The Green Knight (2021) on Netflix
R20212h 10mAdventureDramaFantasy
King Arthur's reckless nephew Gawain accepts a Christmas challenge from the Green Knight and beheads him. A year later, he must travel to the Green Chapel to receive an equal blow.
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- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb6.5/10134,294 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes89%
Trailer
Plot summary
Gawain, King Arthur's reckless and headstrong nephew, spends Christmas morning with his lover Essel before joining a feast at the Round Table. A mysterious Green Knight enters the court and offers a challenge: any knight who strikes him will win his axe, but must come to the Green Chapel the next Christmas for a matching blow. Gawain accepts and beheads the Knight, who then rises, takes his severed head, and reminds Gawain of the bargain. After a year of feasting, Gawain leaves Camelot on horseback with the green axe and a green girdle from his mother, who says he will be safe while wearing it. On the road he meets a boy scavenging a battlefield, who then ambushes him with two others and steals his horse and possessions.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Green Knight (2021)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Green Knight's arrival at the Round Table used no digital visual effects: director David Lowery wanted the character to have presence on set, so actor Ralph Ineson wore wood-like prosthetics designed by Barry Gower.
- Near the end of The Green Knight, director David Lowery told Ralph Ineson to portray the Green Knight as Santa Claus, a touch of lightness in an otherwise dark script.
- David Lowery originally shot a more explicit and definitive ending for The Green Knight, but replaced it, feeling it would affect how audiences came away from the film.
- Unhappy with the cut set to premiere at SXSW, David Lowery spent six months during the COVID-19 pandemic re-editing The Green Knight into a version he could be satisfied with.
- For scenes with Gawain's horse, the crew used a false mount wheeled around on a dolly, after the initial horse used for the scenes would not cooperate with Ralph Ineson.
- The intercut scenes of le Fay summoning the Green Knight were not in David Lowery's original screenplay; impressed by Sarita Choudhury's work, he had the scene written and storyboarded, then spent well over a year editing it.
- During the Green Knight's hibernation scene, digital effects were used, including subtly transforming the knight's face into those of the other cast members.
