I expected some kind of dark fantasy, but it turned out to be more of a mystical puzzle, that defies all expectations.
A ghost asks from Gawain to fetch her skull from the bottom of the lake. Classic.
— If I go in there and find it, what would you offer me in exchange?
— Why would you ever ask me that?
An owner of a castle asks from Gawain to give him what he doesn’t have. Classic.
Then, when asking for the magic belt, hero just refuses, and the owner goes “alright” and simply leaves.
And the fox, which I assumed to be sort of a guide to the underworld, stops and dissuades the hero from going any further?
Was delighted to recognise Barry Keoghan, who played the simpleton in Banshees of Inisherin. He plays a similar role here as well: simpleton that is not that simple.
Part of my puzzlement is because British kids study the original poem at school. While I had to figure out what’s the moral themes of the original tale, and what the new tale tries to say.
Just one example is that Arthur is never called by name, and simply referred to as “the King”. Another is that in the original poem, the owner of the castle and the Green Knight are the same person, while in the movie, they’re trying to tell you that it’s him, but also it’s Gawain’s mother.
Speaking of which, Morgan wasn’t Gawain’s mother in any of the poems, although she’s portrayed as Arthur’s sibling in some.
