Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)

reviewed by
Shane Burridge


Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) 93m.

You'll have to be in the right mood to enjoy this simple mediaeval fantasy, or at least acknowledge that it subdues the cinematic visual stylings we might expect from knights-on-horseback adventures. Although the poem, 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight', is one of the best known British mediaeval epics outside of Beowulf, its central character is less a household name than other Arthurian champions such as Lancelot, Galahad, and Bedevere. Personally, I find this down-scaled approach more suitable for Gawain's tale than the kind of treatment usually afforded the aggrandized romances of his better-known contemporaries. Gawain is an ordinary man, not some superhero - when he gets in a fight he gets beaten up quite a bit, and has to struggle for the upper hand. The film opens with the mysterious Knight (played, appropriately enough, by Nigel Green) appearing before Arthur's court in the New Year and demanding the head of Gawain (played, appropriately enough, by Murray Head) as the prize in a bizarre game. Given a year's grace, Gawain immediately sets off in search of the Knight for a rematch.

Bearing only a passing resemblance to the epic poem (which is more a test of Gawain's character), Stephen Weeks' film is an amalgam of two standard motifs, the Quest and Damsel-in-Distress. Its indecisive narrative may cause some viewers to give up before the story is half over, but in an odd way it adds to the atmosphere of the picture. It seems as if Gawain is getting nowhere on his journey - he is sidetracked constantly and has no clear idea of where he is heading. We can never be sure where he is or where different places are in relation to each other. Characters keep dropping out of the story and then returning, further suggesting that Gawain is making little progress. The course of the journey is plotted chronologically (the passing of the seasons), not geographically. The inconclusive musical score sounds like it was recorded without any visual cues from the film and dropped in just anywhere. All of these things make Gawain's experiences seem like a dream, but his final revelation shows us that his journey was never intended to take place on land, but instead through time. The passage of his maturation over one year gives added significance to the colour green (not only marking the order of the natural world, but also his inexperience and youth) that appears throughout the story at crucial points to guide him onwards - note that director Weeks is otherwise careful to avoid using green in all sets, costumes, backdrops and props.

Weeks' own disastrous 1982 remake, SWORD OF THE VALIANT, only makes this simple version look better by comparison. Since he didn't really stick to the specifics of the poem in the first place (with the exception of the opening scene), you have to wonder why he even tried a second time.

sburridge@hotmail.com


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