The Green Knight (also the onscreen in title named Sir Gawain.... And The GREEN KNIGHT) is a 2021 American Action Adventure Fantasy Film directed, written, producer and edited by David Lowery, based on the poet books and adult fairy tales novel named Sir Gawain and the Green Knight made by Anonymous. The film cast of the consists including Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarida Choudhury, Sean Harris and Ralph Ineson. In this film, Sir Gawain talking about the most treasury protagonist "The Green Knight" to detach a story to tell the world.
Production began in November 2018, with David Lowery attached to direct. The casting was announced on March 2019, the same time in which principal photography began in Ireland. Ardmore Studios and Cahir Castle, County Tipperary, were used as filming locations, as was Charleville Castle in Tullamore, County Offaly. The visual effects were designed by PBS based WETA Digital.
The film was theatrically released on July 30, 2021 in the United States by A24 to positive reviews.
Plot[]
Gawain is seated alone in a great hall upon a throne in kingly regalia. A crown floats down from above as a narrator tells of his tale. As the crown alights, his head erupts in flames.
Gawain is awakened on Christmas morning in a brothel by his lover, the commoner Essel. He returns to Camelot and, after being scolded by his mother Morgan le Fay, attends a feast at the Round Table with his uncle King Arthur, who invites Gawain to his side. In a tower, le Fay performs a magic ritual. The mysterious Green Knight barges into Arthur's court on horseback and challenges the court: any knight who is able to land a blow on him will win his green axe. However, that knight must travel to the Green Chapel next Christmas and receive an equal blow in return. Gawain takes up the challenge. Instead of fighting, the Green Knight kneels and lowers his head. Gawain decapitates him. The Green Knight rises and lifts his severed head, reminds Gawain of the bargain, and rides off from the castle laughing.
Over the next year, Gawain's story is retold and his reputation grows, yet he spends his days drinking. When Christmastime approaches, the King reminds Gawain to uphold his end of the challenge. Gawain departs on horseback for the Green Chapel, taking the green axe and a green girdle made by his mother, who claims that no harm will come to him so long as he wears it.
During his journey, Gawain meets a boy scavenging a battlefield littered with dead warriors. The boy directs Gawain to a stream that will lead him to the Green Chapel. Gawain gives him a coin in return. Shortly afterwards, the boy and two others ambush Gawain and steal the axe, girdle, and horse, leaving him tied up. Gawain severs his bonds with his sword and pursues them.
At night, he comes to an abandoned cottage and falls asleep in the bed. He is awakened by the ghost of a young woman named Winifred who asks Gawain to retrieve her head from a nearby spring. When he returns with her skull, he sees her skeleton in the bed, to which he adds the skull. The next morning, the axe has been returned to him.
Gawain encounters a fox that befriends him. They witness female giants marching through a valley. Gawain reaches a castle inhabited by a Lord who informs him that the Green Chapel is nearby, and Gawain accepts his invitation to stay. The castle's other occupants include a blindfolded old woman and the Lord's wife, who makes seductive overtures towards Gawain. The Lord proposes they exchange what he obtains while hunting with whatever Gawain finds at the castle. The next morning, the Lady presents Gawain with the green girdle, which she claims to have made herself. Gawain accedes to her advances in exchange for it and ejaculates on the girdle. The Lady rebukes him and says he is no knight. The old woman has witnessed this. Gawain escapes the castle, but encounters the Lord in the forest, who reminds him of their game. The Lord kisses Gawain in return for his Lady's actions, but Gawain does not give him the girdle. The Lord reveals that he has captured Gawain's fox, but releases it.
Gawain reaches a stream where a boat is waiting. The fox impedes his way, imploring Gawain in a human voice to abandon the quest. Gawain refuses and takes the boat to the chapel, where the Green Knight is seated in hibernation. After waiting through the night, the Green Knight awakens on Christmas morning. To complete the challenge, the Knight swings the axe, but stops short twice as Gawain flinches. Before the third swing, Gawain flees and rushes back to Camelot. He is knighted and becomes king when his uncle dies. Essel bears his son, but Gawain abandons her, taking the child and marrying a noblewoman instead. His son grows up and dies in battle. After many years, Gawain becomes a reviled king. With his castle under siege and his family abandoning him, Gawain pulls the green girdle from inside his abdomen. His head, as if decapitated, falls to the ground.
Gawain wakes from this vision, still kneeling on the ground in the Green Chapel. Gawain removes the girdle and accepts the Knight's blow. The Green Knight praises Gawain for his bravery. He drags his finger across Gawain's throat and, echoing the lord, says: "Now, off with your head."
A post-credits scene shows a young girl finding the King's crown and putting it on her head.
Cast[]
- Dev Patel as Sir Gawain
- Alicia Vikander as Lady / Esel
- Joel Edgerton as Lord
- Barry Keoghan as Scavenger
- Ralph Ineson as the Green Knight
- Sean Harris as King Arthur
- Kate Dickie as Queen Guinevere
- Erin Kellyman as Winfred
- Sarita Choudhury as Mother
- Megan Tiernan as Gawain's Queen
- Emmet O'Brien as the Magician
Production[]
It was announced in November 2018 that David Lowery would direct and write a modern retelling of the 14th century tale Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, with A24, Ley Line Entertainment, and Bron Studios set to finance.
In March 2019, Dev Patel entered negotiations to star in the film. That same month, Barry Keoghan and Ralph Ineson joined the cast of the film. In April 2019, it was announced Alicia Vikander and Erin Kellyman had been cast in the film. Principal photography began in Ireland in March 2019. Ardmore Studios and Cahir Castle, County Tipperary, were used as filming locations, as was Charleville Castle in Tullamore, County Offaly. Weta Digital worked on the visual effects.
Release[]
It was scheduled to have its world premiere at South by Southwest Festival on March 16, 2020, followed by a theatrical release on May 29, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was cancelled and the film was pulled from the schedule. David Lowery was also not satisfied with the original cut of the film, and spent six months re-editing and reworking the film. The film was then rescheduled to July 30, 2021. In the United Kingdom, the film was scheduled for release on August 6, but was cancelled due to the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The film was later rescheduled to September 24, 2021, for release in theatres and Prime Video. The Green Knight was release in BluRay and DVD in October 12, 2021 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Reception[]
Box Office[]
In the United States and Canada, the film was getting released alongside Jungle Cruise and Stillwater, and was projected to gross around $4 million from 2,790 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $2.9 million on its first day, including $750,000 from Thursday night previews. It ended up slightly over-performing, debuting to $6.8 million and finished second at the box office behind Jungle Cruise. The film played best in big markets such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The film fell 62% to $2.6 million in its sophomore weekend, finishing sixth, then made $1.6 million in its third weekend.
Critical Reception[]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 87% based on 212 reviews, with an average rating of 8.00/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "The Green Knight honors and deconstructs its source material in equal measure, producing an absorbing adventure that casts a fantastical spell." According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 49 critics, the film received "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
Writing for Vulture, Alison Willmore said that the film "is about someone who keeps waiting for external forces to turn him into the gallant, heroic figure he believes he should be", and added: "at the film's heart is a lesson that's as timeless as any legend — travel as far as you like, but you'll never be able to leave yourself behind." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film a score of 4 out of 4 stars, describing the film as "one of the most memorable films of the year, a fascinating swirl of masculinity, temptation, heroism, and religion", adding: "It's a film that embeds the concept of storytelling and performance into its narrative ... while also weaving its own enchanting spell on audiences." Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail described the film as "a beautiful, haunting and enigmatic work that reckons with the folklore's grave and tragic elements to deliver a masterpiece of blood, sex and magic", and praised Patel's performance as Gawain.
Keith Watson of Slant Magazine gave the film a score of 2.5 out of 4 stars, describing it as "A self-consciously revisionist take on Camelot lore", and wrote that the film "smooths out the enduring mysteries, opaque psychology, and narrative idiosyncrasies of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, resulting in a work that's only superficially more daring and enigmatic than its source material." Simon Abrams of TheWrap wrote that "while there's a lot of commendable chutzpah and curious longing baked into The Green Knight, the movie's never as compelling as it is unusual."
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