Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Verdict:  8/10

God:               What are you doing now? 

King Arthur:   Averting our eyes, oh Lord. 

God:         Well, don't. It's just like those miserable psalms, always so depressing. Now knock it off!

Monty Python is a very famous British comedy group which started in the early seventies. The group comprises of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. The Monty Python has a cult following worldwide. Infact the goup was so famous that the word Pythonesque (see the dictionary) was coined after the group. They were also responsible for the word spam. A dinosaur was named after the group's name. Each of the 6 members has an asteroid named after them. 

Setting the basic info & trivia aside, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has all the six members of the group playing the principal leads, infact every one of them performs multiple roles. The movie is directed by two of the group's members Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones.

The film is a well crafted, intelligent satire based on King Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail. The movie starts with King Arthur along with his squire recruiting the Knights of the Round Table in order to capture the castle of Camelot. The knights include Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. But after going there, they don't want to go inside the castle. All of a sudden, God (animated photo of W.G.Grace, legendary 19th century cricketer was used) appears & instructs them to fetch the Holy Grail. The group decides to divide & search the Grail. Their adventures form the rest of the story.

The movie is one of the most hilarious ones that I saw in the recent past. Don't fast forward the opening credits as the comedy starts from the titles itself. Along with the titles some stupid subtitles are displayed. Then comes a message "We apologise for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible have been sacked". But the faulty subtitles continues. Another message props up after a while saying "The directors of the firm hired to continue the credits after the other people had been sacked, wish it to be known that they have just been sacked".

Since the movie is a parody/satire & as with any spoof, some historical knowledge is required in order to fully appreciate the movie. There is a wonderful hilarious scene regarding witch burning & without knowing the notorious witch hunts of medieval Europe one can't fully appreciate that scene. Another comically genius setting has actually occured due to the budget constraints. Nobody rides a horse in the movie as they had no budget for horses. They only mimic riding the horse, with their assistants clapping coconut shells to make the sound of the foot of horse.

Another very funny scene involves a killer rabbit fighting the Knights & killing some of them. I had to mention the killer rabbit because this is only matched by a fighter cock which drives away a legion of rowdies in a classic comedy movie called as Palanati Brahmanaidu (Telugu language movie). Infact almost every scene of the Holy Grail is funny.

Most of the movie's fun is through the intelligent dialogue which was written by the group itself. The Pythons also did a commendable job with their performances. With each of them playing more than one character they did an excellent job. 

A special mention for the music must be made. The music & songs are very good. The songs which the followers of Sir Robin sing about him are very very comical. A sample of the song

Minstrel:   [singing] Brave Sir Robin ran away... 

Sir Robin: *No!* 

Minstrel:   [singing] bravely ran away away... 

Sir Robin: *I didn't!* 

Minstrel:   [singing] When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled. 

Sir Robin: *I never did!* 

Minstrel:   [singing] Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about, and valiantly, he chickened out.

My reviews of the other 2 Monty Python movies - Monty Python's Life of Brian and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.


Feel free to post your views & comments regarding the movie.