The Green Knight 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

The Green Knight 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Gawain's World.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 8, 2021

It's maybe just a little funny to hear The Green Knight's writer and director David Lowery mention in a supplement included on this disc that there have been many great films revolving around King Arthur and/or various Arthurian adjacent legends. Really? Now there have been a veritable glut of such features released over the course of several decades, and many of them have been hugely budgeted and well marketed, only to see their box office fortunes erupt in the same sort of flames that surround the head of Gawain (Dev Patel) in an opening moment in this particular film. Camelot, King Arthur, First Knight, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and The Last Legion, while each perhaps offering at least some interesting elements and maybe even pleasures along the way, might seem to suggest that films with some kind of Arthurian tinge to them aren't always successful, either artistically or financially. There have been occasional treatments of Arthurian legend that have resonated fairly well, including such disparate efforts as Excalibur and The Sword in the Stone, though, again, reactions to even these two films have been decidedly mixed. In that regard, it's literally funny to realize that two films that were unabashedly successful in terms of both inherent merit and box office receipts are comedic riffs on Arthurian legend, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Army of Darkness.

Well schooled literary types will no doubt know of the provenance of the tale now known as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but for those unacquainted with the saga's history, there's quite a bit of rather fascinating information available online for any interested sleuths. Lowery mentions in the same supplement where he talks about all of the "great" Arthurian films (notably without mentioning any of them) that he wanted to make a film that basically filled in some of the gaps of the original 14th century poem, along with giving some backstory about Gawain that allowed for (in Lowery's words) a "journey" (and not necessarily a literal one like Gawain takes in the film). While that assessment may strike some as maybe just a tad pretentious, the good news is the film isn't overly labored in trying to provide Gawain what screenwriters like to refer to as an "arc", and in fact certain elements of both the original story and Arthurian legend in general are dealt with almost discursively, as in the case of the presentation of Gawain's mother and Arthur's sister, the sorceress Morgan Le Fay (Sarita Choudhury). In that regard, and again as Lowery gets into in the supplement, many of the "major" characters in the film, including Arthur (Sean Harris) and Guinevere (Kate Dickie), are never even overtly called by name throughout the running time.

Even well schooled literary types may have trouble clearly explicating the sometimes convoluted story and especially meanings and/or symbolism at play in the original tale, and kind of smartly Lowery tends to use those ambiguities to his own advantage, offering what almost amounts to a dream within a dream within a dream that Gawain experiences. As a result, the film plays like a traditional Joseph Campbell-ish hero's quest as seen through the prism of maybe a combo platter of Freud and Dali. That makes The Green Knight a ravishing experience just to watch and listen to, even if some narrative threads are perhaps better left unpulled and/or unexamined.

Traditional notions of chivalric behavior have been perceived to be at the core of the original story, but that may be a somewhat ironic interpretation, given some of the hesitations and quasi-dalliances Gawain experiences in the poem, two elements which are overtly dealt with in this adaptation. But perhaps due to Lowery's really audacious visual sense in particular, and a rather nicely modulated performance by Dev Patel, the upshot is that Gawain emerges as a hero arguably not in spite of his shortcomings but because of them. That same at times almost overwhelming aesthetic sense that suffuses the film can also help to elide the thicket of symbols and characters the film offers, including what amounts to the Eternal Feminine (played as at least two characters by Alicia Vikander) and a magical Caninae who might be seen as an interloper from Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox. One arguably minor misstep in the production design is the rather Groot-like appearance of the titular character.

The Green Knight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 Blu-ray.

The Green Knight is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Director of photography Andrew Droz Palermo is on hand in the main making of featurette included on this disc as a supplement, and he provides some good information on his choice of the Arri Alexa 65 and various lenses which may be of interest to some. The IMDb discloses a 4K DI, and the results here are often staggeringly beautiful, with the 4K UHD version enjoyable noticeable upticks in both detail levels in general as well as nuance in the impressive palette. The film's inventive use of unusual grading and lighting choices is given some subtle new highlights courtesy of HDR and/or Dolby Vision, and some the slate gray outdoor material in particular has some really beautiful new depth and variety, though many of the bolder colors also resonate incredibly well. Some may wish for more improvement in shadow detail, especially in some very dark sequences that occur at around the one hour mark, but on the whole, the dark scenes in this version have at least some new information and better overall clarity. I was also pleased to see that the brief but noticeable banding I mentioned in our 1080 review has either been ameliorated (as in the opening tracking shot into the court) or eliminated (as in the underwater scene much later in the film). I would certainly rate this one of the strongest and most consistently enjoyable 4K UHD presentations I've had the pleasure of viewing recently.

The Green Knight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Green Knight features an impressive Dolby Atmos track that delivers good width and verticality virtually from the get go with some almost spooky sounding voiceover, a technique which is later replicated when Guinevere seems to go into a trance while reading the "special delivery" letter from the Green Knight. The track is filled with nicely immersive moments throughout, in both interior scenes, like the introduction of Gawain in what I'm assuming is a kind of quasi-bordello, or, later, in virtually all of the many outdoor scenes. These latter sequences offer some really smart placement of ambient environmental effects, especially once Gawain starts getting really out into the wilderness. LFE is utilized smartly as well, in both some of the Green Knight effects (which admittedly tend to be kind of sonic bookends, given the character's relative sparseness in the tale), as well as other outdoor moments. Dialogue and score are both rendered without any problems whatsoever, and the track has admirable dynamic range throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

The Green Knight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Boldest of Blood & Wildest of Heart: Making The Green Knight (HD; 35:23) is a rather well done featurette which offers some really good interviews and background information on the production.


• Practitioners of Magic: Visual Effects (HD; 14:39) is an interesting look at some of the special effects, which were not accomplished via green screen but typically by adding CGI to live action elements.


• Illuminating Technique: Title Design (HD; 17:53) is a fun interview with title designer Teddy Blanks, who makes it clear any fonts he may have appropriated were in the public domain.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:28)

A 1080 Blu-ray and a Digital Copy are also included, as is a slipcover.

The Green Knight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Like any good myth, The Green Knight's ultimate meaning may elude rational thinking, but even if there are elements at play in this tale that can't be conveniently "figured out", Lowery's astounding visual sense and some visceral performances help to give The Green Knight an enjoyably mystical ambience. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements very enjoyable. Highly recommended.