Highly anticipated, and like many other films this year, long delayed, “The Green Knight” is a retelling of the Arthurian Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is a poem that has been translated by many, including J.R.R. Tolkien, from it’s middle English roots. This week it is translated by writer/Director David Lowery to film and our guests tackle it’s meaning, accomplishments and merits.
The phrase “Beautifully Slow” came up early in our assessment and the conversation went in a couple of directions. Was the movie too long, did it need to be three hours instead of 2 hrs and 20 minutes? Who was this movie targeting as it’s audience? Some suggested this was an arthouse film being sold as a popular fantasy story, others swear the phrase “Oscar Bait” is the best description for the movie.
We get tied up in the question of what it is all about as well. Some of us had read the poem it is based on in a high school English class. Others, only knew what they saw in the trailer. Most of us were not sure what to make of the fox, and frankly we can’t tell you what he says, that would be a spoiler.
There is symbolism galore in store for audiences who take this movie in. Is the visual symbolism enough to engage us or should we have more explicit narrative cues? These are the kinds of things that Howard Casner, Jeanette Ward, Thomas Stoneham Judge and Nick Rehak try to sort out with Richard on this week’s Lambcast. We debate whether Lowery is a “visionary”, and whether we have moved into a time where visuals trump story. We also wonder when did Orange become the new green.
There is a lot of medieval literature to discover and if you are looking for Sparknotes, maybe this is the place to start. We also discuss the Criterion Channel John Huston hub, Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit and we pat ourselves on the back a little. Come listen.
Introduction
Discussion 3:30
Spoilers 26:15
Lambscores 53:17
Rants/Raves/Reviews 56:05
Plugs 1:19:27
Howard Casner Pop Art
Nick Rehak Rehak Radio
Jeanette Ward The Mundane Adventures of a Fan Girl Tamarind Tribal Belly Dance
Richard Kirkham KAMAD 80s Nostalgia Central
The show can be found, of course, via iTunes – just do a search for “LAMBcast.” Also, I always post a link to the show on the LAMBcast’s Facebook page, and there’s a player there if you’d like to listen online. Find the show here:
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/lambcast/episodes/2021-08-02T13_29_30-07_00
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