The Green Knight Movie Misses The Cut

This summer marked the release of The Green Knight; a fantasy film based on the 14th century Arthurian chivalric romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

The original text, written by an anonymous author, tells the tale of Sir Gawain, a member of King Arthur’s court who accepts the challenge of a strange, green knight at a Christmas feast, in which one of Arthur’s warriors must strike a blow against him. Whatever the warrior does, he must receive the same blow from the knight a year later. Sir Gawain accepts the challenge and beheads the knight, only for the Green man to stand up, pick up his head, and tell Sir Gawain to meet him for his own blow in the Green Chapel on the next Christmas. 

The character of Gawain in the text is that of an ideal knight. He bears all knightly qualities of virtue, honor, and chivalry. He was also written as a Catholic character. He has a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, calling on her intercession at his most difficult moments in the story. This plays into the overall theme of the story, which is a lesson on the morality of virtue and chivalry. Gawain only falters once at the Green Chapel and takes on the blame of his moment of cowardice by reminding himself to never submit to cowardice or greed again.

While the story’s version of Gawain is depicted as a heroic and knightly figure, the movie adaptation made drastic changes to the character. He is made to be a more troubled character who struggles with morality and purpose. He tells his mother that he was at Mass to cover up the fact that he was with his secret lover. He gets into drunken bar fights. He is constantly stumbling through his journey, not for his duties as an honorable man, but because it is expected of him.

The original story tells of an honorable knight expecting to go to his own demise to uphold his duties, and ends with him learning to confront his sins, turn from them, and lead a more holy life. On the other hand, the movie just leaves Gawain turning from his mistakes for apparently no reason other than a hopeless sense that there’s nothing else for him to live for if he doesn’t go through with his promise. The movie then ends abruptly with no outcome and no lesson. It’s a useless cliffhanger that leaves a lot of loose ends, all of which are answered clearly in the original story.

It also strips the story of its religiosity, which was a central aspect to the original character of Gawain. The facets of religiosity the movie does keep makes it feel like faith is being forced upon him. While the original story has him take up a shield painted with the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the inside so that he can “stare at Heaven’s Queen and keep his courage high,” the movie version has it given to him as he somberly awaits his journey. It is soon broken by bandits and never seen again.

The movie seems to be a product of the film industry trying to push this genre of dark fantasy that became popular with other fantasy works like the Game of Thrones series. However, it doesn’t work with stories like this. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is meant to be a tale of moral lessons for the people of the 14th century, which directly contradicts the gritty and bleak approach taken by the filmmakers. 

While the original story does have heavy themes, especially when the wife of a lord with whom he is staying makes many advances on him, the story makes the main struggle for Gawain not based on his attraction to her, but on his struggle to be polite without giving in to her desires. It says, “And Gawain was so gracefully evasive that he seemed always polite, and nothing happened but happiness.” The movie, on the other hand, takes an alternate approach and draws the scene out, making it far more physical; Gawain seems less like he’s struggling with politeness and more like he’s struggling to not give in to her advances.

Overall, while the cinematography of The Green Knight is very well done, it strays so far from the original story that it can be a bit disappointing to watch. The book is highly recommended, as it shows a character who truly strives to live a holy life. But the movie can be passed.