The Green Knight | Film Discussion and Comparisons to the Poem

Hey hi hello
Sorry I was gone so long, life is weird
This video contains SPOILERS so be warned
But please enjoy
Thanks for watching :) :) :)

[@somedew9317]

thanks so much this video is just what i needed to help with my homework

[@madisonm9129]

helped me prepare so much for my literature class exam, thank you for the well thought out ideas and covering concepts!

[@notesbyalex]

Did it… actually help? It’s been so long I honestly forget what I even said in this one!

[@andythedandy]

I think that your friend was spot on with the ending, and here’s why. If you go to see this movie with absolutely no knowledge of the original poem, or that it is about King Arthur, there are no hints in the film that tell you it is. I realized this when I noticed that they never say King Arthur by name, and even though he does hand Excalibur to Gawain to fight the green knight with (and he talks about the sword briefly with his lover) they also never mention it by name either. In my opinion, I think this was done so that the integrity of the poem could be held firm for those who know of it, while others who don’t know it get their whole own story in a weird way. This leads to the most brilliant aspect of the film, which is that in a sense, there are two endings. The first ending is if you watch the film with no knowledge of the poem. It cuts to black, and you assume that he dies. The other ending, is exactly what your friend observed; that if you do know the ending to the poem, you know that he lives and is taught his lesson about honesty and honor. The first ending most likely wouldn’t sit well with many people, and it shouldn’t. In my opinion it’s much more empty, as in, why is he being punished for being honorable? At least in classical western storytelling, it goes against all conventions. People are supposed to be rewarded for self sacrifice and adhering to virtuousness, especially as in Gawain’s case where it is clear he has had to overcome many personal shortcomings to arrive at and accept his lesson. I do like your comments however on religion and if that if that this all is there is, what does it mean to truly have virtues if you just die with them? In a way you only get the “real” ending as a reward for knowing the story of the poem. If you know how the poem ends, it’s a tongue in cheek agreement between you and the filmmaker, like an inside joke that they were able to make with only certain members of the audience. The movie exists as a love letter to the original poem as it also fleshes out the story by detailing the other lessons that Gawain had to learn on his way to accepting the ultimate lesson; what it takes to become a knight, not just in title but in character.

[@manzar42]

i know the poem a little bit, the film you describe sounds exactly like the sort of film i would watch, i am going to see if it is available online and watch it now, thanks!

[@fictionesque1992]

Good to see you're back! To fact check though, the original poem was from around 1400, not 1800. Looking at my copy rn :^) i wanna see this film sooo bad ty for talking about it

[@notesbyalex]

Yeah at like 2:20 I have some text pop up on screen calling myself out! I should probably research things before filming but this video was motivated by a very chaotic energy 😂

[@WellTraveledBooks]

I was just thinking of your videos the other day! I hope that you are keeping ok. 'Smoke season' is the worst new addition to the west coast :( I laughed pretty hard at your comment about the empty movie theatre haha.

[@notesbyalex]

Honestly I’m grateful because the fires aren’t super close to my city! It’s just affected the air quality drastically but no one here is on evacuation alert yet.

[@camposmurilloalejandra3838]

How good you are back!

[@notesbyalex]

Ahhh it’s so good to be back!!