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The Green Knight

I finally got around to watching “The Green Knight” the other evening. It’s been on my list of things to watch since it came out last July.

I told my wife that it was a really good movie, but she wouldn’t like it. It had a very surreal feeling to it, which I figured that it would after watching the trailers. The Story of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is a 14th Century story and is one of the more well-known Arthurian tales. Much of the Arthurian legend comes from centuries of oral traditions that predate the first written account of Arthur which was in the 12th Century. Because oral traditions tend to evolve as they’re retold, there is no single canonical version of the Arthurian Legends which is true for much folklore and mythology.

The Story of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight exists as a text from its original author, who is unknown. It pulls influence from various existing folk-lore, but it does have a single canonical source. The movie definitely took some liberties, but it stayed fairly true to the original story.

The Cinematography was fantastic. I had to pause the movie several times to assist my children with bedtime routines, and each time I came back, I was impressed with whatever still image was on the TV.

The movie definitely isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed it.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

I’m going to talk about the ending here a bit. The original story ends with the Green Knight giving sir Gawain just a nick on his neck, then he reveals himself to be the lord of the castle. Gawain then goes back to Camelot with the shame that he didn’t give the lord the green sash. The movie of course leaves that open to possibility. I think I prefer the movie ending where it left things open to interpretation. I wouldn’t mind seeing a deleted scene or something with the story’s ending in place, but I like the movie standing as is.

Movies and Television • January 14, 2022