There have been many retellings of Arthurian legends, but this one might be the greatest of all. On July 30, “The Green Knight” directed by David Lowery was released. After its initial announcement in late 2018, the film was originally set to release in the summer of 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was delayed indefinitely.
I have been following this film since its very announcement. I’m a big fan of retellings of Arthurian legends and I even took the King Arthur class offered at NSU. This film was worth the extended wait. I bought tickets for the first showing I could find.
Without giving too much away, the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight goes like this: The Green Knight appears at King Arthur’s round table and poses a challenge to any knight who can land a blow on him. The trick, though, is that in a year’s time the Green Knight will land the same blow to the knight that he received.
In the film Sir Gawain, portrayed by Dev Patel, accepts the Green Knight’s challenge to try to prove himself worthy of becoming a knight. Instead of simply landing a scrape on the Green Knight, who bows willingly before him and does not put up any fight, Gawain cuts his head off. During the year that follows, Gawain tries to come to terms with the position he’s put himself in, and in the final months leading up to his appointment with the Green Knight he sets out on an adventure to meet him.
However, unless you know the original legend, it may be a hard movie to follow. I can help you understand how I interpreted Lowery’s “The Green Knight” as a film about ego death, true honor and how nature wins above all else. Let me break these underlying meanings down for you.
True honor & ego death
When asked about his goals in life, Gawain answers that his ultimate goal is to be an honorable knight. Throughout the film, Gawain faces multiple challenges in his quest to find the Green Knight and face him, all while trying to figure out how he will be able to protect himself against the knight’s fatal strike.
He thinks of every challenge he faces as an opportunity to gain something for himself but is only truly rewarded when he performs a selfless act. Despite many magical items given in order to protect him from the Green Knight, it is only when Gawain accepts that he must keep his promise that he becomes truly honorable.
Nature reclaims all
In the beginning of the film, the small city that Sir Gawain lives in is highly industrialized. Fires are burning, streets are filthy and stone walls are stacked high to block out the mountains in the background. The Green Knight appears suddenly, composed entirely of tree bark and branches, and challenges the knights of the round table. As he picks up his severed head and returns from which he came, moss spreads on the floor between the bricks. This is just one of many early signs of an underlying meaning that nature will always prevail.
While Sir Gawain travels to meet the Green Knight, he ventures deeper and deeper into the mystical wilderness of the countryside. He comes across many abandoned sacred places, all of which are overrun with vines. When he meets the Green Knight in the green chapel, it is telling that the location of the final scenes is what was once a manmade structure completely overtaken by nature. This ties in with the underlying theme of ego death, not just for Sir Gawain but for all humans. Nature will always prevail no matter the human efforts to challenge it.
This legend has many different retellings with many different underlying meanings, but Lowery’s version was so refreshing and my favorite of the bunch. It’s a long film that doesn’t feel long, but instead feels appropriately full. It’s got an amazing musical score and a diverse cast, which is a nice change of pace for Arthurian legend films. “The Green Knight” is now available to rent on demand and is still playing in theaters.
