So who wants to play the Beheading Game? C’mon, it’ll be fun.
I’m sorry; why does anyone accept this challenge? When an immortal being shows up asking to play a game of Death Chicken with a mortal, the correct response is the same response I give to my teenage daughter when they try to goad me into doing something stupid: “Does this work on your friends? Cuz it sure ain’t working on me.”
And this is the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – shortened here to The Green Knight possibly because the title could apply to both Gawain and his opponent.
It’s a drab sunless 14th C. Christmas Day, and the King (Sean Harris) has invited all his crazy pals to his castle for what qualifies as a celebration. His nephew Gawain (pronounced “Garwin” in the film) is also there and the King pities the unaccomplished tyro and has him come sit at the big boys’ table to recount his tales of nothing.
Suddenly, a boom at the door:
“Knock Knock”
“Who’s there?”
“Green Knight”
“Green Knight who?
“Green nightmare; one o’ you fools is going to have a real short life.”
Admittedly, medieval humor ain’t terribly funny.
And this guy who looks like a statue riding a horse trots on in, plants himself in front of all the knights and announces “Do you want to play a game?” And since Pong hasn’t even been invented yet (let alone Thermonuclear Warfare), dude comes up with the Beheading Game, which isn’t fun. When no genuine knight takes the bait, Gawain (Dev Patel) rises to the stupid challenge. I’m sure he just wants to look good in front of the King, but perhaps some small part of him feels sorry that The Green Knight has no friends of his own to play with. I like to think he’s motivated by the latter, but he isn’t.
One beheading stroke later, The Green Knight (Ralph Inseon) picks up his head, and says (I paraphrase): “My place, same time, next year.” I see the game is equally as fair as it is fun.
Eleven months pass in one title page and Gawain’s journey to dismember becomes our film. Fictional tales are often about journeys, and this one encompasses a journey both physical and developmental in nature. If character development is your bag, this is a great film.
And yet, this tale is classic Catch-22 of bad vibes – Gawain has done nothing in his brief playboy-ish life to earn a knighthood. If he fails on his agreement, he’ll live, but is destined to be forever thought unworthy. If he fulfills his agreement, however, he might be able call himself courageous and knightly for the split second before the axe finds his neck, at which point honor is his and his alone – because nobody wants a road game at The Green Knight’s crib; that shit is wack.
That being said – I can respect the tale and loathe it at the same time. Playing Chicken with an immortal being is a cheat, and the film hasn’t given enough of Gawain’s background to let us know whether 
he deserves to be set-up in such fashion. We can guess that he’s a nothing playboy, but I see nothing deserving of a death sentence, even under the banner of medieval chivalry.
And hence the semi-violent, semi-sexual adventures of Gawain commence to a palette of somber. The look and feel of the film is distinctly moody and dark, like Gretel & Hansel, Where the Wild Things Are, and anything by Yorgos Lanthimos. I wish that did it for me. Mostly, my dislike for the cinematography matched my dislike for the story.
The Green Knight gave us two different endings, the first so objectionable that it gave us another [read: the “real” ending] that –by comparison- we might find the movie palatable. I think this is a ruse. Both endings left me hollow, as did this adventure in bleakness. I respect the artistry and the direction that made The Green Knight happen, and while I fully acknowledge there are those who will find this film a brilliant adaptation, I really didn’t like anything about what was on the screen in front of me.
Not a war has young Gawain seen
Nor a battlefield has he ever been
One man’s made of stone
While the other barely grown
Tell me, which swordsman would you call “green?”
Rated R, 130 Minutes
Director: David Lowery
Writer: David Lowery
Genre: Bleak
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People so seriously into swordish legend they wince at the irreverence of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The rest of us
