I sometimes hold back from reviewing certain films because I'm not sure that I can give them a fair shake. One of these is David Lowery's "A Ghost Story," from 2017. It's a slow-paced, existential art film about a ghost watching life go by from his perspective. It feels like a film that achieved what it wanted to, and created some beautiful images along the way, but is also way too indulgent for me to get behind. Since I felt so many of my reservations ultimately came down to my own personal taste, I thought it was unfair to take any kind of position in writing, and let "A Ghost Story" go by largely unremarked upon.
I've had some of those same feelings again about Lowery's latest, a mostly faithful retelling of the Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain, titled "The Green Knight." It is easily the most beautiful fantasy film I've seen in years, a magical realist vision of the Arthurian age, full of supernatural forces and natural beauty. The closest antecedent I can think of is "Pan's Labyrinth," due to its fantastical creatures and melding of harsh environments with sublime fairy tale visuals. "The Green Knight," however, is much more narratively obfuscated and difficult to parse. The mood is often dreamlike, and Lowery delights in blurring the lines between fantasy and reality with visions and illusions.
The broader story is fairly straightforward. Gawain (Dev Patel), nephew of the King (Sean Harris) and son of a sorceress (Sarita Choudhury), is a young nobleman who hasn't yet proven his worth to become a knight. He's in attendance at court when the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson), a supernatural creature of unknown origin, arrives with a challenge - land a blow on his person and win his green axe, but any blow given must be received in kind one year later, at the Green Chapel. Gawain agrees and chops off the Green Knight's head, but the Green Knight lives in spite of this. A year later, Gawain must set out on a quest to find the Green Chapel and allow the Green Knight to behead him.
Once Gawain actually sets out on his journey, the film becomes a series of encounters with various characters, some interesting, some tedious, and some inexplicable. There's the young scavenger (Barry Keoghan) he meets on a battlefield. There's the mysterious young woman, identified as Saint Winifred (Erin Kellyman). There is a fox, who befriends him along the way. There's the Lord (Joel Edgerton) and the Lady (Alicia Vikander), who invite Gawain into their home, which seems to exist in another time period. Vikander also plays Gawain's lover Essel, a prostitute, who seems destined to bear the brunt of Gawain's thoughtlessness and carelessness.
"The Green Knight" is an oddity in this day and age because its aims and its themes are so classical. Gawain is continually tested for his purity, for his bravery, and for his integrity through various trials, following a moral code that often seems impenetrable but is sternly absolute. Not remembering the original Gawain story very well, I found the narrative difficult to follow, sometimes deliberately so. Giants show up for a scene for no apparent reason. It's hinted that there are connections between certain characters, and certain objects, and having some prior knowledge of the Arthur legends is necessary to make any attempt at interpreting the film.
So thank goodness for Dev Patel. He is such a fascinating presence as Gawain, this storybook figure with great capacity for both nobility and depravity. He's essentially embodying the trope of the hapless pilgrim on a spiritual quest, even though the film's iconography often elevates him to a loftier status that he has yet to earn. Patel keeps him very human, portraying his struggles against cowardice and selfishness with very little dialogue. Gawain fails constantly, and reeks of insecurity. So much of Patel's performance is just in his body language and his eyes, relaying so much confusion, guilt, and fear.
I don't know if "The Green Knight" is a good film, but like "A Ghost Story" it's not one that's much to my tastes. It looks gorgeous and I enjoyed certain scenes - particularly the ending - but too much of it is all about maintaining this trance-like mood and leaden pacing that left me downright bored. I'm glad David Lowery gets to make films like this, but I do wish I could figure out how to appreciate them more.
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