Any Modern English summary of this ancient, anonymous Arthurian narrative is bound to be surprised after seeing David Lowery’s adaptation of the old legend. Not because he doesn’t follow the contours of plot & character, but because he does. Honorably. Or does until a major reversal at the climax. It’s just that with so much misty, muddled atmosphere slathered on, plus all the whispered Arthurian Method acting, it’s impossible to follow the action or make sense of motivations & relationships. Ironically, the heavily revised ending is the one thing you can follow. (Maybe because the structure is ‘borrowed’ from Ambrose Pierce: INCIDENT AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE.) Dev Patel’s a smart choice as Sir Gawain, his elegant frame supporting a story that starts with an ending: Young Hero lops off the Monster’s head. That’d be the Green Knight, and Gawain has stepped in for the King in an unheralded display of reckless courage. The main storyline tags along as Gawain adventures on the road less traveled, trudging thru natural, manmade & human obstacles at once cryptic & elusive. All to keep his promise and meet Sir Green a year after this Monster Knight lost his head, picked himself up, dusted himself off, and lived to fight another day. (No wonder the story, after centuries, is still being parsed for meaning.) Even with missed opportunities and narrative confusion galore, Lowery does keep you watching, but the film is much less than the sum of its parts. Pity, a few well chosen declamative line readings might have fixed a host of problems.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Check out Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton in BECKET/’64 to see what the lost art of clear declamative acting can do for these things. No Closed Captions needed. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/02/becket-1964.html
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