Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a surreal British sketch-comedy show aired on BBC1 for four series starting in 1969 and ending in 1974. The show was written by and starred Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Several sketches were re-shot and produced as a feature film titled And Now for Something Completely Different, in 1971.
Buy Monty Python and the Holy GrailBetween the third and fourth series of the show, the Pythons wrote, filmed, and starred in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The film was co-directed by Gilliam and Jones who had never directed a feature before and learned through trial by fire. The movie is a truly independent feature in that it was financed by fans of the Pythons – bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, and record companies such as Island, Chrysalis, and Charisma Records.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is, at its heart, a series of bizarre sketches linked together by the theme of King Arthur (Graham Chapman) and his Knights of the Round Table on a quest to find the chalice from which Christ drank at the Last Supper, also known as the Holy Grail. If you have seen the movie before, it has a tendency to get stuck in your head and either you, or some of your friends, are quite likely capable of quoting from it with quite a bit of detail.
The movie is split into six main parts, all of them separated by animation sequences created by Terry Gilliam. The six parts begin with the opening credits and prologue, in which King Arthur roams the countryside and runs into the Black Knight (John Cleese – “merely a flesh wound”). The second part is the rounding up of the knights for the Round Table. There is Sir Bedevere (Terry Jones) who has interesting thoughts on how to spot a witch (“wood floats”). There is also Sir Robin the-Not-Quite-so-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot, and the obviously missing Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film.
The third part is in which the quest for the Holy Grail begins as a request from God himself appearing in the sky as one of Gilliam’s artistic pieces. The group are taunted by a collection of French soldiers (“Your mother was a hamster…”) and come up with an ill-fated plan for a Trojan Rabbit. In part four, the knights split up to cover more ground. Sir Galahad (Michael Palin) ends up at Castle Anthrax where all the women are between the ages of 16 to 19 and spend their time making exciting underwear (“Perhaps I could stay a little longer”).
In part five, unusual encounters keep jumping up in the face of the knights. They run into the bridge guard (Terry Gilliam) who will not let them pass until they have answered a bunch of silly trivia. There is also the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, a murderous beast (“Where? Behind that rabbit?) who must be dealt with by using the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Part six covers the final search for the Grail and cuts the movie short with an outlandish ending that fits perfectly with the rest of the zaniness.
There are several informative special features. Of special interest are interviews about how Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys) and Terry Jones (Monty Python’s Life of Brian) worked together to co-direct the film. Gilliam takes credit for the film’s Medieval look, especially all the dirt on everyone, while Jones was apparently great with comedic timing and getting strong performances from the actors. If you haven’t seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail for a while, you will probably be surprised at how much might have been forgotten or missed altogether. Even better, show The Holy Grail to somebody who has never seen it before and watch them delight in wonder and surprise.
Special Features:
- Thirty-minute Monty Python and the Holy Grail Q&A with Terry, Terry, Mike, John and Eric, hosted by John Oliver. Recorded live at the Beacon Theatre in New York City at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival
- Outtakes and extended scenes with introductions by Terry Gilliam
- Scintillating commentary by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones and even more revealing commentary by John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin
- Quest for the holy grail locations with Michael Palin and Terry Jones
- Lego Knights: The Knights of the Round Table with Lego
- Special Japanese version
- How to use your coconuts (an educational film)
- BBC film night on location
- Three songs to sing-along
- Photo gallery
