Comedy is a genre that can be very hit-or-miss. Many times, we see comedies that are bland, needlessly offensive, and often go forgotten fairly quickly. But every blue moon, the comedy gods deliver unto us a timeless gem. A film that transcends generations, cultures, and even galaxies.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Python (Monty) Pictures, 1975) probably won’t be transcending any galaxies any time soon, but it certainly checks all of the other boxes.
This amazing classic from the geniuses in the Monty Python team follows King Arthur and his group of honorable knights of the Round Table: Sir Bedevere, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Gallahad the Pure, and Sir Robin, the Not-quite-so-brave-as-sir-Lancelot, who had nearly fought the Dragon of Angnor, who had nearly stood up to the vicious Chicken of Bristol, and who had personally wet himself at the Battle of Badon Hill. And of course, who could forget the aptly named Sir Not-appearing-in-this-film. King Arthur and his band of honorable knights journey together on a mission from God to find the legendary Holy Grail. Along the way, Arthur and his knights must fend off horrible threats, like the Killer Rabbit, the Knights Who Say “Ni,” and of course, the terrible Frenchmen, who taunt them throughout their perilous journey.
Okay, back to reality. This film is a constant onslaught of comedy, quotable moments, and absolute absurdity. Within the first minute of the film, we’re greeted with a form of deceptive comedy, which tries to convince the viewer they’ve left their closed captions enabled-- but in a foreign language. Quickly thereafter, however, the fake captions begin to break down into a story about a moose, before the film announces “We apologize for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible have been sacked.” It doesn’t end there, however. As the opening credits continue, the subtitles-- and even the credits themselves --break down even further, eventually resulting in the remainder of the credits needing to be completely redone “at great expense and at the last minute.” At this point, I highly recommend that viewers sensitive to flashing lights look away for a bit, as the remaining credits are accompanied by a red and yellow flashing background.
The humor at the beginning of the film is just a taste of what the film has in store for the next hour and a half. What makes this humor so unique, however, is just how timeless it is. You need not understand anything that was happening in England in the 1970s to understand the comedy of this film, nor do you particularly need any knowledge at all of the middle ages. This is a movie that everyone in the family can enjoy, without any historical context. Er, well, most in the family, as the film does contain some fairly vulgar sections, particularly when following Gallahan.
The film also has quite a few [mostly] accurate references to medieval times, such as the loyalty and honor associated with knighthood, King Arthur’s reverence to God, and a handful of references to plagues and unfair witch hunting. The film also includes many examples of fairly historically accurate armor and weaponry, and even paints a fairly accurate picture of life within castle walls. There are, of course, quite a few absurd themes and images the film presents. For example, the “horses” have been replaced by coconuts, and the Frenchmen are throwing cows over the castle walls to fend off the English. The authors were, however, careful to make these absurdities stand out enough where anyone could reasonably separate the real history from the jokes.
If you haven’t seen
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you absolutely need to watch it some time. I highly recommend gathering some friends and setting aside 2 hours to make it through this movie-- potentially longer. If you don’t pause to laugh at a joke, you’ll miss the next one. Monty Python and Holy Grail is available to rent from iTunes and Amazon Prime, available to buy from YouTube and Google Play, and is available to watch for Netflix and Philo subscribers.
