Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Review #1448: Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Cast: 
Graham Chapman (King Arthur / Voice of God / Middle Head / Hiccoughing Guard), John Cleese (Second Swallow-Savvy Guard / The Black Knight / Peasant 3 / Sir Launcelot the Brave / Taunting French Guard / Tim the Enchanter), Eric Idle (Dead Collector / Peasant 1 / Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Launcelot / First Swamp Castle Guard / Concorde / Roger the Shrubber / Brother Maynard), Terry Gilliam (Patsy / Green Knight / Old Man from Scene 24 (Bridgekeeper) / Sir Bors / Animator / Gorilla Hand), Terry Jones (Dennis's Mother / Sir Bedevere / Left Head / Prince Herbert / Voice of Cartoon Scribe), Michael Palin (First Swallow-Savvy Guard / Dennis / Peasant 2 / Right Head / Sir Galahad the Pure / Narrator / King of Swamp Castle / Brother Maynard's Brother / Leader of The Knights Who Say NI!), Connie Booth (The Witch), Carol Cleveland (Zoot / Dingo), Neil Innes (First Monk / Singing Minstrel / Page Crushed by the Rabbit / Peasant #4), Bee Duffell (Old Crone), John Young (Dead Body / Historian Frank), and Rita Davies (Historian's Wife) Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones.

Review: 
"It was always a series of sketches linked together and we kept tightening and tightening it in the writing. It doesn't outstay its welcome and rather than wind down at the end it just stops abruptly."

"One of the things we tried to do with the show was to try and do something that was so unpredictable that it had no shape and you could never say what the kind of humor was. And I think that the fact that "Pythonesque" is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed."

What is there to say about Monty Python that hasn't been said before? I suppose it has developed into one of those lightning rod kind of things to hear about in comedy - once you've seen it, you're either attracted to it for life, but if you don't it'll stick in your head for a while anyway. Far be it from me to say anything different from the obvious: Monty Python is one of the most famous comedy groups of all time, The group, which performed for the first time in 1969 for their sketch comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC, which ran for five years and 45 episodes. The six members all aligned in the late 1960s from different ways, since Jones and Palin performed with the Oxford Revue, Chapman and Cleese met at the University of Cambridge (where they first wrote for the amateur theatre club Cambridge Footlights), while Cleese had met the animator/strip cartoonist Gilliam while performing on a Broadway show, which led to him animating sequences for Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967-69), which featured appearances from people such as Idle, Jones, and Palin (who all except Gilliam had collaborated on The Frost Report prior to this). This was the second Monty Python film, but it was the first with a plot, since And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) was comprised of re-created sketches seen from the first two series (seasons) of the television show that was meant to introduce the group to the US market. When it came time for filming, the budget was set at $400,000, which eventually attracted investors such as rock bands Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin to contribute 10% of the budget each.

As one expects, the film is written completely by the group, and Jones and Gilliam were tasked with directing (Jones would direct the two remaining Python features while Gilliam has gone on to direct further films for four decades), with casting being done by who wrote what scenario (for the most part). Adjusting to a low budget is nothing new, so having to do coconut shells to mimic horses galloping because one can't afford horses is a pretty amusing one (this also played into the climax). Understandably, it must've been a strange time filming a medieval film with chain mail and knitted wool armor in Scotland. Three decades after release, the film was adapted into a musical comedy in Spamalot (Idle co-wrote the music while contributing the book and lyrics), which proved a hit on Broadway in its initial run of 1,575 performances. Obviously the film has a tremendous legacy to it, and you can add this to the pile as well, since this is a fun experience to be had, a fascinating achievement for its six comedy stars/writers in its ridiculous nature and silly charm that make for a clear delight for 92 minutes. When the film grabs you, it doesn't let go, a testament to folks who know what works in timing and comedy while doing a whimsical King Arthur tale with sharp awareness for what makes a good tale with actors doing many parts for themselves. Chapman makes the best straight man to helm a film like this with deadpan finesse. The others prove just as funny, as one can expect from a film with so many quotable lines that are stated by folks that it only makes sense to note one highlight for each for a film with too many to say: Cleese and his well-timed retorts as a Black Knight to be dwindled away by Arthur near the beginning, Idle and his retorts with truthful minstrels, Gilliam and his animation talents and his one roar-inspiring quip about a shot of a castle, Jones and his creative ways of determining a witch involving wood, and the prolific Palin, up to the task of numerous characters with interesting quirks (one who says Ni! and wants a shrubbery) for effect. On the whole, if you didn't already know that this was a great film to check out, then go do so by all means, since it is a classic for its era that works itself for laughs across the pond (or in this case, medieval pond) regardless of how familiar one is with humor like this film possesses (which even led to its own word in the dictionary). Knowing the lines in advance doesn't hurt the best of comedies if one's head is (mostly) in the right place, and this proves no different in making for silly fun.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.