Moist Meter | The Green Knight

"You are constantly questioning what's real and what's not" Arthurian mythos in a nutshell.

Shoutout to Green Knight for being the first Strand Type Movie to hit the theaters. Nothing beats a walking simulator, a bad mushroom trip and the Hospital Scene from Evangelion.

I definitely think adding a spoiler section at the end of moist meters would make them even more sodden

This movie feels like a bunch of Skyrim side-quests

The way I interpreted why Gawain was so quick to accept The Green Knight's game was because he had no stories to tell King Arthur and he needed to seek the honor of a story and a quest to really feel like he's a legit knight.

FINALLY, a movie that both English Teachers and Film Teachers can love!

*SPOILERS*
Right before the green knight addresses the table, Arthur gives a glance to a man with runes under his eyes who gives him a slight shake of his head. I’d have to guess that the man was Merlin, letting Arthur know the knight is not someone to be toyed with.

My interpretation is that his mother and king Arthur worked together to summon the Green Knight and set him up as the next king. King Arthur has no heir and Gawain is next in line for the throne. Being the loser that he was King Arthur and Gawains mother used the Green Knight to create a legend for Gawain so that he would be followed by the other legends at the round table. Gawain is probably instructed to deal a fatal blow to the Green Knight so that when he returns from the quest alive instead of dead his legend is even greater. Gawain however doesnt seem to want to be king and most likely does this to please his mother and Arthur. Throughout the film it seems like Gawain has no real goal/motivation other that to be an "honorable knight", the meaning of which depends on the individual. Gawain sees this quest as his only way of achieving honor but throughout the journey he begins to question whether it will bring him true honor. You see this struggle especially when he loses his protection charm, which would keep him alive when the Green Knight beheads him. The ending scene where Gawain envisions his life where he flees (keeps the charm on) shows him becoming king but never being happy or achieving the "true honor" that he seeks. When he removes the charm Gawain rejects the life his mother and King Arthur decided for him and becomes a true knight, embracing death and the honor it brings him.
"Well done Sir Knight, now off with your head" is probably the only time Gawain was praised for something he did of his own volition without expecting anything in return.
Solid 8.5/10

It’s cool that he’s doing spoilers now, I found it annoying when he refers to a spoiler, but I have no idea exactly what he’s referring to.

I think that by honor you can't deny another knight's duel, I haven't seen the movie but from other knights stories I read it's dishonorable to refuse to fight since it's seen as cowardly.

Spoiler response to Charlies things he talked about: I can agree with what you said about his mother's motives not being explicitly stated however I think something I see everyone overseeing is that the game the Green Knight gives to the table is a test. He says that any blow that is given, whether it be a scratch or a slice, would be returned a year later. The table was apprehensive as they didn't know it was a trick. Garwain obviously through fault of not listening and wanting to appear as noble takes him up on a challenge he himself didn't understand and chops his head off. He basically kills himself through his own fault which is the entire point of the movie. Coming to terms with the decisions you've made which I think is actually smart.

Charlie: "I didn't know this was like a poem written like thousands of years ago before Jesus was even born."
[they literally celebrate Christmas in the story.]

The whole thing takes a shift when you realize it’s about accepting the consequences of your actions more than chasing bravery. Gawain multiple times throughout the movie shies away from the consequences of his actions; harmful AND helpful. His mother’s motivation for summoning the Knight was less to teach her son bravery and more to get him to understand his lacksidasical approach to a consequence free life was no way to live, especially as the nephew to King Arthur, the bravest and purest king of legend.

Green knight was summoned to pose an obstacle/prove that King Arthur’s knights were not honorable

The director himself said he made it to where the mother was behind it all because she basically wanted to see her son ascend to becoming a chivalrous man. He was basically a failure to launch kid and she wanted him to get a job.

The long shots don’t surprise me considering the guy who directed this directed A Ghost Story. There’s a 5 or 6 minute scene that just hangs on Rooney Mara eating a fucking pie in the floor. One shot. 6 minutes. No music. Pie.

That one shot at the beginning when the crown descends onto him and his head catches fire… that’s when I knew I was gonna love this shit

Gawain is kinda sad that all he is known for is being related to King Arthur so he takes up the challenge to make a name for himself as a knight more than anything. I think his mom wanted to put him to the test because she saw that he was always getting drunk and visiting the brothels

Honestly I loved the camera spinny bit Charlie was complaining about. Sometimes you just have to sit back and absorb a movie.

Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is rad.

She summoned the Green Knight to see if her son had what it takes to become a honourable and noble knight. She saw her son from the beginning of the film who would go to the brothel instead of church, when King Arthur asks him to tell a story he has none to tell. She saw her son was going down the opposite path of a true king and tested his heart, strength, and character to see if he could pull through and in the future become the knight the mom always wanted him to be.

if you were in the movie it would have been a 100%

In the poem we read in my High school class the green knight offered the challenge and no one excepted. Arthur who was ashamed of his knights, was going to take the challenge to redeem the honor of his men when Gawain stepped up instead

The green knight is supposed to represent the old religion's of wicca/druidism vs Christianity. The poem is about the balance of the old ways and the new and what it really means to be chivalrous. I know this because I had to write a a 24 page essay in this poem in college.

None of the experienced knights accepted the challenge. Gawain, eager to prove his worth, naively jumped at the opportunity.

Dev Patel has taken Charles’ heart to the shadow realm.

No one show Charlie 2001: A Space Odyssey. He’ll be reaaaal frustrated.

The movie itself doesn’t specify why the Green Knight was summoned, likely because in the original poem the reasoning was actually a joke. He was summoned because Morgan thought that the sight of the Green Knight picking up his own head would be so disgusting that Arthur’s wife would feint, hit her head, and die.

Charlie, you might have to ban the word jacksepticeye just like mutahar did, and any variation of the jacksepticeye name, because these garbage comments about his dad are getting out of hand.

The Green Knight didn't say that he wanted to be struck down, just that any knight that can land a blow no matter the size will have that same blow returned. Gawain made a mistake trying to be brave in front of King Arthur by chopping off the knight's head. His own bravado and need to be honorable potentially cost him his life.

I think Overly Sarcastic Production explained the Arthurian Literature best: "It's a bunch of tumblr authors collabing with each other and adding their own OCs."

The ending to the movie just felt so fucking satisfying, wow

The Huge Knight reviews the Green Knight. Most anticipated movie of the year, can't wait to watch!

I was just raging at game, hearing Charlie’s voice is now calming me. Thank you Charlie.

I loved the long shots!!! Such an immersive, beautiful movie to Gawk at. Each scene, vibrant and mysterious, really established the mood of reading an old classic poem.

You missed the part with the weird ass giants who scream for some reason, and when he jizzes on the enchanted belt, and when he kisses the hunter dude (forgot his name)

6:51 Fun Fact: In the original story, the Green Knight was summoned to go to Arthur's court and scare his wife to death.

I’m so hyped to see this film. The trailer slayed me

I love that as I was listening to Charlie air his grievances about the movie, it was *instantly* clear to me that he was just describing what an arthouse movie is. *For anyone else who watches Green Knight and is confused, don’t worry it’s supposed to be like that; and no, there’s no explanation as to why it’s like that.*

That 720° panning shot you described as being agonizing was actually one of my favourites in the film. Really makes you question the reality of what's happening which is very much in line with Arthurian mythos its based on, as others have pointed out. Glad you appericiated the film otherwise, as I have.

I really loved the cinematography and the sound design of the movie overall. Like even setting aside the plot, the camera shots and the music was so enjoyable for me. Also I liked how weird the story was, like it wasn't one plot it was like a string of little stories.

The sheer modesty in this video. Jesus just admitted that "The Green Knight" existed before him.

I find it funny he mentioned “honor” when the main actor played prince Zuko in the live action atla movie

I just went and watched it tonight and I loved it. My arms fell asleep as I was so captivated I didn’t move.
I read the book last week and I do highly recommend reading it first, I would have been largely lost if I hadn’t. The meaning I got from it is achieving honor through ego death. Everyone in the kingdom seems to know some corrupted version of his deed, because his concept of self is public. It changes and morphs in other peoples retellings (“every table in the kingdom”) as he seeks his own actualization outwardly, the very reason he naively jumped to the challenge. We just see a scared young man grappling with the idea of greatness and what it really means.
I was disappointed by the dialogue in the end, I was expecting him to say *the line* in the book that was so captivating but alas, he did not.
I’m not as well versed in the Arthurian tradition as I am in the Norse Sagas, but I am reading Erec & Enide and The Faerie Queen to understand better. If you love long ass movies full of old ass literary/artistic/mythological references that you’re just expected to understand, this is the one for you

I just saw this movie and i loved it. I love how open it is to interpretation and it just gives you a bunch of puzzle pieces that you have to put together yourself. Kinda like "I'm thinking of ending things"

Charlie: “This film gave me a headache.”
Also Charlie: “This film is fantastic.”

I’m even more excited to see this now. I’ve read a decent amount about the history and mythology that relates to Gawain’s story and the historical context of it, and I think that’s gonna make this even more interesting to watch. (Also it does explain some of the questions Charlie raises at the end)

As someone who doesn't particularly have time nor the current patience for a lot of feature length films in my day-to-day, I really love that you have opened up to the idea of some spoilers in reviews as it helps me to gain a more complete understanding of how particular reviewers enjoyed movies or the plots. Definitely will check this one out, sounds like a good experience.

A lot of the more vague messages in the movie tie in a lot with old traditions. It used to be, if someone challenged you, you accepted or permanently faced the shame of refusing an honest challenge. Old times were weird lmao

The 360/720 shot is unironically amazing. Literally one of my top 3 scenes of the film. The technically best shot of the year, the musical score is perfect, and it escalates the ambiguity and moral conflict of the film.
10/10 would spin again.

For me, the point of that scene that spins slowly before coming upon a skeleton is actually genius to me. Its to show the passage of time and Gawain is thinking about what would happen if he were to just stay there. And hes envisioning himself rotting in the same place until he is a skeleton set to die there. Thats why he suddenly takes action.
I think one of the primary strengths is that it does not feel the need to explain itself. Some will get it, most will not

Charlie’s videos help me get through the quarantine. Thanks bro

This was one of the most surreal movies I've ever seen.

David lowerys long shots are great. The slow burn really makes you feel the long hard journey he faces. Youd hate his famous pie scene in a ghost story.

I met Dev Patel in town while he was here filming this movie. Cool chap.

I'm a lot more forgiving of slower films that deliberately move at a meditative pace, so I'll probably like this

I think a lot of Charlie's gripes in the spoiler section of this video can be explained with the key focus of the film. Honor and dishonor.
Spoiler talk ahead:
No one turned down the Green Knight's challenge because he had the audacity to storm into King Arthur's court on Christmas day and challenge the King's knights to a challenge. This is like running into someone's house today and slapping the head of their family while they're serving dinner. You just don't do that. So to regain honor in the situation, Gawain jumps in to spare King Arthur from being the one who has to reclaim the honor. I believe this is a little more clear in the actual written story. The whole story itself is about honesty and keeping your word, otherwise it wouldn't be such a big deal that Gawain is traveling to certain death waiting for him at the Green Chapel. NOTHING was stopping him from turning around and running away at any point in his journey besides his own need for honor. Which is why I think the story itself is so powerful and I'm really glad it got made into a movie. Though I do agree some stuff is left a bit more ambiguous, I think if you read the story, you can draw the parallels a little easier.

Not a single sword fight and it is the coolest thing I've seen in years

having knowledge of the poem helps A LOT when watching this, it fills in many of the thing that ppl might see as plot holes. it has a unique twist with the source material but still.

Glad you acknowledged the filming and how it was set up like a riddle, or how I saw it: as a poem. The confusion is real, but I feel it matches up to how the original poem reads even if they did change it a little bit.

FOR CHARLIE.
Alright, so I just saw the movie and I really loved it. Completely not what I was expecting but in the best way possible. Here's what I took away from this review …
***SPOILERS***
- Regarding the two "360" shots; these were to allow the audience to get a sense that the environment was changing around Gawain as he laid bound and gagged. He fell unconscious, the first 360 being his vision of what was to come if he didn't wake up/ fulfill his quest. The second "360" to establish that he was, in-fact, still alive and willing to fight. Each shot being "three minutes" each is a bit of an exaggeration. They were a lot faster than this review let-on.
- Regarding Gawain's mother's intentions; this was a lot more obvious than Charlie's review made it seem. Throughout the beginning of the movie, Morgana (King Arthur's sister/ Gawain's mother) makes comments regarding his character. In a scene where King Arthur asks Gawain to sit by his side, many comments were made regarding who Gawain is, the tales he has of his life (or lack thereof) and the chances he would have to be known, as the other knights were, as a legend. Gawain's mother summoned the Green Knight as a way to force Gawain out on his own and test her son's character and mettle. Having done nothing with his life up to that point, Morgana takes drastic steps to push Gawain into the world and make a name for himself. One thing to note, the letter that was given to the Green Knight was not the same letter that was given to the King. Morgana summoned the Green Knight with her intentions, and the Green Knight gave his proposition to King Arthur in-return.
- Regarding Green Knight's challenge; it was merely a game from the beginning. Should the knight accepting the challenge (Gawain) have a strong morale character to begin with, they would not have struck down the Green Knight as he laid down his arms. The challenge if you do strike him down is finding the courage to unflinchingly face your fear by find the courage you need to willing meet your end after seeking out the Green Knight at the chapel. This was PURELY a matter of personal honor and character.
- Regarding Gawain's "fame" in killing the Green Knight; this one was tricky, because it held closer to the poem than most of the movie did. For the year following his killing the Green Knight, the tale of Gawain becomes something of a local legend. You hear this when Gawain is addressed in a tavern when a man says that he "struck him down with his own axe." We know this to not be true. It's also not obvious, but the Green Knight is already an established legend in the area, but this isn't made clear in the movie. Later on, Gawain meets a man (The Lord) played by Joel Edgerton. This is Lord Bertilak, who in the poem is ACTUALLY the Green Knight. No one else except him outside of the area Gawain lives knows who he is or what he's done (made clear by an encounter with three bandits). While it isn't outright addressed, it could be that the only reason The Lord knows of Gawain's achievement is because he is the Green Knight. Otherwise, it could be assumed that because he is an avid hunter who travels all over, he could have heard the legend of Gawain in-passing.
I 100% agree with Charlie's take that there is a lot left to be interpreted from the film, and you really had to pay attention to the early portions of the movie to get the info you needed. The ending especially is left ambiguous on-purpose, because the poem HAS a definitive ending.
Just thought I'd make an attempt to clear some portions of the movie up as best I could. Would love to hear back on other people's theories.
That's about it. Later.

It was like a lsd trip that turned out better that you expected it to, I know some people didn't like the movie because it was slow and stuff but I actually really liked it and would recommend it if you like ambiguous open ended movies

Great review. You put my thoughts about the film into words :)

I forgot this was coming out!!! gotta go watch it before this review, the story is one of my favorites

I loved this movie so much. A great visual arthouse film.

Firstest charlie..
Also based on your description.... I'm gonna watch this movie... I wrote this before I heard how much he rates it

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in theaters in a long time

I think the montage at end was pretty fantastic. And the post credits scene was great - it gave enough to be a "happy ending" but was still ambiguous.

It's weird, because this is one of the first movies I've seen in a long time where knowing the original source material can give you helpful context, but can't be relied on as a means to filling in the narrative gaps because of how much has clearly been changed both in plot and in theme from the original tale. Knowing that the Knight spares Gawain in the original tale doesn't mean you can interpret that to mean that he spares him in the film, because the situation and the context are so different. The movie is very clever with how it parses out which parts to take, which parts to leave, which parts to change, and which parts to create out of thin air to tell a similar story with a very different meaning.

I loved the ancient medieval myth this story is based on. I’ll have to give this a look.

I just got out of this movie half an hour ago and had a lot of the same questions that you brought up. Glad I'm not the only one!

Wow this is really good to hear I was super excited to watch this movie and was really disheartened hearing a lot of people’s first reactions

I always thought that gawain's mother summoned the green knight for king Arthur, so that he's killed indirectly and her son could be king

Pretty sure charlie doesn't really read comments, but I'd like to say some things about his spoiler discussion and gripes, so spoilers ahead:
I really enjoyed the movie. Wasn't expecting such a psychological journey for a very flawed and vulnerable Gawain. The Gawain in the poem was already accomplished and known to be honorable, highly contrasting this film's Gawain. The journey was also never elaborated in detail in the poem. Almost everything Gawain goes thru in the film is original except maybe the lord's castle. In regards to Gawain's mom's motives, you're right, there isn't a lot of hard evidence, and the best speculation is that she wanted her son to become a legend like the knights he sees at the royal banquet, which is why the film first portrayed him as very frivolous. He's anything but a mature knight, but he is desperate for any chance to prove himself, which is why he recklessly accepted the green knight's challenge, not knowing what it would entail.
The reason why everybody came to know him during the year of downtime plays into the core message of this take on classic hero epics: gawain's match against the green knight was spread, and due to most people not ever seeing it happen, stories and legends are spun. People's imaginations run wild. It doesn't matter if the green knight was famous beforehand or not. By creating a scenario where a knight fights some sort of enemy, the people become captivated. The inconsistencies and disappearing people in his journey intentionally make you question whether it's real, Gawain is tripping, or the people's exaggerated stories are kind of bleeding into the narrative.
Whatever the case, Gawain was not ready for this journey at the start and didn't attain his sense of honor until the end. Legends speak of great heroes performing great deeds, but behind this hodgepodge of different canons and narratives, there's only men or women struggling in life. This is not the first time the director has done retellings of old tales like this, so the message is pretty clear.

I liked the turning , went wit the tempo, felt needed wit the calming Forrest sounds

Thank you for expressing my thoughts clearer

About the Green Knight being there, I think it’s important to know that many, many mythological stories don’t have logical beginnings. It’s something the movie could have expanded on, definitely, but most stories were passed on for the lessons at the end. So the movie kind of went for the archaic storytelling that hasn’t thought everything through, they were just preoccupied with what the audience at the time wanted to hear, which was the story of Gawain’s honor. I’d actually argue that the original story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was more informative about what was going on, what the motivations were, etc than the movie was, which is odd and kind of regressive in a storytelling sense. I think the movie did a good job telling a medieval mythological tale as medieval people would have experienced it (again, in a storytelling sense, obviously they didn’t have the medium of movies) but even the source material made more sense in this very specific case which makes it a very odd movie. I agree with most of what you said about the movie, but I think knowing the original story would make it lower than 80% moistness because of how much was missing. However, it was a powerful film, they did a lot of good, I still like the movie a lot. Just wanted to throw out an interesting topic of discussion in my opinion.

I thought Charlie might've hated this movie lol
But I agree with pretty much everything he had to say. Fantastic cinematography, gorgeous design, excellent acting. But the story is.... definitely something that feels centuries old

I read this in college and I was kinda shocked how much I liked it. Can't wait to watch this movie and your recommendation makes me even more hyped

I’m really pumped for this one, I hope it’s good

as a Indian actor who aspires to be in hollywood. salute to Dev Patel what a fucking performance.

My interpretation on the mother summoning the green knight is that she wanted her son to be great, but she also didn’t want him to be killed so she gave him the sash that prevented physical harm from coming to him. One of the points (I think) of the movie is that there is no greatness without any genuine risk (maybe no satisfying meaning in life either; think when the protagonist asks, “is this all there is?” To the green knight), maybe because by enduring risk to life and limb you also overcome some critical ‘thing’ within yourself. So tho the mother wanted greatness for her son, she also was part of the problem preventing him from that goal through reducing all risk to life and limb for her son.
Some more evidence supporting this is that this type of “holding back” of the son by the mother is a pretty common thing in mythologies and whatnot, and this movie is pretty heavy handed about wanting you to feel like you’re witnessing a myth taking place. At least, that’s how it felt to me

Happy to see a spoiler section just because it helps give a better idea on what issues you have with a movie or show

Ik this us out of left field, but i was watching his Soul Caliber videos and I realised charlie should make a Tier List of the best characters. This would be a video that would peak the jesus's interest in how amazing this video would be.

This movie is pretty damn amazing , felt like 2001 A Space Odyssey meets Lord Of The Rings

A friend of mine invited me to the movie and I knew absolutely nothing about it aside from it being a King Arthur tale. I absolutely loved this movie.

THANK YOU for not zooming in

I have really been wondering about the green night, I haven't heard of it till the previews and never looked into it but wondered if i should see it and this review definently makes me want to

Office Greg is the only thing that could've boosted this rating

He doesn't have to strike him down just land a blow against him he could've hit him or or anything its a critique of how knights saw honor in violence the knight says it will be repaid in equal measure Gawain choose where to be harmed and how it would happen

I wish more people reviewed this when it came out. It was a real treat for 2021

Sounds like something right up my alley
I'm a sucker for a24

Legends Never Die: An Oral History of ‘The Green Knight’ | Narrated by Ralph Ineson | A24 is a great video explaining everything you need to know before or after watching the film

It's such a breath of fresh air from fucking super hero movies. Appreciate real film making

It's out already? This is my favorite Arthurian tale. I have to see it.

8:10 I think the traveling puppet show scene was supposed to explain why everyone knew after

It's crazy how some people perceive time, I thought the long panning shot you're talking about was perfect and built up tension just right lol

Saw the movie thought it was alright id give it a 8/10, the mysterious aspects are what kept me in:GK, the talking fox, Giants, the spirit and magic

The opening shot is not that long at all and is intercut with the title cards, and also ends with a masterful transition.

Dude agreed.
I watched it once knowing nothing more the "the king Arthur " angle.
Was dumbfounded.
Researched the "poem " angle.
Watched it again, and truly enjoyed it.