The last time I visited London, some four years ago, a curious thought struck me. I was traveling through a part of London that is heavily Muslim (Pakistani, Bangladeshi, etc), so the people around me were all the various shades of brown of the sub-continent yet they were coming and going from these glorious Edwardian and Victorian era buildings. It was quite the juxtaposition. The burqa clad women picking their children up from outside a regal Edwardian era schoolhouse and then living in accommodation once designed for the working class white Londoners of 200 years ago. It was as if they were squatting in the ruins of a civilization they could never truly understand. The same thought strikes me about the use of the multi-racial cast in David Lowery’s 2021 Arthurian retelling of “The Green Knight”. These people are now effectively squatting in our European mythology.
Make no mistake the addition of the multi-racial elements to Arthurian legend adds nothing to this film. It is pure modern woke diversity quota politics. Our lead Dev Patel’s most common expression throughout the film is one of confusion, indeed I wonder if he is capable of acting out any other state so readily does he adopt this one. That confusion was mirrored by mine. It was as if this man, Dev Patel was not really Gawain he portrays but rather himself and he had been dropped into European folklore and was confused at this place. His mother and her witch like attendants are similarly all non-white, brown, but Lowery does not want to forget other races and so there are a few smattered about. The camera lingering just long enough for you to identify the black child or the Chinese woman. The other prominent non-white role goes to the Lady of the Green Knight (although in this telling it is never revealed this connection) during their Castle encounter. These are all deliberate choices, and race is a hyperpolitical statement in the 21st century. Lowery is forcing it in our faces and attempting to brown European mythology.
But does this racial element make this a bad film? No. It is simply a bad, disappointing film. Were we to replace the cast with an all white one it would still end up a sense of disappointment at so much this film could have been. Perhaps the biggest criticism I can make is the sense of pacing is all over the place. This film drags and is continually dogged by attempted art house cinema moments that fail to deliver. The majority of the travel sections are just confused parts of the journey. Where one might expect this film to excel would have been cinematography, but it fails dismally at this. The shots are never as dramatic as one would expect, the wonders inserted are not all that wondersome. Contrast this to Macbeth (2015). Despite some shortcomings in story, that film makes up for it with gorgeous cinematics. It is a visual tour de force. The Green Knight however trips over itself, there are some great aesthetics present in the film. The Green Knight himself is well costumed and cleverly designed, King Arthur and Guinevere are also highlights, but that is it. A lot of chances feel missed or ruined in terms of building a more engrossing cinematic world - in part it does feel disjointed by the multi-racial element.
The story of the Green Knight itself is also somewhat butchered here. Key elements seem to be overlooked and ignored, or changed. That is disappointing. The film also has an undercurrent of female power promoted within it. Gawain’s mother in this film is not Morgause but rather Morgan Le Fay, and her presence is overt and powerful. Merlin, barely gets a look in. Maybe a two moments where he is center of action. Other female characters also get longer speeches that Lowery appears to be using to spin a tale. Indeed Patel’s love interest (a whore) roundly trounces him about honor and love in her monologue to him. He offers nothing in return, going to far as to surrender her trinket without struggle. Arthur is portrayed as weak and dying, not that he does not offer good advice to our ‘hero’. Our hero however is just hopelessly pathetic. As I alluded to earlier Patel’s gift is to look confused. As we are confused as well at this man professing repeatedly he is not a knight, pretending to be Sir Gawain. Story differences also rob the impact of the ending. In the actual legend Gawain conceals the green sash of protection given to him by the Lady, as he does in the film (which also gives us a cumshot scene for some reason). So far so similar. However the lesson of honesty and bravery in the film are merged together. In the myth Gawain faces death after flinching, becomes angry, and is called out for his concealment of the sash. Receiving a symbolic cut where he would have had none had he been honest. This is about honesty, not just bravery and facing death. Upon his return to the brotherhood (mannerbund) of the Knights of the Round Table they all wear a green sash to remind them in the future to always be honest. The film however glosses this. By melding the two into a dream sequence and leaving the audience to assume his death at the hand of the Green Knight a lesson is taken away. Male group power is similarly neutered as Gawain is just a lone actor here, the round table and other knights are nonexistent.
Despite the films many failings it is worth noting that even the current establishment can’t rob the fundamental story of facing death and bravery of meaning. Patel’s Gawain is too flawed and weak for men to really sympathize with (indeed the bravado and over confidence of mythological Gawain is more realistic) and so there is a gulf between this character and his final act of bravery in kneeling to receive his blow. Yet, it can’t ever be taken away that he does face that final blow and it is the way the film ends. They can insert non-whites into our mythology, disappoint on visuals, drag us along on a poorly paced plot, give whiffs of feminine power, but they still have to end on this note. It can never be taken away completely, that is the true power of these legends. Even modernity can’t completely rob them of their underlying message and power
That being said, the white middle class family I held the door for as we were leaving thought it was awful as well. “We almost left” they observed to me, I laughed and said “Yes, it was pretty dreadful”. These people don’t need to intellectualize for 1000 plus words as I just did to know this film was alienating and bad, they knew it in their gut. That alone gives me a modicum of hope.