Film Review: Monty Python



Monty Python

and the Holy Grail

English IV Ms. Neville -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who is Monty Python?

Actually, it’s more of a what is question or a who are question. Monty Python was a comedy group formed in Britain in 1969; they are famous for their TV show Monty Python’s Flying Circus and approximately half a dozen movies they made during the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Many of the members (John Cleese, Terry Gillam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) may be familiar faces to you, because they have also had successful independent careers.

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What is the Holy Grail?

The Holy Grail is the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper and which was used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch Christ's blood as he hung on the cross. The Holy Grail was introduced into the King Arthur legends by Robert de Boron in his romance Joseph d'Arimathie, which was probably written at the very end of the twelfth century or the first decade of the thirteenth.

In earlier sources the word "grail" comes from the Latin gradale, which meant a dish brought to the table during various stages (Latin "gradus") or courses of a meal. So Chrétien de Troyes (who probably wrote SGGK) and other early writers intended this sort of platter by the term "grail." Chrétien speaks of "un graal," a grail or platter and thus not a unique holy grail.

In medieval romance, the Holy Grail was said to have been brought to Glastonbury in Britain by Joseph of Arimathea, though one would assume that to be an unlikely thing for him to have done. In the time of King Arthur the quest for the Holy Grail was the highest spiritual pursuit for a knight.

For more information about King Arthur and the grail, go to .

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Why are we watching this movie in English class?

After studying The Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, you should have a pretty good idea of what life was like for people in the Middle Ages. You at least know what sort of entertainment they enjoyed, what sort of jobs they did, and what literature they left behind. Now it’s time to enjoy a modern spoof of the time period.

Please read through the study guide before viewing the film portions each day. Doing so will help you to view each scene with a critical eye, noting how much knowledge of the Middle Ages went into making this otherwise ridiculous film.

Enjoy! Hopefully this will prove my theory that paying attention in English (and history) classes will help you get more laughs out of life.

THE FOLLOWING ONLINE REVIEW SUPPLIES MORE USEFUL INFORMATION:

One of the silliest (but also rather strangely accurate) films about the Middle Ages comes from the woefully irreverent British comedy troupe, Monty Python.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) is one of those films that you either love or hate and will be vociferously willing to discuss either way. As the title indicates, the film sends up Arthurian legends about the Holy Grail-but it has a lot of fun skewering the Middle Ages in the process. There are, for example, the hilariously surreal cartoon interludes, based on medieval marginalia (the originals were often exceedingly rude), that break up the various scenes. And then there is the abrupt ending, which reflects those frustratingly incomplete works where parts of the manuscript were lost-or the author died before completing it. Medieval authors had a very different concept of deadlines than modern writers.

Monty Python came by their obsession with history (especially Medieval History) honestly. Both Terry Jones and Michael Palin went to Oxford, where Jones got a degree in Modern History. Since the breakup of Monty Python, Jones has gone on to do two medieval themed series: Crusades (1995) and Medieval Lives (2004). In 2005, Eric Idle, with the blessing of the other surviving Monty Python members (Graham Chapman died of cancer in 1989) produced Spamalot, a Broadway show based on the film.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, like Terry Deary's Horrible Histories (this week's book review) sends up all sorts of otherwise sacrosanct medieval myths. There is, for example, the mob baying for a witch-burning (witch trials became common only toward the very end of the Middle Ages and witches were usually tried by courts, not killed by mobs). Then, there is the temptation of Sir Galahad by a castle full of sex-hungry nuns, which sends up all sorts of modern ideas about the sexual repression of medieval women. Medieval people-men and women--could be shockingly bawdy by modern standards and some medieval writers told nasty stories about both priests and nuns that make it clear they were not at all naïve about the difficulties of maintaining lifelong celibacy. Then, there are the politically aware peasants who refuse to bow down to Arthur and his knights as they pass by. While peasants weren't the budding socialists of the film, they were also not nearly as idiotically impressed by nobility as Sir Walter Scott portrayed them, either.

And who could possibly forget that immortal meditation (i.e. skit) upon darkness and solemnity of death: "Bring out your dead"?

This review © Paula Stiles Aug 6, 2006

Read more:

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Assignment:

DAY ONE

Things to Notice & Questions to Answer:

• Yes, the introduction is supposed to be absurd. If you find it “weird”, don’t be too quick to judge it as an old and outdated movie – just consider some of the ridiculous things people watch on TV in the 21st century. ALSO, this movie was produced in 1975 – back then, most movies still played the credits at the beginning of the movie rather than the end. This wacky beginning satirizes the fact that most people do not actually read the names of those who work on films, and therefore need to be entertained during the credits.

• Note that the date given as the setting (932 AD) was actually just before what we studied as the Middle Ages. Two probable reasons: (1) Because King Arthur actually lived BEFORE the Middle Ages, the filmmakers were trying to achieve a happy medium between the time Arthur (supposedly) lived; (2) Because historical periods are so vast, some historians are flexible with start/end dates.

• Note that he refers to his father, Uther, and being “defeater of the Saxons”.

• Note the landscape – it’s dark and misty.

• King Arthur’s first quest in this film is to gather knights for his round table. What are three major challenges he comes across on this quest? 1.) _____________ __________________________ 2.) __________________________________ __________ 3.) _________________________________________________

• “Bring out your dead!” This scene is an irreverently comical historical allusion to ___________________________. Note the decrepit and dismal setting the serfs live in.

• FEUDALISM: “He must be a king! He hasn’t got sh*t all over’im!” ( This quote, combined with the fact that it’s suddenly lush and green in the vicinity of each castle, shows the vast difference in the highest and lowest rungs of feudal society.

• Notice that the serfs (peasants) think King Arthur is nuts when he explains that he is king because the Lady of the Lake judged him worthy with the sword Excalibur… this is Monty Python making fun of British government in general. Note that they go through all sorts of possible descriptions, from “I thought we were socialists!” to “… a self-perpetuating autocracy” (which modern Britain is, in a way) and an “anarcho-syndicalist commune”. The serf apparently knows quite a lot about economic and governmental systems, even ones that hadn’t been developed yet.

• “Help! Help! I’m being repressed!” This applies modern views of feudalism to a scene depicting the Middle Ages.

• Notice that the knight dressed in GREEN fights with an AX (in addition to a sword and a mace). Allusion? Why yes, yes it is. To what? ________________

• Note also that there is a black knight. This is as common a motif in medieval romance as the dark, thick, mysterious woods (think back to the kids’ book version of the Wife of Bath’s Tale…).

• King Arthur displays a bit of chivalry with the dark knight – while fighting him, he says things such as “You are indeed brave, sir knight…”

• We finally see the Church represented when the monks appear. Why are they hitting themselves with boards, you ask? It has been common over history for monks to practice self-flagellation, which means physically disciplining themselves for sinful thoughts and/or deeds.

• The Latin phrase being chanted by the monks is "Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem". This translates to "Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest."

• The witch hunt scene shows (and exaggerates) both a lack of education and an excess of fear & suspicion. (And I could be wrong, but isn’t that a goose rather than a duck that they put in the scale with the alleged witch?)

• Note the French knight’s harassment and taunting of King Arthur. When King Arthur asks what he is doing in England, he’s sneakily pointing out to viewers that the Normans (who lived in what we now call France) didn’t invade until _________.

• The dancing at Camelot is influenced by the whirling Dervishes who hail from (among other places) present-day Turkey. This can be interpreted as a historical allusion to _____________________________________________.

***Some fun trivia (I’ll give you this after we watch, so as to not spoil certain parts of the film):

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Assignment:

DAY TWO

• After tolerating insults from the French knight (“I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”) and a barrage of livestock from the castle, King Arthur’s men decide to try to break into the castle with a giant wooden bunny. This is a historical allusion to the Trojan Horse… only in this case, it fails miserably.

• King Arthur then suggests they all split up to search for the Grail individually.

• Sir Robin travels through a forest with a group of minstrels; they encounter a three-headed giant.

• Galahad follows a glowing Grail in the sky to Castle Anthrax, where he encounters many beautiful young women who, for lack of a more tactful way to put it, demonstrate the opposite of the sexual repression we often associate with courtly love.

• Describe Sir Lancelot’s experience at Swamp Castle: _________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

• King Arthur and Sir Bedevere have a run-in with the dreaded “Knights who say Ni!”. What do these knights demand? ______________________________ How do Arthur and Bedevere defeat them? _____________________________________________

• None of them have fount the Grail, but they reunite for a long hard winter. Describe how they pass the time and manage to survive: _____________________________.

• The next interesting character they encounter on their quest is a pyromaniac enchanter named Tim. He takes them to a cave guarded by a __________________.

Review:

Thus far, what supernatural beings have King Arthur and his men encountered?

What are some acts of chivalry (or mockery of chivalry) you’ve observed?

Did you notice any more allusions or make any more connections to Middle Ages literature today?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Assignment:

DAY THREE

The Killer Rabbit attacks. After killing the vicious Rabbit of Caerbannog with the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, the knights face the Legendary Black Beast of Aaargh in an animated scene, ending because the animator suffered a "fatal heart attack," and cross the Bridge of Death that is guarded by "the old man from Scene 24". Arthur and Bedevere survive to arrive at Castle Aaargh, and face the French Taunter once more. The film ends abruptly when a group of police from the 1970s interrupt the climactic battle scene to arrest Bedevere and King Arthur for the murder of Frank, the "famous historian", who was cut down by a knight while he was narrating a scene from the film.

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