In the early 70s, five British comedians and one American illustrator created what, in my opinion, is the funniest TV show ever made, with “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. The group’s first foray into the cinematic world was a re-filming of their most beloved skits from the show. When it was time for them to create an entirely original story for their 2nd movie, they chose to do an extremely satirized retelling of the medieval legend of King Arthur. Choosing to make fun of what is probably Britain’s most beloved literary story was a perfect choice, as nobody could laugh at the English like the English themselves. The Pythons, however, went beyond even that, as the resultant film not only parodied its source material, but all cinema as well. The movie, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, attacks all that is cinema, from classic adventure movies to movie musicals and even the French New Wave. The result is over 90 minutes of non-stop laughter.
Since the Python’s had a very low budget, they could not afford to hire a large cast of actors, yet they were making a parody of an epic adventure story which would usually include a large cast of characters. For this reason, all six members portray countless different roles in the movie, some as many as nine different parts. Seeing the same actor as a different person and sometimes together with themselves adds to the way the film feels like a great indictment of the falsehood of adventure films in general. Another example of this self-parody resourcefulness was due to the fact that the teams’ low budget would not allow them to rent out any real horses. This was overcome by all the cast members pretending to be galloping with their feet and in the air while clicking together two coconuts made to imitate the sound of a galloping horse. Throughout the movie, this is how the characters move from one location to the next. It is so absurd that it continues to be funny throughout the film.
The story of King Arthur and his knights within this movie revolves around their involvement in a quest to retrieve the Holy Grail, which, for the sake of the movie, is a magical cup that has godly healing powers. They are sent on this quest by none other than God himself, who appears like a cut-out animated version of King Arthur floating in the sky. This ploy is just an excuse to run through their various scenes incorporating comedic skits and movie parodies interlaced with an abundance of social satire that continues non-stop from the beginning until the very end of the movie.
Chock-full of very funny scenes and skits, all of which make great fun of not only the King Aurthur legend, but medieval adventure films in general. For example, in an adventure film, usually when the hero and his team are riding anywhere, they are accompanied by expansive, heroic music. This is done with extreme exaggeration in the movie and the fact that the hero and his team are pretending to ride horses results in the music emphasizing the absurdness of the humor even more. There are so many legendary funny segments in this movie that I hardly remember ever stopping to catch my breath in between bouts of laughter the first time a saw it. Even now, after countless viewings, I find myself laughing out loud at various points in the film. Some highlights of this are, King Arthur’s duel with the Black knight, Sir Lancelot’s massacre of the wedding banquet, the battle against the monster bunny rabbit, the crossing of the bridge of death, the knights who say Ni! and many more. I will leave it up to those few who have yet to have seen the film to discover these hilarious gems for themselves.
The Monty Python group consists of Graham Chapman- (King Arthur, the hiccupping guard, and the middle head of the Three-Headed Giant, as well as the voice of God), John Cleese (Sir Lancelot the Brave, the Black Knight, French Taunter, Tim the Enchanter, and many other roles), Terry Gilliam (Patsy Arthur’s servant, the Soothsaying Bridge keeper, the Green Knight, Sir Bors, himself as the Weak-Hearted Animator, and other roles), Eric Idle (Sir Robin the-not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir-Lancelot, Lancelot’s squire Concorde, the collector of the dead, Roger the Shrubber, Brother Maynard, and many other roles), Terry Jones (Sir Bedevere the Wise, Prince Herbert, Dennis’ mother, the left head of the Three-Headed Giant, and other roles, and Michael Palin (Sir Galahad the Pure, Leader of the Knights Who Say Ni, Lord of Swamp Castle, Dennis, right head of the Three-Headed Giant, film’s narrator, and other roles). In each of their roles, the actors are clear as to who they are while clearly defining a different character. As for ensemble acting, this movie has one of the greatest comedic ensemble casts found anywhere. Their comedic acting talents are what define the Monty Python group.
Terry Gillam and Terry Jones co-directed the movie as well. While Jones would later direct my favorite Monty Python film (The Life of Brian) on his own, it is Gilliam who would develop into one of cinema’s more imaginative and creative directors. As an animator, he knew how to create reality from nothing, allowing many of the repetitive landscapes to look different and authentic with some ingenious gender bending lighting. There are scenes that are given the look and feel of a Hammer gothic horror film, while others have historical tones to them. These creative set-ups are definitely due to the artistic sensibilities of Gilliam. There is also quite a bit of showy parodies to art films, such as the breaking of the 4th wall that would then blend in together with the storyline. You see, every once in a while, two characters will have a philosophical chat about the scientific possibilities of what is being depicted, or they will straight out state that a castle, for instance, is just an animated cut-out model (thanks to Gilliam, who drew all the Pythonist animation for the film). Characters will also suddenly reference a scene number when speaking about what is currently occurring.
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is a movie that will always continue to make me laugh. It is a timeless smart classic and one of the greatest comedies ever made. That is saying something considering that it is not even my favorite Monty Python movie.
1001 Movies before you die 