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Some movies are about characters. Some are about a message or a moral. Others are all about a script that pops, like many comedies. Then, there are the films that are built on mood, and David Lowery’s new film The Green Knight is definitely that.
I went to see The Green Knight in theaters for something to do, but the movie also seemed somewhat intriguing. Lowery’s The Old Man and the Gun was good, and while I didn’t enjoy A Ghost Story I did admire it conceptually. Also, Lowery is sometimes a guest on Blank Check, a podcast I have been listening to a ton recently.
In high school I know I read some version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a story that has been around for centuries and was written by an unknown source. Apparently I didn’t remember as much of it as I thought. It wasn’t until I got home that – and this could be considered a spoiler on a centuries-old story – I found out Gawain is the nephew of King Arthur and the son of Morgana Le Fey. Like, I was watching King Arthur in action and didn’t even realize who it was. There was a table that certain seemed round as well, in hindsight. I knew The Green Knight was from the same realm as Arthurian legend. I just didn’t realize how close it was.
Then again, at no point does Lowery’s film tell you how anybody is other than Gawain and the Green Knight more or less. I would have liked to have known a bit more, but Lowery didn’t seem to care. His film isn’t really about facts, detail, and a lush story. It’s about mood. It’s about atmosphere. Lowery lingers on landscape. His camera moves slowly. The Green Knight is about a journey.
Now, this isn’t my favorite style of film. I am a writer and I like words. Still, The Green Knight does successfully set a mood. It does have an atmosphere. Oh, and it looks great a lot of the time. I enjoyed the movie, and it was worth seeing in a theater. You just don’t get the same mood at home. Unfortunately, The Green Knight is one of those movies I can imagine a lot of people waiting to watch at home. It’s not an “event” film. It’s not even a film rich in incident. What it is, though, is a mood on screen. Also, apparently a King Arthur film. Not that I knew it at the time.
