THE GREEN KNIGHT

Dev Patel     Alicia Vikander     Joel Edgerton     Ralph Ineson

Sarita Choudhury     Sean Harris     Kate Dickie

 

            Based on a poem written in the 14^th Century by an unknown author, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has been an intriguing story ever since.  Writer/director David Lowery in the third retelling of it in film enhances its mysteriousness by making the screen very dark, by accompanying it with choral music rendered in Middle Ages verse (with accents of dissonant modern music) composed by frequent Lowery collaborator Daniel Hart; and by a heavy dose of symbolism.

            It helps in understanding this film if one has read the poem and is familiar with the story.  I had not, so was mystified during many scenes until afterwards, when a colleague referred me to the myth.

            We meet Sir Gawain as a modest, committed knight so unassuming that he has to be ordered by King Arthur to sit by him and the queen.  When King Arthur requests that he tell a tale about himself so the King will know him, Gawain forthrightly demures, saying that he has no tale.  Soon after, the King is visited by a mysterious figure (who looks like a tree dressed up as a man) who presents his challenge to any of King Arthur’s knights.  The knight, the Green Knight (Ineson) dares any of those present to strike the Green Knight with his own axe, with the agreement that one year and one day later, the knight must find the Green Knight and allow him to strike the same blow as he had dealt to the Green Knight the year before.  No one answers but Sir Gawain who takes up the challenge, with plans to revisit the Green Knight on Christmas Day the following year.

            Close to the appointed day, Gawain sets off on the journey to honor his pledge.  Of course, along the way, he will encounter many travails and tests of his strength and commitment.  Among them are bandits who steal his horse, his sword, and a sash his mother gave him to keep him safe, then they tied him up and left him to rot.  He encounters a woman who literally lost her head, which is at the bottom of a spring.  (This is only part of the magic sprinkled in throughout the story; that is, she is talking to him with her head attached, but still wants to retrieve her head).  He also meets a Lord (Edgerton) and his Lady (Vikander plays two roles, this one and the woman he is in love with at home).  The Lord proposes a bargain (a theme in the tale) wherein he will bring Gawain all the spoils of his daily hunts, and Gawain is to give to the Lord what he gained during the day.

            After much of what Gawain lost during his travails is restored, often magically, he finally arrives at the Green Knight’s home, ready to honor his pledge.

            Although well done in many respects, The Green Knight will appeal primarily to those interested in fantasy and in literature of days gone by.  I found the dark screen and often unintelligible dialog and choral words tedious, despite my interest in the story.  A confusing aspect added by Lowery is that Gawain’s mother gives him a sash for protection before he leaves on his journey, and his local love Esse gives him a ring.  On his journey when he meets the Lord’s lady (also played by Vikander) she as well gives him these two items.

Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, and Ralph Ineson are superb in their roles, always a joy to watch.

 

Better read some background on this story so as to derive full benefit of its entertainment value.

 

Grade:   B                                                  By Donna R. Copeland

THE OLD MAN & THE GUN

Robert Redford     Casey Affleck     Sissy Spacek     Danny Glover

Tom Waits     Keith Carradine     Tika Sumpter     Elizabeth Moss

     Charming, but incorrigible, Forrest Tucker’s sociopathic personality comes through when he meets a woman in a diner, and quickly wins her trust.  The woman is Jewel (Spacek), a lover of the simple life, horses, and the rolling fields surrounding her property.  He is evasive when she asks his name and what he does for a living, and he gives her his real name, which, at this point, is not broadcast in the stories about him, and finally lets her know that instead of “makin’ a livin’”, he believes in “livin’”.  It’s obvious that he has an admirable way of blending together truth and fiction into a believable story.  And like many who encounter Forrest, many suspect he is lying, but it doesn’t seem to bother them…because he’s so nice!

     The truth is that Forrest is a bank robber who has been imprisoned and escaped 16 times, beginning when he was just a kid.  It’s noteworthy that all the tellers who get robbed describe him as “such a gentleman”, “very polite”, a “nice-enough fellow”, and “happy.” He’s always well dressed and charming, encouraging them, and thanking them for accommodating him.  He and his pals, Teddy (Glover) and Waller (Waits), manage to get away with thousands of dollars.  They’re in the news, and even the police shake their heads, finding it preposterous that these old men are so capable.  

     Detective John Hunt (Affleck) is the beleaguered policeman charged with apprehending Tucker.  Although he seems to be as obsessed with being a good policeman as Tucker is about being a good robber, he is different in his self-doubts and struggles with his occupation.  His wife and superiors give him room to quit the force, but he determinedly stays on.  Even when the FBI intrudes itself into the case and he has a chance to step back, he doesn’t. Then he gets a tip that tells him exactly who Forrest Tucker is.

     Robert Redford pulls off this role in his usual expert fashion; probably no one else would be up to his personal aptness and level of skill.  It’s rewarding to see Sissy Spacek again in a role that suits her to a T as well.  Finally, Casey Affleck likewise performs as the kind of brooding character he has done so well in other films.  Danny Glover and Tom Waits make great sidekicks for the Redford character.  I was a bit disappointed there is not one of Tom Waits’ songs in the music.  Elizabeth Moss has a wonderful cameo at the end.  In a way, this film reminded me of David Mackenzie and Taylor Sheridan’s Hell or High Water in the nobility of the robber, but it kept up a level of excitement and humor a little more than is the case for this film.

     The script for The Old Man & the Gunis based on a true story, which was written up for The New Yorker Magazine by David Grann, who subsequently penned the script for this film.  Grann has a way of capturing his audience’s interest and maintaining suspense in his writing, just as he did for The Lost City of Z, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, and Killers of the Flower Moon:  The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.  In Director David Lowery’s capable hands, the movie becomes worthy of Robert Redford’s distinguished reputation in filmmaking, and a fitting tribute if it is indeed his last acting role.  Daniel Hart’s lyrical, moving score puts finishing touches on this fine production.

Charm is the name of the game in this engaging, suspenseful story.

Grade:  B+                                              By Donna R. Copeland

A GHOST STORY

Casey Affleck     Rooney Mara

     This is truly a story about a ghost, it’s thoughts, reminiscences, and perhaps regrets.  It opens with a couple named C (Affleck) and M (Mara) saying a few words, the most meaningful of which is his saying he’s tired of talking about it, and her asking if they could discuss it tomorrow, and his response is “maybe.”  (The dialog has a Terence Malick touch to it.)  The film sets a mysterious tone right away, with noises in the night, misty smoky air (soft focus used to advantage by cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo), and a pervasive sense of agitated discomfort—not quite unhappiness.  They are clearly getting ready to move, with boxes everywhere and she hauling things out to the trash. 

      Suddenly, he’s slumped over after a car crash, and then we see her at the morgue, and still later on her own, with C in a white sheet with big eye holes standing over her.  She seems to go through with the planned move, after which a woman with two children moves into their house, but they don’t stay long, what with dishes flying off onto the floor and shattering.  Then we see a party in progress at the same house; it’s crowded, with buzzing conversations and couples slinking off to be alone.  One man pontificates at the table through swigs of beer about life and its uncertainties and disasters.  Next, we see the house abandoned, then a wrecker demolishing it, and an office building goes up in its place. 

     There are numerous indications that the ghost does not like what’s happened, and we next see him out in the country.  A covered wagon comes up, reminding us of the doomsday prognostications of the man at the table, and we think maybe we’re going back in time, or looping around to another world, another of the man’s speculative possibilities.  In the covered wagon is a man with a family, and he is starting preparations to build a house; however, we don’t get to see it finished.

      In the final scenes of the film, we’re back at the house of C and M, and their marriage is recapitulated, giving us more information about their conflicts.  She moved a lot as a child, expressing her dislike by leaving behind little notes hidden just in case if she ever wanted to go back, there would be a little piece of her there.  Did she ever go back to the places she left notes?  No.  Yet, something within her as an adult likes to move different places from time to time; C doesn’t because history of place is important to him.  With this, it makes sense that his ghost is still in the house.  The story resolves in a way that makes all this a little more understandable, but the viewer is likely to remain in puzzlement.

      As I thought about it, it did seem that the writer/director David Lowery (Ain’t them Bodies Saints, Pete’s Dragon) is depicting the sense of loss and the searches humans go through in trying to make sense of the world and stay connected with others, particularly after a loss.  When those issues are not satisfactorily resolved and hopelessness prevails, it’s something like “the end of the world.”  Lowery’s depiction of this experience in the two ghosts (yes, there is another ghost) is graphic and profound.

     I found this an intriguing film that is almost undone by the overly long scenes, such as the opening with C and M together, the pie scene, and the pontification that can’t be easily comprehended.  The near absence of humor also makes this a slog.  Neither Affleck nor Mara—both abundantly talented actors—have enough screen time to warrant their investment in this film.

This is a ghost story without a smidgen of fear, only poetic imaginings.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland