Gawain's Fantastic Adventure

Wallace 2022-03-11 08:01:43

This film, which was originally scheduled for September, seems to have been queued to the back, so I have to give you a sneak peek here.

This is a fantasy adventure story about how a playboy, Gawain, became a knight(?) and eventually became the heir to the throne of King Arthur(?) and led Britain to defeat the Saxons(?).

Why is there a question mark? Because this movie gives the audience an open ending, whether Gawain passed the test, whether he defeated the green knight, or became a green knight, the final chapter of the story is in the minds of the little friends.

In medieval legends, perhaps nothing is more favored by literature and film than the legend of King Arthur in England. "The Green Knight", as a series of legendary King Arthur films, is a rare work in which entertainment is exchanged for the author's artistry. If you are looking forward to the Green Knight vs. King Arthur or Sir Gawain, then I am afraid you will be very disappointed. Unfortunately, even though this film has a lot of fantasy elements and interesting special effects, it is almost equal to zero action scenes, slow rhythm, plus The dull and obscure narrative style will make people want to feel good and not feel good.

But that's not to say that The Green Knight was a complete failure. The Green Knight is still a work of art in the audiovisual experience. Director David Lowe is good at literary lens language, the picture is dark but the color contrast is strong, coupled with the use of many long shots, the atmosphere of the film is strange and tense. The host is watching it in a North American theater, and it does have an immersive sense of immersion.

The story of "The Green Knight" is very delicate in the eyes of scholars who are familiar with the legend of King Arthur, but it is very difficult for ordinary audiences to understand, because there are many metaphors and dark lines, and the interpretation is slightly threshold. Adapted from a long narrative poem, The Green Knight is also the successor to the Arthurian saga, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The reason why it is called the successor is because the story of King Arthur took place in the 6th century AD, while "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" was first known in the 13th to 14th centuries. The earliest creator of the original poem is a mystery in the history of literature, but to a large extent due to the translation and promotion of JJ Tolkien, the creator of The Lord of the Rings, the original poem has become one of the most famous King Arthur literature in the West and has influenced the younger generation. Fantasy work.

The film retains the allegorical skeleton of the original poem of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", but adds fresh blood to the director's personal interpretation. These interpretations are especially reflected in the changes in the image and emotional color of the protagonist Sir Gawain. If the original poem is still full of religious dogmatism in the Middle Ages, the interpretation of chivalry in the movie "The Green Knight" is more humanistic and mundane, and highlights Sir Gawain's test and personal growth in the fantasy adventure. Below, I will provide some analysis of the metaphors and dark lines in the movie in comparison with the original story for your reference and criticism.

Part 1. Origin: Game of Uninvited Guests

Severe winter, Christmas.

The old King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table were having a feast when an unexpected guest with a strange complexion broke in. This is the appearance of the Green Knight, and the movie is roughly the same as the original, except that the King Arthur's banquet in the original takes place at the beginning of the new year.

The green knight in the original poem is green, tall and mighty. The movie even depicts the Green Knight as a tree man, as if to make the Green Knight's decapitation more natural. Green is a natural color, and different cultures around the world interpret green as vitality, symbolizing the green knight's immortality. And the holly branch raised by the green knight means peace, indicating that he did not come to conflict with King Arthur.

But the green knight challenged Arthur's knights, the game called the green knight in the original poem: whoever cuts off his head, he can take his axe, but he has to come to the green in a year's time The Green Chapel, where the knights are located, received the same counterattack from the green knights.

As King Arthur's nephew and potential heir to the throne, Sir Gawain stepped forward. In the movie, he did not use the green knight's axe, but took over King Arthur's famous holy sword (Excalibur). Legend has it that this sword was forged by the elves, pulled out of the stone by King Arthur when he was young, and cut iron like mud. Sir Gawain moved his hands down neatly.

Illustration from the manuscript of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: The Green Knight Beheaded

In the movie, the legendary magician Merlin winks at King Arthur after seeing the green knight, and King Arthur asks Gawain if he understands what it means to accept the challenge. To accept the challenge is to promise to accept a fight back a year later, or even to die. Gawain seemed to affirm it. He made preparations for a duel with the green knight, but found that he crouched down and showed his neck, and the green knight stood up after the severed head, which surprised Gawain even more.

In fact, Gawain did not understand the challenge of the green knight. He thought he was proving his bravery in front of King Arthur. As long as he killed the green knight, his promise after a year would be invalid.

In the original book, when Sir Gawain accepted the challenge, he was already a respected knight, holding fast to the spirit of chivalry, while in the movie, he claimed to be not yet a knight. Indeed, he was happy with the prostitute's girlfriend, Essel, on Christmas Eve, but he couldn't bear the responsibility of love, and he didn't feel guilty for not praying when facing his mother, just like he was not a pious and loyal knight. As King Arthur's nephew, King Arthur asked him to sit beside him instead of his mother at the banquet, but when King Arthur asked Gawain what happened, he was silent, and he felt guilty for being useless. He's just a dude.

Therefore, when the knight in green challenged the knights of the round table, Gawain felt that it was time for him to fight for the glory of knighthood.

Even the green knight itself was summoned by Gawain's mother, paving the way for Gawain to gain glory.

In the movie, Gawain's mother, like King Arthur, Queen, Merlin and other characters, did not clarify his name, which is not friendly to the audience who are not familiar with the legend of King Arthur. But according to the original story, and the director's interview confirmed, the mother's name is Morgan le Fay, the sister of King Arthur, the summoner and manipulator of the green knight. In the original book, Morgan le Fay is not Gawain's mother, but a masked evil witch who summons the green knight to fight against King Arthur's queen. But Morgan le Fay has a deeper motive in the film. Gawain said that he had time to become a knight, and the mother was not motivated in the face of her son's arrogance, so she took the risk to summon the green knight to grow for him and make him a real knight. Later, the green sash (Sash) given to Gawain by the mother carries the magic to protect the wearer, and it also shows that he is not going to send his son to die.

After accepting the challenge of the Green Knight, Sir Gawain was respected as never before. His story soon became a puppet show and was watched by everyone. However, the promise to meet the green knight and accept the decapitation is really absurd for Gawain, who enjoys worldly pleasures. In the face of Gawain's retreat, King Arthur personally admonished him. Whether it is to keep his promise or die heroically, it is what a real knight can do. If Gawain wants to become a knight, he has to embark on the adventure of finding the green knight.

Part 2. The journey out: The test of chivalry

Left: The five-pointed star symbolizing chivalry; Right: King Arthur's five-pointed star necklace in the movie

In "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", Gawain's shield has a five-pointed star pattern on a red background, and the same five-pointed star appears in many places in the movie, including King Arthur's necklace. The original poem explains that the five horns symbolize the five virtues of a knight: Piety, Generosity, Courtesy, Chastity, and Friendship.

As a blessing from Sir Gawain before her departure, the Queen recited a poem that ended with:

May five virtues of a knight light your way.

We found that the five qualities of chivalry are embodied in the film.

Piety

As soon as Sir Gawain appeared in the film, he violated the first chivalry, piety: he told his mother that he did not go to church and was not ready for Christmas. The mother was worried and summoned the green knight for her.

After reluctantly setting out on the road, Gawain encountered the other four tests of chivalry along the way.

Generosity

Sir Gawain first encounters a boy on the battlefield looking for the body of a loved one, and he seeks his way, for which the boy asks for payment. Gawain replied that his gratitude was the reward. The boy said mischievously that a knight had more to offer than thanks. Gawain reluctantly gave the boy a shabby coin. The boy was disappointed by Gawain's miserliness.

A knight can offer more than just gratitude. Sir Gawain failed to fulfill the second chivalry, generosity. As he himself said, this shows that he is not yet a knight.

Gawain did not stand the test of chivalry, which has immediate consequences in the movie - the boy, along with his companions, ransacked Gawain. Gawain lost almost everything, money, axes, belts and horses. Bound to the ground, he looked desperately at the distance where he disappeared after the boy left. At this time, the director used a long, dream-like take: after one turn of the lens, Gawain, who was lying on the ground, turned into a skeleton; after another turn, Gawain was still alive and lying there.

Some people say that Gawain actually died here, and the story behind was written by descendants who did not wait for Gawain to come back, in order to celebrate his journey of pursuing the spirit of chivalry.

But viewers who have seen the movie know that a dream like a parallel time and space reappears at the end. So the vision of Gawain's bones may be the director's setting to straighten out the ending, that is, Gawain can sometimes see visions of the future.

Courtesy

Gawain, who was behind the turning long shot, cut the rope with difficulty with his sword, but he was penniless. Wandering in despair, he finds a house to shelter in, and falls asleep - until the ghost of a mistress named Saint Winifred wakes him.

Saint Winifred does not appear in the original poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", but some scholars suggest that in the poem, Gawain passed through the famous town of Holywell in Wales. Holywell has a well named after Saint Winefride. Legend has it that Saint Winefride could not be decapitated because of the love of her crazy suitors. Her severed head fell to the ground and turned into a pool of water, which is regarded as holy water with healing power.

Wales Saint Winefride's well

In the film, Saint Winifred asks Sir Gawain to help him retrieve his head in the pool. This is the third test of Gawain's chivalry, good deeds. Perhaps Gawain remembered the boy's request for payment during the day, and he asked, what could Saint Winifred repay him?

However, the so-called Courtesy of a knight does not expect anything in return. It is the quality of the recipient that the recipient gives in return, but the ministering knight never asks for something in return. Saint Winifred sulked, why do you ask me that? Gawain was slightly embarrassed by the rhetorical question, proving once again that he was not a real knight.

Gawain realized his mistake, he picked up Saint Winifred's head under the dreamy water and put it back on the remains of Saint Winifred in the house. Winifred's severed head left a message to Gawain: The Green Knight is actually someone you know, here is Gawain's mother, and she will warn you out of concern. Then all the illusions disappeared, the Holy Light poured in, and the soul of Saint Winifred finally rested. In return, the looted axe returned to Gawain.

Chastity

The fourth test of chastity, the fourth test of chivalry, is most inscribed in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The story begins when Sir Gawain was taken in by the Lord of a castle. At this time, Gawain was very close to the Green Hall. The castle owner warmly advised Gawain to rest here for a few days before setting off.

During Gawain’s rest in the castle, the castle owner proposed a gentleman’s agreement with Gawain: the prey he hunted during the day would be food for Gawain on the way back, and Gawain would give the castle owner whatever he got during the rest.

And what Gawain got in the castle came from the temptation of the deep V mistress of the castle.

Sharp-eyed viewers can now find out that the actor of the Castle Mistress and the actor of Gawain's prostitute lover Essel are both Alicia Vikander. Essel came from a poor family. Before Gawain set off, she asked if she could be your Lady. And Gawain was silent. As the nephew of King Arthur, his noble background prevented him from marrying Essel. The hostess of the castle has the appearance of the person Gawain loves, but she is elegant, knowledgeable and reasonable, and she is the best image to seduce Gawain.

The hostess launched a fierce attack on Gawain. She gave Gawain a book in the shape of a love, asked him for a kiss, made a portrait for him, and even came to his bed and bowed hard, as if a HJ shot into the sky. Gawain panicked at first, but quickly surrendered.

"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" manuscript illustration: Mistress seduce Gawain

Chastity as chivalry requires that knights cannot accept the pursuit of married women. After Gawain surrendered the gun, the hostess's expression changed, and she mocked like a needle, you are not a knight. This seems to be the conclusion of Gawain's violation of chastity.

Miraculously, the hostess also brought back Gawain's looted magic belt (Sash). Because the belt carried his mother's magic to protect Gawain, this became Gawain's escape route to survive. The hostess seduced him and asked him if he wanted a belt. After receiving confirmation, Gawain's greed for life and fear of death also meant that he was not worthy of becoming a knight.

So, when Gawain left the castle in a hurry to meet the castle man, according to the agreement, the mistress gave him a lot of things that should be returned. But the male host only asked for a kiss in Gawain's surprised eyes.

This kiss, which is not psychologically prepared for the audience, echoes the plot of the original poem of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". In the original poem, Sir Gawain, as a real knight, refused the hostess and only accepted the kiss as a courtesy, and then obeyed the agreement and returned the kiss to the host. The kiss in the movie is that the host politely asks Gawain for what he got in the castle, indicating that he understands his wife's request for a kiss from Gawain, and even more hidden feelings.

However, in the original poem, the belt returned by the hostess was not returned to the male host because Gawain had promised to keep it secret. This became the only failure of the original version of Gawain, and was punished by the green knight who left a scratch on his neck. Interestingly, the green knight in the original poem was revealed at the end that the castle man was transformed by the curse of Morgan le Fay, and this setting was abandoned by the director in the movie.

Friendship

Among the prey that the host sent to Sir Gawain was a cute little fluffy fox. The little fox in the movie appeared very early, and followed Gao Wen before he met the boy. No matter whether Gao Wen was eating or sleeping in the rough, he never gave up and became a partner and friend of Gao Wen's adventure in the wilderness. This is the last test of chivalry, friendship.

But the little fox spoke hoarsely when Gawain was about to find Lutang, and he advised Gawain not to move on and seek death. As a friend, the little fox hopes that Gawain will survive. But at this time, Gawain experienced the test of knighthood, and he rekindled the flame of becoming a knight and pursuing glory. Coupled with the luck of carrying the protection of the magic belt, he swung the axe and drove away the little fox.

On the surface, Gawain rudely drove away the little fox who was a friend, and he failed the test of friendship. But on the other hand, plucking up the courage to stand up for yourself in front of friends is also a compulsory course for friendship. Although Gawain did not become a knight in the true sense, maybe he did not fail the test of friendship.

Apart from being a test of friendship, this talking little fox is also the most difficult part of the movie's many hidden clues to decipher. The little fox's companionship with Sir Gawain is still absurd and bizarre without a clear motivational explanation in the film. But if we consider who would want to accompany Gawain on an adventure, I think the most reasonable candidate is Gawain's mother, Morgan le Fay.

The green knight was originally summoned by his mother, but in order to protect Gawain, his mother gave him a magic belt. The journey to find the green knight was extremely difficult and dangerous. As a witch, it was reasonable for her mother to be attached to the little fox to accompany and even help Gawain.

We recall that when Gawain came across the giant, he called on the giant to ask for a ride to ease the road. But the adventure of finding the green knight is itself a test, and the search for a shortcut is failure. The giant turned and covered Gawain with one hand, Gawain flinched, the little fox or his mother knew that this was not good intentions, he howled, it seemed that his mother cast a spell to drive away the giant, protect Gawain or prevent Gawain from going astray.

The giant stretched out his hand to cover Gawain

After Gawain set off, the little fox followed him almost all the way. In the woods before the robber boy came across, he picked up Saint Winifrerd's pool, either in the dark or in the light. The only time the little fox couldn't get close to Gawain was when Gawain was in the castle. But we remember that in addition to the hostess and the hostess, there was also a blindfolded old woman in the castle. The blindfold is the decoration when the mother casts spells at the beginning of the film, and the original book makes it clear that this old woman is Morgan le Fay herself. In the movie, it may be that the mother casts spells and watches Gawain from a distance. The old woman quietly accompanied Gawain in the castle, so that Gawain was extremely embarrassed by his serious concern.

And as soon as Gawain left the castle, his mother's little fox came back. The mother, who was supposed to bring the glory of knighthood to her son, faced her son who frequently failed the test of the green knight, and her son who was probably not ready to die, she chose to speak and stop Gawain. Even the last sentence of the little fox calling for Gawain to go home seemed no longer hoarse, but revealed a hint of his mother's voice.

Sadly, the game of the green knight is now beyond her control.

Part 3. Ending: Living to the Death

Sir Gawain finally came to Green Hall.

The golden light hit Gawain, as if inlaid with a layer of divine color for Gawain.

The green knight's heavy axe was about to fall, even wearing a magic belt, Gawain couldn't help but wince in the fear of decapitation. We see that Gawain chose to run away. He ran back to King Arthur's castle. Everyone thought he had overcome the challenge of the green knight. King Arthur named him a knight and elected him to be the new king after his death.

But we know that it's all based on lies.

As the new king, Gawain took away the child born with Essel, abandoned Essel, who was from the bottom, married a luxurious Lady, and gave birth to a new son, but died in battle with Essel's son. He treats the people badly, and the people turn their backs on him. The war broke out, and the subordinates defected. He took off the green belt his mother had given him as the army approached the city. At this time, it seemed that the magic power of the belt finally disappeared, and his head that should have fallen to the ground finally separated from his neck.

This is the end of Gawain's escape from the green knight, and the end of a false knight.

The magic of the belt could not bring Gawain true knightly glory. A true knight will not win the challenge of the green knight by deception, nor will he escape his promise because of cowardice.

At this time, time was reversed, and Gawain returned to the green knight holding the axe. It turned out that everything was Gawain's illusion, just as he saw his bones in the forest, he saw the ending of escape.

So he finally chose to lift the belt and choose to accept death. The green knight smiled and said: Well done, my brave knight. Now… Off with your head. At this moment, the green knight recognized Gawain as a knight.

The film ends with the green knight swiping Gao Wen's neck with his hand. Whether or not Gawain was really decapitated by the green knight, the beholder sees benevolence, and the wise see wisdom. In the original poem, Gawain withstood the test of chivalry, and in the end he was only scratched by an axe but not decapitated. But director David Lowe also mentioned in the interview that the blank space at the end was considered to reduce the bloody scene, so at least his original idea was that Gawain really died at the end.

(Addition: Many netizens said off with your head should be translated as you leave with your head, so it is speculated that Gawain survived. I checked the opinions of foreign film critics, although some people think that Gawain survived, the director also accepts different interpretations, because The last line of the Green Knight has a slight sense of drama, but no one has translated it like this. The reason is that off with your head is a common fixed phrase in Western historical dramas, which means pulled out and chopped off, and off means chopped off. So the subtitle group or film review translates it as Decapitation is the most habit of language usage.

Links to the authoritative phrase finder with a one-phrase explanation for readers who are still questioning:

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/263700.html )

But considering the theme of the movie, whether Gawain survived or not does not seem to be that important. The important thing is that Sir Gawain achieved self-growth at the last moment of the film, and he chose to die in order to pass the final test of chivalry that runs through the film. The real road of knighthood is not to deceive everyone to deceive King Arthur to obtain the knighthood, but to be recognized by exuding chivalry after a lot of hard work.

Choosing to die is the most noble sacrifice in Jesus' crucifixion. The ending of Sir Gawain's death promoted by this film has a strong Christian metaphor. But unlike the traditional image of the saint Christ, Sir Gawain is not recognized as a knight until the end, on the contrary, he is portrayed everywhere in the film as unworthy to be a knight. But doing so gave Gawain a huge space for self-exploration, making his growth even more valuable. This kind of secularization has a similar setting in Martin Scorsese's film "The Last Temptation of Christ": Jesus Christ is also described as a mortal who has turned his back on glory, but only after experiencing the eternal redemption of mortals can he choose to become Christ at the last moment. awareness.

Compared with the image of the savior of Jesus Christ, the chivalry spirit pursued by Sir Gawain has a more universal sense of self-realization. As the upper civilization limited in medieval Europe, chivalry can feel the director's modern interpretation in this film, such as weakening the proportion of religious piety (Piety) in the story.

But having said that, taking metaphysical spirit as the theme of the film is an abstract work, and the director has made a hazy narrative treatment for many months to create an atmosphere. It really requires the audience to have enough patience to study and understand. .

View more about The Green Knight reviews

Extended Reading
  • Beulah 2022-03-15 09:01:11

    8. The Green Knight, the Witch, the Lighthouse, and the A24 Evil Trilogy. I didn't do the research and I was in a fog. After checking the information, I realized that there were quite a lot of changes and careful thinking in the film. This outrageous photography and soundtrack make the atmosphere to the extreme, plus the obscure dialogue, it really seems to be walking in the original poem, the mysterious and magnificent nature is breathtaking, the suffering and benevolence in the middle add a lot of mystery, and the castle story has changed the most , but it also made Gawain more human. Sometimes, no amount of hardships can change a person, and it also gives a corresponding other ending. Therefore, in contrast, the chivalrous spirit finally displayed. Invaluable. Off topic, I wonder if I can see similar interpretations of Chinese myths and legends in my lifetime

  • Nolan 2022-03-19 09:01:10

    What's the matter? Epic is not epic, legend is not legendary, can you explain the story clearly?

The Green Knight quotes

  • Gawain: I fear I am not meant for greatness.

  • Gawain: Honor. That is why a knight does what he does.