The Green Knight (2021) - Quiet On Set Podcast Review

The Green Knight tells the Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain, King Arthur's nephew who embarks on a venturesome quest to hold up his side of a bargain he made with The Green Knight.

Lowery takes us on a constantly morphing quest of Sir Gawain's self-actualization. When broken down the film is not much more than a long journey in which our hero has to face challenges to get to his destination. Now, what makes The Green Knight so captivating is that (minor spoilers incoming) at the end of his journey all that is waiting for him is death.

After reading up on the legend I realized that Lowery takes quite a few liberties to adapt this story to make it his own. What initially got me so interested in The Green Knight was the incredible looking cinematography. Especially in the first act of the story, which mainly takes place inside dimly candle-lit chambres in a castle, the screen is actually very dark. I can really appreciate a director's vision that does not shy away from creating a simultaneously authentic and stylized fictional world. Palmero, the cinematographer, manages to draw me in through the numerous still shots that last seemingly forever at times but work very well to support the theme of life as this agonizing force.

Dev Patel as Sir Gawain

Further, colors are very purposefully used to support recurring motifs and themes. Most prominently green and red. Now with all the praise that I have given the film so far, I also have to mention that I often felt quite lost with what exactly was going on. On one side I am quite content having gone into this without knowing much of anything about the story of Sir Gawain, but at the same time, I felt lost a lot.

There were a lot of details I would love to pay more attention to on the inevitable rewatch, but for now, that is all I have to say about The Green Knight without going into spoiler and a full-on analysis.

I believe that much like The Lighthouse, A24 once again has a very polarizing film in its hands. Some people are going to adore it, others will hate it oh so deeply and passionately.

Dev Patel as Sir Gawain

Dev Patel plays Gawain with a charming naivete as he tries to fit in and find his place in the world. All of the supporting cast from Vikander to Harris and Edgerton are phenomenal in their roles. I kinda quite put my finger on it but Ralph Ineson as the Green Knight is such an imposing force that cannot go unmentioned.

At the end of the day, The Green Knight was filled with riveting themes that have crept themselves back into my mind for the last two weeks. Nature vs. civilization, responsibility & integrity, and coming-of-age.

8/10

Ralph Ineson as the Green Knight

Pig (2021)

INT. PORKCHOP – DAY

This film, like many others, has the potential to be a great movie, but it also has the characteristic of a flop. You have, first and foremost, Nicolas Cage. An actor who stereotypically doesn’t play tame, slow roles. You also have a very small budget with a very large-scale idea and, at least according to IMDB trivia, an untrained pig. If I told you these things without showing you a trailer or any screenshot of the film, imagine what that film would be.

That image in your head is from alternative universe because in this reality, it’s a fucking hit.

All the pieces are laid out and putting it all together seemed near impossible, there can be some pieces missing here and there however, the overall picture is clear.

Cage pulls out one of his best performances, one that doesn’t reach the same level as ‘Joe’ but comes very close. The smaller budget required excellent storytelling to be front and centre, and whilst originally having a runtime of two hours, cutting it down to the 90-minute runtime was again another very good move.

Cage is the glue to hang the picture on the wall. He captivates every scene he’s in, drawing me in with what mysteries he’s hiding. There were so many times I thought, this can’t be the same guy from, most recently, ‘Willy’s Wonderland’ (which I watched about 40 minutes of and had to turn off) or even ‘The Wicker Man.’ It is a brave performance, reminding me that we need to give this man another Oscar.

Alex Wolff holds his own too. Not his strongest performance to date, however I can see Alex rising over the next few years, after all every actor needs to have a fun role occasionally and Nic Cage has been doing fun roles for a very long time.

Finally, a word of warning, many of my friends who saw the trailer and read up about the film thought this would be a ‘Nic Cage – John Wick’ movie, and while yes, the trailer gives that vibe, it’s nothing like John Wick. So please, don’t go into this movie wanting that, you’ll come out disappointed. Go in expecting to see a well-crafted film and be surprised with the journey it takes you on.

Because honestly, if Nicolas Cage wanted his pig back, I wouldn't care who he is, I’m giving him his fucking pig back.

FADE OUT.