Best of 2021: The Green Knight
Following the Best of 2021 feature that ran in last fortnight’s print edition, Matthew Bowden adds his voice to the debate and champions the fantasy epic, The Green Knight.
Having studied and greatly enjoyed the text during a first-year English module, I was excited to see how the indie-centric combination of David Lowery and A24 would go about tackling this mystical poem. The Green Knight (2021) is an enthralling, visually-stunning morality tale that gets right to the heart of the source material; subtly probing whether honour and chivalry are attainable in this seemingly lawless environment.
Dev Patel is typically excellent in conveying a figure in Gawain constantly wrestling with his own identity, balancing impetuousness with uncertain, wide-eyed vulnerability. No more is this the case than his exchanges with Alicia Vikander’s Lady, who highlights that even a knight can fall to the temptations of a medieval femme fatale. From the aesthetically gorgeous cinematography to the pervasive score to the bold montage ending, every aspect of this film is on point. I hope it wins some Oscars.
