Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

## **Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Review: An Unassailable, Coconut-Clapping 10/10 Masterpiece** To call *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* a mere "comedy" is a disservice akin to calling the Crown Jewels "some nice rocks." It is not just a film; it is a cultural atom bomb, a foundational pillar of absurdist humor, and quite simply one of the most perfectly constructed, relentlessly inventive, and side-splittingly funny films ever committed to celluloid. From its budget-starved opening to its cop-out ending, it is a flawless comedic symphony conducted by madmen. ### A Quest Unlike Any Other The "plot," such as it is, follows King Arthur (Graham Chapman) on his divine quest for the Holy Grail. But the narrative is merely a clothesline on which the Pythons hang a dazzling, anarchic parade of some of the most brilliant sketches ever conceived. This is the film's first masterstroke: its structure allows for a relentless, non-stop delivery of gags, bits, and digressions that never overstay their welcome. You are whisked from a castle of insult-flinging Frenchmen to a cave guarded by a cartoon monster, from a wedding interrupted by anarcho-syndicalist peasants to the perilous Gorge of Eternal Peril. The pace is breathtaking, and the hit rate is a staggering 100%. ### The Machinery of Madness What makes *Holy Grail* a perfect 10 is not just the jokes, but the sheer brilliance in their execution and variety. * **The Absurdist Logic:** The film operates on a dreamlike internal logic that is impeccable. The use of coconuts for horse hooves because they couldn't afford real horses isn't just a cheap workaround; it becomes a running gag that the characters themselves question. The Rabbit of Caerbannog isn't just scary; it's established with the grim seriousness of a horror film villain, making its ultimate defeat by the Holy Hand Grenade all the more sublime. * **The Dialogue is Scripture:** The script is a thing of beauty, packed with lines that have seeped into the very lexicon of pop culture. From the Constitutional Peasant's treatise on anarcho-syndicalism to the French Taunter's immortal "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" every line is quotable gold. The Knights Who Say "Ni!" and their subsequent fear of "it" is a masterclass in escalating absurdity. * **Visual and Auditory Genius:** The low-budget charm is part of the magic. The handheld, documentary-style camera work during the "Run Away!" sequences, the deliberately shoddy animation by Terry Gilliam, and the sudden, anachronistic appearance of a police constable—all of these choices are not limitations, but active ingredients in the comedic stew. ### A Cast of Thousands (Played by Six) The entire Python troupe is at the peak of its powers, each member seamlessly flipping between a dozen roles. Graham Chapman is the perfect straight-man anchor as Arthur, around whom the chaos orbits. John Cleese delivers brute-force fury as the Black Knight and the French Taunter. Terry Jones brings wide-eyed innocence, Michael Palin weaselly charm, and Eric Idle provides the musical interludes (with the glorious "Brave Sir Robin") and sardonic wit. And Terry Gilliam’s visual flair as co-director gives the film its uniquely grubby, medieval texture. ### The Verdict: A Comedic Holy Grail **10 out of 10 - Not a Single Frame Wasted** *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* is more than a movie; it is a rite of passage. It is a film that rewards endless rewatches, each viewing revealing a new layer of genius in a throwaway line or a background sight gag. It is intellectually sharp yet childishly silly, historically set yet timeless in its humour. It is the benchmark against which all other comedies are measured, and decades later, it remains undefeated. It is a film that teaches us the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow, the proper way to repress a witch, and that sometimes, when faced with insurmountable odds, the most sensible course of action is to call for a holy hand grenade... and then be abruptly arrested. A true, unassailable masterpiece.

Fortunately for me this was a rather short visit to the surreal land of Monty Python, and though it does have it's moments, I was really quite unimpressed by their Arthurian antics. We start with Graham Chapman's King Arthur gadding about England tying to recruit some suitably worthy individuals to sit at his round table. Task complete, he gets a sign from God that they must undertake the most holy of quests - and find the Cup of Christ. It now falls to the other three - Cleese, Idle and Gilliam - to dress up in suits of armour and seek the grail amongst the innuendo-ridden kingdom. Along the way they encounter the Black Knight, a castle full of sex-starved maidens, some monks - indeed just about everyone you might expect from mediaeval society before a really annoying denouement with the "Knights of Ni" - all they want is a little garden, or two... All but fifty years on, it's probably not really fair to look at this with 2024 eyes, but this was my first time of seeing it and I was really left thinking - why didn't the police get involved earlier? It's not that the jokes don't work, well not all of them, anyway - it's that they so labour the punchline. It's as if someone took a thirty minute sketch show and decided to pad it out for an extra hour. Less could certainly have been more. There are a few fun cameos - Carol Cleveland's "Zoot" and Connie Booth's witch stand out, but otherwise I felt a bit like I was the victim of some very dated hype. I didn't hate it, but really - what was all the fuss about?

Seriously, you could die laughing from this film. I remember the first time I watched this film, back in antenna days on the educational UHF station that was all fuzz, and even then I thought I would die laughing. The story of King Arthur always did beg for such a satire. The bits are almost all memorable. I durst not mention even one, because I would be tempted to mention a hundred more scenes and a thousand more lines. This is very slapstick. I never thought I would laugh at cruelty, but when it is obviously so overdone that it can't be taken seriously, like a man having his arms and legs cut off and still thinking he's invincible, especially when the delivery is so perfect, I can't stop laughing. There are some people who don't like this film, but those people are wipers of other people's bottoms.

**One of the pinnacles of British humor.** This was my first contact with Monty Python, which I already knew famously, and I loved the movie. It is quite simply one of the high points of British humor. The film is easy enough to understand, parodying the Arthurian legends surrounding the quest for the Grail, but the story is just a pretext for successive jokes, each one better than the last. I don't know the group of comedians very well, but I do know a number of great British comedy actors here, starting with John Clease, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Eric Idle. They are very good individually, but priceless together. The film has several moments worth mentioning, starting perhaps with the witch trial, and then moving on to the fight with the black knight or the knights who say Ni. It's not a very long film, but it's really worth seeing every comic situation. The dialogues are full of hilarious moments. The ending, however, is a little less strong than expected, which does not take away from the film any of its merit. Technically, it's not a remarkable film. There is no concern here with historical accuracy or rigorous recreation of the Middle Ages, nor does the film ask for it. We have stage costumes and props, obviously fake but functional, and interesting sets, in castles and in some reasonably well chosen places. There are some special effects and visuals, but they aren't notable. Be that as it may, it's a comedy that remains fresh despite the decades that have passed since its debut.