Project description: Screenplay for an alternative scene from David Lowery’s 2021 film The Green Knight.
EXT. BATTLEFIELD – CONTINUOUS …out onto a BATTLEFIELD. There are hundreds of corpses scattered on the field. Mouldering bones in rusting armor. The mud they lay in is still a ruddy crimson. There are vultures picking at what skeletons still have bits of flesh on them. Gryngelot doesn’t want to push through, but Gawain spurs her on. They set out across the field of corpses. Past all the dead soldiers. A cold breeze blows but other than that, it is eerily calm and still. Up ahead now he sees a SCAVENGER digging through the corpses for any spare jewels are [sic] armor. The scavenger looks up at him, makes eye contact, freezes like a deer caught in headlights. SCAVENGER Who are you? GAWAIN Just a traveler. I come in peace. SCAVENGER You want a share I expect? GAWAIN Of what? The Scavenger gestures to the bodies around them.1 SCAVENGER All this. GAWAIN Nay! I would not steal from the dead. Why were they not given a Christian burial?2 SCAVENGER All dead, I suppose. Would you take from the land? GAWAIN Take what from the land? The Scavenger draws a rusty and broken dagger from the mud. SCAVENGER Much of the same. Would you not say the land has also died here today? What moss, what saplings grow in this muck? GAWAIN I have not time for this wordplay. Do you know of The Green Chapel? SCAVENGER What for? GAWAIN I have an… appointment. SCAVENGER You wanted a Christian burial for these men? GAWAIN Speak plainly. SCAVENGER Would you not say they may be buried in this Green Chapel you speak of? Nature will do the job. She’ll suck them down into the peat and tuck them in tight.3 Say not that the land here is dead, though it may well be dying. GAWAIN Enough! Do you know of the Chapel? The Scavenger gestures at a border of woods on the edge of the field. Gawain turns Gryngelot to face the woods. SCAVENGER There is a stream in yonder woods. At its source you will find an altar of moss and vines. Perhaps this is the chapel you seek. GAWAIN Thank you kindly. Gawain nudges Gryngelot forward, but the horse appears stuck in place. Gawain looks down and sees two bodies, laying side by side, both with their heads severed. As he continues to look, one head begins to resemble his mother, and the other Essel. This vision is vivid. ESSEL’S HEAD One. Year. Hence. MOTHER’S HEAD opens her mouth, and a small green sprout begins to emerge. MOTHER’S HEAD He’ll suck us down into the peat and tuck us in tight. ESSEL’S HEAD Would you take from the dead? From the land? Have you no pity? Gryngelot rears, almost throwing Gawain off. Once recovered, Gawain looks to the Scavenger, who is crouched in the mud. GAWAIN Did you know them? The dead? SCAVENGER Nay. Only the land upon which they died. Gawain reaches into his saddlebag, drawing out a small loaf of bread and a coin purse. He tosses both of them to the Scavenger. GAWAIN For your loss. And my thanks for your directions. SCAVENGER Much obliged, good sir. To the chapel now. He is waiting. Gawain turns to ride away. It is a moment before he realizes what the Scavenger said and turns around, but the Scavenger is gone.
1 All prior text is quoted directly from page 29 of David Lowery’s original screenplay. Further excerpts will also be noted.
2 Quoted from Lowery (29)
3 Quoted from Lowery (30)
EXT. FOREST – DAY Gawain stops in a mossy clearing. All is quiet, except for sound of RUNNING WATER. He turns in a circle, trying to locate it. CAMERA PANS AROUND. The trees seem taller, thicker now. RUNNING WATER grows louder. Gawain dismounts and begins to pace the clearing. RUNNING WATER sounds from all directions. SCAVENGER (O.S.) …there is an altar of moss and vines. RUNNING WATER grows louder. Gawain is frantic. THIEF 1 (O.S.) Are you lost? THIEF 2 (O.S.) Are you a knight? RUNNING WATER stops, all is silent. Gawain stops and looks around. THIEVES 1 and 2 are standing on a low rise. THIEF 1 takes a bite from a loaf of bread. THIEF 2 rolls a coin over her knuckles. THIEF 1 Do you seek the Green Chapel? THIEF 2 Do you seek the stream yonder? THIEF 1 He seems lost. THIEF 2 Panicked. THIEF 1 Frantic. THIEF 2 He’s lost his head. THIEF 1 He’s not himself. THIEF 2 Did you see where the stream went? THIEF 1 It went the way of the land. THIEF 2 Dying? THIEF 1 Downhill. Thief 1 throws the bread to Thief 2, who throws the coin in return and bites the bread. THIEF 2 We would not take from the living. THIEF 1 But this bread was freely given. THIEF 2 But he is already dead. THIEF 1 Off with his head. GAWAIN What is it you want from me? THIEF 1 What is it you want from us? GAWAIN The Green Chapel. I seek the Green Chapel. THIEF 2 (Laughing) He seeks the Green Chapel! THIEF 1 The Green Chapel! THIEF 2 Has Arthur lost his round table? THIEF 1 Has Christ lost his cross? THIEF 2 Does he think we are dull? GAWAIN Enough! THIEF 2 You are already in the chapel, dear knight.4 Thief 2 bites the bread, chews. THIEF 1 There is your communion. THIEF 2 Thank you for your donation. GAWAIN The stream! Where is the stream? THIEF 1 You seek the stream? THIEF 2 He happens to be a friend of ours. The Thieves step aside, and The Scavenger waits behind them. SCAVENGER Good day, sir knight. GAWAIN What is the meaning of this? The Scavenger turns and runs over the hill. THIEF 2 The stream runs downhill! THIEF 1 Waste no time! You’ve an appointment to make. Gawain takes Gryngelot by the reins and runs up the hill, past the Thieves. THIEF 1 One! THIEF 2 Year! SCAVENGER (O.S.) Hence! Gawain crests the hill and stops quickly. The Scavenger has disappeared. A STREAM runs out of the hillside, seemingly coming from the ground itself. It grows into a broad and fast-moving brook as it moves downhill. Gawain looks back but cannot see the Thieves. He mounts Gryngelot and begins to follow the stream.
4 Adapted from Lowery (33)
EXT. SPRING – NIGHT5 The stream leads him to a clearing, and a large SPRING, bubbling up out of the ground. He crouches down to take a drink. As he ladles the water into his mouth, he notices… …a HOUSE, reflected in the water. He looks up. On the opposite side of the spring. half-hidden in the mist, is an old MANOR. It is dark. No lights burning in the windows. It seems deserted.
5 This scene is taken directly from Lowery (35). I have used it here to indicate where my screenplay rejoins the original.
Rationale for this project:
In Alden Wood’s essay “Weaving a New Dialectics of Ecology,” Wood discusses how the poem of The Green Knight “troubles the dichotomy between ‘nature’ and ‘human’” (100). This argument is based off of contemporary ecological criticism, which holds that medieval literature draws a distinct line between humans and nature (Wood 100). Wood contends that the original text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight weaves the human and the natural world together in a way that changes both of them. The film represents this weaving together through liminal spaces such as the forest. This is most directly implied in this exchange between Gawain and the Scavenger:
GAWAIN Just tell me then... is there really a chapel? The Scavenger laughs and gestures to the trees, the stones, the creek itself. SCAVENGER ... You are in it! (Lowery 32-33)
This scene interrogates the line between the human and the natural by blending a human space, the chapel, with a natural space, the forest. In doing so, the Scavenger and his accomplices take on a supernatural identity. As viewers, we are led to wonder whether they come from the same world as the Green Knight. In my alternate scene, I wanted to explore how this exchange would have gone if Gawain showed kindness to the Scavenger. This would also reflect empathy on Gawain’s part towards the ravaged landscape, indicating that his character is changing. To emphasize this blending of identities, I implied that the Scavenger is a manifestation of the river, drawing Gawain out of the battlefield and into the forest. The river, taking the form of the Scavenger, leads Gawain across a threshold between the human and the natural.
When writing the two thieves, I drew on the kind of rapport that exists between the titular characters in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Most of the exchanges between these characters are self-referential and question the limits of the world around them. In much the same way, I wanted Thief 1 and Thief 2 to be aware of their world. This is most evident in their banter, which hints at their knowledge of Gawain’s quest. They emerge from and remain in the forest and are as much a part of this landscape as the trees around. Due to Gawain’s empathy, they guide him through this “green chapel,” rather than robbing him. On a thematic level, my scene is meant to represent a moment through which Gawain come closer to his “knightly” virtues, both on a human level and on a natural level. It advances the story in such a way that blends the natural and the human world, much like the original “weaving” that Wood reads in the poem.
Joanna Robinson’s Vanity Fair article highlights some of the key differences between the Original Sir Gawain poem and The Green Knight film. This raises an important question regarding modern adaptations of classic works: how much artistic freedom should a creator be allowed? In the case of this film, David Lowery made certain aesthetic and narrative choices that diverged from the original poem in an effort to highlight certain themes. The result of this is not only an interpretation of the poem, but another literary work that can be analyzed alongside it. My work presents an alternate interpretation that doesn’t radically change the story. By beginning and ending it with the original script, I mean to seamlessly integrate it into Lowery’s screenplay. It does, however, highlight some of the ecological concepts presented in Wood’s article. Working within the same framework as Lowery, I aim to see how I could change or adapt his commentary to highlight different themes and subtly change Gawain’s character. To write this piece, I synthesized information from several radically different sources. In doing so, I learned a great deal about how modern work informs and is informed by what comes before it. This back-and-forth commentary is constantly shifting and changing as academic and creative works assert themselves in the dialogue between old and new.
Works Cited
Lowery, David. The Green Knight, A24, 2018. Screenplay
Robinson, Joanna. “The Green Knight’s Ending, Explained.” Vanity Fair, Condé Nast,30 Jul. 2021, https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/07/green-knight-ending-explained-does-he-die-gawain-dev-patel. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Stoppard, Tom, director, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Cinecom Pictures, 1990.
Wood, Alden. “Weaving a New Dialectics of Ecology: Reading Sir Gawain and The Green Knight in the Anthropocene.” Interdisciplinary Humanities, vol. 32, no. 3, 2015, pp. 100-109. https://search-ebscohost-com.libproxy.plymouth.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=116582061&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=plymouth
Sprockets and Springes 