the movie, it's a mood piece that unfortunately decides to ride on the coattails of The King (2019). That is, the characters talk in gravelly whispers throughout the whooole movie, often saying pointless nonsense. I hope this isn't going to become a trend.

    I forgave the trespasses of The King because it was effective as a silent movie. It had simple characters doing simple things (basically you can sum up the plot as an errant prince taking up the helm after his father dies and attaining glory). Also, it had some very strong performances and casting, almost having the feel of an anime.

    I can't say the same for The Green Knight, though. While the setup is simple enough - a knight goes on an adventure into the woods - the plot is a dense and philosophical bramble. It's not easy at all why he did it, why things happened to him, or what the outcome was. It's a mess and the nonsensical hoarse whispers of the cast don't help it. Aside from that while Gawain does a fine job acting as an everyman, he's not a particularly impressive actor, Arthur is completely decrepit, and the Green Knight is a guy in a thick mask. It's a whole different ball game from The King.

    It has many nice scenes and impressive views of the forest and the mountain ranges he traverses, but it's also slow-paced, boring, and complicated. It also has a fake-looking CGI fox.

    Honourable Mentions: Fantastic Mr. Fox. (2009). Great movie with a fox that looks about as realistic as the one in this movie.
  • cantankerousdude - 4 October 2022
    Do NOT waste your time. Wow, golly gee awful.
    Terrible, boring, slow, and then the "hero" is just a p*$$y who can't live up to his promise. Efin' terrible, two hours I'll never get back. I'm going to sleep, make better use of my time. Terrible, boring, slow, and then the "hero" is just a p*$$y who can't live up to his promise. Efin' terrible, two hours I'll never get back. I'm going to sleep, make better use of my time. Terrible, boring, slow, and then the "hero" is just a p*$$y who can't live up to his promise. Efin' terrible, two hours I'll never get back. I'm going to sleep, make better use of my time. Confusing, ridiculously dull and pointless. F'in baaaaad.
  • nikkibroadwell - 5 August 2022
    Worth watching
    If you are right brained like me you will most likely love this movie- left brained not so much - it is an allegory disguised as a sword and sorcery movie so you have to just let go and take in what it has to say- no crazy fight scenes that go on way too long, just a a twisting and turning story that leaved you wondering.