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The Green Knight has finally hit theaters and it definitely deserves the big screen experience, which elevates the film and its themes.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Green Knight, in theaters now.
The Green Knight is the latest A24 film from writer and director David Lowery and it is an adaptation of the chivalric romance from the 14th Century titled Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Originally, the film was supposed to be released in May 2020, but it was delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which kept it from theaters for over a year. But the wait is now over and The Green Knight has hit theaters in North America, though it is still delayed in other parts of the world. The studio made the right decision to hold off on releasing the film on streaming because The Green Knight is a movie that demands to be seen in theaters.
The theatrical experience serves The Green Knight‘s overall impact in a few ways, starting with the size of the screen and how that helps the film push its themes and motifs. The size of a theater screen creates the room for the small details in the costume and set design to really sing and be read clearly by the audience. This helps to completely draw them in throughout the film of course, but is also helpful because The Green Knight generally doesn’t spend too much time explaining itself to the viewer.
In granting the audience a larger look at the mise-en-scène — the deliberate arrangement of scene elements — grants the audience a better understanding of what they are witnessing. This is clear in an early scene of the film, when Gawain’s mother, Morgan le Fay, conducts her magical ritual. The details of the scene may be lost on a small screen, but are nicely highlighted in a theatrical setting.
Also in line with the visual aspect, the scope and scale of The Green Knight are better understood on a theatrical screen. For much of the film, one of the key themes is man’s insignificance in the face of nature. This becomes evident as Gawain battles the elements while on his quest to meet the Green Knight at the Green Chapel. The film roots its fantastical elements within natural elements. One example of this is the women giants he comes across along his journey. Gawain actually asks them for a ride, as they are heading in the same direction, a request that is obviously denied when he’s seen walking beneath their feet and watching them excel past him into the unknown.
The theatrical screen helps to make it abundantly clear that the human Gawain is completely inconsequential to these giants, which helps to reinforce the film’s theme that man is insignificant in the face of nature. More personally to Gawain, it fortifies that his quest was not the journey he expected. He expected his decision to accept the Christmas Game challenge would make him a worthy knight, but he didn’t think through the consequences of his actions. That is made abundantly clear through the visual representation of his insignificance in the face of these giants, an idea that is best understood when seen on the big screen.
Then there’s the sound system of the theatrical experience. The music and the sound design of The Green Knight is really strong in helping to set the scene and the film’s overall mood. It is most impactful in the temptation of Gawain sequence, which is completely free of dialogue and depicts what his life will become should he cheat his end of the bargain with the Green Knight and not accept his blow fairly. The sequence is incredibly effective in its use of music and sound design, as well as its visual storytelling, and the theatrical sound experience really helps to bring it to its maximum potential.
The Green Knight is now playing in theaters in North America and it needs to be seen on the big screen. The film is packed full of meticulous details, from the set design to the costumes to the sound design, that are best appreciated in a theatrical experience.
See for yourself and catch The Green Knight in theaters right now.
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