What do you think about when you hear King Arthur? There's the sword in the stone where Arthur's worth and lineage are proven. His grand castle and court at Camelot with the illustrious Knights of the Round Table. The hunt for the Holy Grail. A awkward love triangle with his champion Lancelot and his wife Guinevere. The magic of the Lady in the Lake and Merlin. Even though I haven't read much of this but we all seem to know at least some of the stories. I guess it makes sense as it's the oldest distinctively British mythology with Arthur a supposed fifth and/or sixth century figure. If you care to know, Arthur was most likely not a real historical figure and probably originated in Wales before being stolen by the English.
Considering its prominence, it's surprising and a little disappointing that basically all attempts at Arthur film adaptations have been so bad. I'm thinking of, for example, First Knight (1995), King Arthur (2004) and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017). Everyone seems to want to make a quality and interesting Arthur film but they keep missing on the execution. Even the old Disney classic, The Sword in the Stone (1963), following Arthur as a young boy before he pulls out Excalibur, isn't really worth the time. Because of the absurdity of the stories I find it hard to argue against Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) being the best of them all. It's certainly the most memorable.
Even with all the missteps the mythology continues to be of interest and I want to give a chance to new attempts at filming the ancient stories. When I heard about The Green Knight (2021), a modern art-house take on one of the old legends, I was immediately interested. Unlike everything mentioned above I was unfamiliar with Sir Gawain and his journey to face the so-called Green Knight. I was even more intrigued when I discovered a prominent translation was done by J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. So before attempting to watch the film, which I had wanted to see in theaters but didn't, I bought the book.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a 14th century Arthurian legend from an unknown author. It was originally written in 'Middle English' and requires translating to be understood today, hence the work by Tolkien, a man who loved and understood English mythology better than arguably anyone else. It's all in verse and has the prerequisite pacing and rhyming structure. I want to compare it to Shakespeare, where at times it's sometimes hard to comprehend what's being said, but it's also not that difficult. At first I found the story hard to get into but it got better and better as it went on and had a quick sprint to the finish. In all it's not that long, about 100 pages in a small-sized book, broken up in 101 parts, essentially short poems.
Here's the gist of the centuries old tale. Gawain is one of the, even in their time, famous Knights of the Round Table. He's actually King Arthur's nephew. One Christmas, during the big feast, a massive, green human-like being approaches the celebration and dares any of the great men to strike him a blow, with his own oversized axe, as long as he is allowed to return the favor one year following. It's presented as a game, though a chilling one. Gawain volunteers, takes up the weapon and removes the creature's head in one swing. But that's not the end of it. The thing stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of their upcoming appointment in twelve months. It's all a test, and it's only just begun.
The remainder of the story is Gawain's quest to fulfill his oath to appear, presumably, at his own death. He spends nearly the entire year as if nothing happened then leaves as the date approaches. His travels take him to different castle where he befriends a local lord. The two of them play a new game when Gawain is informed the Green Chapel, his destination, is nearby and he has time to spare. The lord goes out hunting while Gawain remains and rests and the two are to present each other, at its conclusion, with the day's spoils. It's all very chivalrous and that's the point. With the lord gone the lord's wife tempts Gawain. This is why this tale is often considered a love story or romance, though it doesn't go the way you might think. Gawain, in these circumstances, remains steadfast, repeatedly and kindly rejecting the lady's growing advances. Every time she leaves he allows a single kiss and nothing more.
To be faithful in their pact, Gawain then gives this kiss to the lord on his return. Eventually, after a few days of this, Gawain departs and makes his appointment with the waiting Green Knight. Every step of the way Gawain is a good and honorable man, even refusing to flinch when the time came to receive the blow he's owed. I absolutely loved this story. We don't hear many stories today where a person is thoroughly tested and manages to pass with flying colors. Maybe that's boring to you. It wasn't to me.
Fwiw Gawain doesn't die and there's a fun twist at the end too.
After reading this I was stoked to watch the new film from A24 and did so that same night, having gotten the Blu-ray for cheap. Here's what they changed. While Gawain of the myth was a well-established knight of some renown, in the movie he is young and unproven. To flesh out the story his trials involve all five of the knightly virtues: friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy and piety. While Gawain of the myth meets every challenge, in the movie he fails them all. As the movie goes on you dislike this version of Gawain more and more, which is unfortunate. He finally does something right at the very end, to his credit, but then the conclusion, and his ultimate fate, are left ambiguous. I did entirely love the art style of the film and the mystical, immersive atmosphere of Arthurian England that the studio created. It was definitely a cool, and weird, movie to watch. But that just made what they did with the hero all the more frustrating.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised it wasn't a straightforward telling that simply portrayed Gawain as he was meant to be. Darn modernity. You can let us have something pure, it's allowed.
コメント