Author: Stacy Nguyen
Northwest Asia Weekly
I usually like to watch movies without knowing too much background. I like to walk into the cinema in ignorance so that I will be happy for every turn, so I can say, “Oh, this is the meaning of the movie?” Unfortunately, the “Green Knight” did not follow Benefit from this approach.
It is still a great movie! I still left the theater in awe-but also a little confused.
Look, to understand the “green knight”, you must clearly remember what you have read in the college medieval English literature class. If you have not taken a course in medieval English literature, it will be even more difficult for you to master all the details in “The Green Knight.” I definitely recommend reading one or two Wikipedia entries before watching this movie.
“The Green Knight” is a film retelling of the 14th century Middle English poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, covering topics such as honor, heroism and spirituality.
“The Green Knight” is directed by American David Lowry (his work in “The Green Knight” is impressive, and I now feel the need to watch all of his other movies) and by the British actor Dev. Patel plays Gawain of the same name.
Gawain is the nephew of King Arthur. During Christmas, when they were with the other knights of the Knights of the Round Table, an uninvited guest named the Green Knight appeared and challenged the brave knight to a “game”. Gawain chose himself because he was arrogant, perhaps arrogant. The Green Knight told him that no matter how Gawain hits him, the Green Knight will return Gawain with the same blow for a whole year.
For some reason, Gawain didn’t pat his shoulder, but decided to behead the green knight, without realizing that this guy was playing magic, which was crazy, because this guy looked like a tree. So the green knight was resurrected after everyone beheaded in surprise. Then Gawain spent the rest of the film in fear and obedience as he realized that he would be beheaded in a year. Of course, he must go through all of this, because it is like the time of King Arthur. They attach great importance to honor and have not yet accepted “just kidding!” as a cultural practice.
Look, this is what I wish I knew in the movie. The film is so ingenious and beautiful—everyone has a certain English accent—that it is difficult to distinguish the different nuances of what is happening. It’s like, Gawain has some problems with his mother. It took me a long time to figure it out, just because I didn’t know who his mother was (from the legend of King Arthur).
Well, we need to talk about Dev Patel and how much glory he has experienced in the past few years-since his “slum millionaire” era. Dude, he is so hot now.
He is smoldering! His hair is so fragrant! He looks like a super king and did a great job in this movie. Although this movie is very fascinating to me, sometimes I get pulled out mentally because I have some fleeting thoughts, such as “Man, Dev Patel looks so handsome! Fuck!”
The cast is very interesting. Now more and more, I think filmmakers have allowed more people of color to play roles that were not suitable for people of color, instead of changing the story to explain why a super-good-looking man of Indian descent plays a super white man who is undoubtedly super white. The character, Lowery just treats it as normal, in the universe, and continues to tell his story.
I used to be a little annoyed when API characters were injected into the story without proper character building, because it was like, hey, casting API is not enough.
Obviously, there are no API writers among the staff who wrote these characters, which is disturbing.
But in this case, it feels different. When the character is the British legend Gawain, it feels different. Therefore, building a legend with non-white actors and then continuing to work as usual is a real boss move.
In addition, when people of color play an important role, what will eventually happen is that the people around them related to them in the story will eventually be embodied by non-white actors. Just like Gawain’s mother. She is made up of—yes, you have seen her before, she is everywhere! ——Sarita Chowdhury. It was so cool to see (more than) two people of color in a movie based on the legend of King Arthur. Like, wow!
I give this movie four stars! Although as someone who has a hard time watching things without a car explosion, I must tell you that there are zero car explosions in this movie. So if you are someone who needs it, this may not be for you. This film is also a thinker-it has a lot of ambiguous notes that still linger after you leave the theater. I know that ambiguity can sometimes drive certain moviegoers crazy.
Finally, the atmosphere-photography, set design, costumes, soundtrack-is here. This is a gorgeous and dirty (in a good way) version of a story that is usually told more charmingly. The “Green Knight” was lush at the same time, and was stripped again. It is just beautiful.
“Green Knight” has been widely released and is playing in theaters near you.
If you are not used to going to the theater now, it will only be played online for one night at 6pm next Wednesday, August 18. Tickets can be purchased on the A24 Screening Room website for $20.
Stacy Nguyen’s contact information is stacy@nwasianweekly.com.
