Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 British slapstick comedy film concerning the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin), and directed by Gilliam and Jones. It was conceived during the hiatus between the third and fourth series of their BBC television series Monty Python's Flying Circus.
In contrast to the group's first film, And Now for Something Completely Different, a compilation of sketches from the first two television series, Holy Grail draws on new material. It parodies the legend of King Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail. Idle used the film as the basis for the musical Spamalot 30 years later.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail grossed more than any British film exhibited in the US in 1975. The film received a 97% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In the US, the film was selected as the second best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time; in the UK, readers of Total Film magazine ranked the film the fifth greatest comedy film of all time, and a similar poll of Channel 4 viewers placed the film sixth (2000).
Video Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Plot
In 932 AD, King Arthur and his squire, Patsy, travel throughout Britain searching for men to join the Knights of the Round Table. In Arthur's travels, he recruits Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure, and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot, along with their squires and Robin's troubadours. Arthur leads the men to Camelot, but decide it is "a silly place" and set off elsewhere. As they turn away, God speaks to them and instruct Arthur to find the Holy Grail.
Arthur and his men search the land for clues to the Grail. They come to a castle occupied by French soldiers who claim to have the Grail but otherwise insult the Englishmen. Arthur and his men come up with a plan to sneak in using a Trojan Rabbit, but they completely mishandle its execution and are forced away. Arthur decides that the knights should go their separate ways to search for clues to the Grail's location. A modern-day historian being filmed for a documentary and describing the Arthurian legends is abruptly killed by a knight on horseback, triggering a police investigation.
Arthur and Bedevere attempt to satisfy the strange requests of the dreaded Knights Who Say Ni. Sir Robin avoids a fight with the Three-headed Giant by running away while the heads are arguing. Sir Galahad is led by a grail-shaped beacon to Castle Anthrax, populated by women, but to Galahad's chagrin, he is "rescued" by Lancelot. Sir Lancelot, after finding a note from Swamp Castle believed to be from a lady being forced to marry against her will, rushes the castle and kills nearly the entire wedding party within, only to discover that the note was sent by an effeminate prince.
Arthur and his knights regroup and are joined by other knights and followers. They meet Tim the Enchanter, who directs them to a cave where the location of the Grail is said to be written, but guarded by the deadly Rabbit of Caerbannog. After the Rabbit kills several of the knights, Arthur uses the Hand Grenade of Antioch to destroy the creature. Inside, they find the inscription from Joseph of Arimathea, directing them to the Castle of Aarrgh. They arrive at the Bridge of Death and must answer three questions from the bridge-keeper to pass. Lancelot answers first and correctly, and passes on. Sirs Robin and Galahad fail to answer correctly and are thrown over the bridge, while Arthur tricks the bridge-keeper, allowing him and Bedevere to pass.
When Arthur and Bedevere finish crossing, they cannot find Lancelot, unaware he was arrested by modern-day policemen investigating the historian's death. Arthur and Bedevere find the Castle of Aarrgh, but discover it is occupied by the French. They amass a large army of knights to assault the castle, when suddenly a large police force shows up, arrests Arthur and Bedevere for the historian's death, and shuts down the film's production.
Maps Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Cast
Production
Development
Fifteen months before BBC visited the set in December 1974, the Monty Python troupe assembled the first version of the screenplay. When half of the resulting material was set in the Middle Ages, and half was set in the present day, the group opted to focus on the Middle Ages, revolving on the legend of the Holy Grail. By the fourth or fifth version of their screenplay, the story was complete, and the cast joked the fact that the Grail was never retrieved would be "a big let-down ... a great anti-climax". Graham Chapman said a challenge was incorporating scenes that did not fit the Holy Grail motif.
Neither Terry Gilliam nor Terry Jones had directed a film before, and described it as a learning experience in which they would learn to make a film by making an entire full-length film. The cast humorously described the novice directing style as employing the level of mutual disrespect always found in Monty Python's work.
Filming
Monty Python and the Holy Grail was mostly shot on location in Scotland, particularly around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and the privately owned Castle Stalker. The many castles seen throughout the film were mainly either Doune Castle shot from different angles or hanging miniatures. There are several exceptions to this: the very first exterior shot of a castle at the beginning of the film is Kidwelly Castle in South Wales, and the single exterior shot of the Swamp Castle during "Tale of Sir Lancelot" is Bodiam Castle in East Sussex; all subsequent shots of the exterior and interior of those scenes were filmed at Doune Castle. Production designer Julian Doyle recounted that his crew constructed walls in the forest near Doune. Terry Jones later recalled the crew had selected more castles around Scotland for locations, but during the two weeks prior to principal photography, the Scottish Department of the Environment declined permission for use of the castles in its jurisdiction, for fear of damage.
At the start of "The Tale of Sir Robin", there is a slow camera zoom in on rocky scenery (that in the voice over is described as "the dark forest of Ewing"). This is actually a still photograph of the Gorge at Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria, Australia. Doyle stated in 2000 during an interview with Hotdog magazine that it was a still image filmed with candles underneath the frame (to give a heat haze). This was a low-cost method of achieving a convincing location effect.
On the DVD audio commentary, Cleese described challenges shooting and editing Castle Anthrax in "The Tale of Sir Galahad", with what he felt the most comedic take being unused because an anachronistic coat was visible in it. Castle Anthrax was also shot in one part of Doune, where costume designer Hazel Pethig advised against nudity, dressing the girls in shifts.
In the scene where the knights were combatting the Rabbit of Caerbannog, a real white rabbit was used, switched with puppets for its killings. It was covered with red liquid to simulate blood, though the rabbit's owner did not want the animal dirty and was kept unaware. The liquid was difficult to remove from the fur. He also stated that he thought that, had they been more experienced in filmmaking, the crew would have just purchased a rabbit instead. Otherwise, the rabbit himself was unharmed. Also, the rabbit-bite effects were done by special puppetry by both Gilliam and SFX technician John Horton.
As chronicled in The Life of Python, The First 20 Years of Monty Python, and The Pythons' Autobiography, it was revealed that Chapman was suffering from acrophobia, trembling, and bouts of forgetfulness during filming. These were the results of Chapman's long-standing alcohol addiction, and he decided from that moment on to remain "on an even keel" while the production continued. Nearly three years after Holy Grail, Chapman vowed to quit drinking altogether (which he successfully achieved in December 1977).
Originally the knight characters were going to ride real horses, but after it became clear that the film's small budget precluded real horses, the Pythons decided that their characters would mime horse-riding while their porters trotted behind them banging coconut shells together. The joke was derived from the old-fashioned sound effect used by radio shows to convey the sound of hooves clattering. This was later referred to in the German release of the film, which translated the title as Die Ritter der Kokosnuß ('The Knights of the Coconut').
The opening credits of the film feature pseudo-Swedish subtitles, which soon turn into an appeal to visit Sweden and see the country's moose. The subtitles are soon stopped, but moose references continue throughout the actual credits until the credits are stopped again and restarted in a different visual style and with references to llamas, animals often mentioned in Flying Circus. The subtitles were written by Michael Palin as a way to "entertain the 'captive' audience" at the beginning of the film.
Soundtrack
In addition to several songs written by Python regular Neil Innes, several pieces of music were licensed from De Wolfe Music Library. These include:
- "Ice Floe 9", composed by Pierre Arvay. Used during the beginning titles.
- "Countrywide", composed by Anthony Mawer. Used during the beginning titles after the first titlers are sacked.
- "Homeward Bound", composed by Jack Trombey. Used as King Arthur's heroic theme.
- "Crossed Swords", composed by Dudley Matthew. Played during King Arthur's battle with the Black Knight.
- "The Flying Messenger", composed by Oliver Armstrong. Played during Sir Lancelot's misguided storming of Swamp Castle.
- "The Promised Land", composed by Stanley Black. Used in the scene where Arthur approaches the castle on the island.
- "Starlet in the Starlight", composed by Kenneth Essex. Briefly used for Prince Herbert's attempt to express himself in song.
- "Love Theme", composed by Peter Knight. Also used briefly for Prince Herbert.
- "Revolt", composed by Eric Towren. Used as the army charges on Castle Aaargh.
Release
Monty Python and the Holy Grail had its theatrical debut in the United Kingdom in 3 April 1975, followed by a United States release on 27 April 1975. It was re-released on 14 October 2015 in the United Kingdom.
The film had its television premiere 25 February 1977 on the CBS Late Movie. Reportedly, the Pythons were displeased to discover a number of edits were done by the network to reduce use of profanity and the showing of blood. The troupe pulled back the rights and thereafter had it broadcast in the United States only on PBS and later other channels such as IFC, where it runs uncut.
Home media
In Region 1, The Criterion Collection released a laserdisc version of the film featuring audio commentary from directors Jones and Gilliam. In 2001, Columbia Tristar published a two-disc Special Edition DVD. Disc One included two commentary tracks featuring Idle, Palin, and Cleese in the first, and Jones and Gilliam in the second, and "Subtitles for People Who Don't Like the Film", consisting of lines taken from William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2. Disc Two includes Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Lego (also known as Lego Knights or It's Only a Model), a "brickfilm" version of the "Camelot Song" as sung by Lego minifigures. It was created by Spite Your Face Productions on commission from the Lego Group and Python Pictures. The project was conceived by the original film's respective Producer and Co-Director, John Goldstone and Terry Gilliam. Disc Two also includes two scenes from the film's Japanese dub, literally translated back into English through subtitles. "The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations", hosted by Palin and Jones, shows places in Scotland used for the setting titled as "England 932 A.D." (as well as the two Pythons purchasing a copy of their own script as a guide). Also included is a who's who page, advertising galleries and sing-alongs.
A limited-edition DVD release additionally included a copy of the screenplay, a limited-edition film cell/senitype, and limited-edition art cards; however, a few of the bonus features from the Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition were omitted. A 35th anniversary edition on Blu-ray was released in the US on 6 March 2012. Special features include "The Holy Book of Days," a second-screen experience that can be downloaded as an app on an iOS device and played with the Blu-ray to enhance its viewing; lost animation sequences with a new intro from animator Terry Gilliam; outtakes; and extended scenes with Python member and the movie's co-director Terry Jones.
Reaction and legacy
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Holy Grail the fifth greatest comedy film of all time. The next Python film, Life of Brian, was ranked first. A similar poll of Channel 4 viewers in 2005 placed Holy Grail in sixth (with Life of Brian again topping the list).
In 2005, the film spawned a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical smash hit knockoff, Spamalot. Written primarily by Idle, the show has more of an overarching plot and leaves out certain portions of the movie due to difficulties in rendering certain effects on stage. However, the same gags are there for the majority of the show.
In 2011, an ABC prime-time special, Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time, counted down the best films chosen by fans based on results of a poll conducted by ABC and People. Holy Grail was selected as the second best comedy after Airplane!.
In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film's producer, over royalties for the derivative work, Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. To help cover the cost of these royalties and fees, the group arranged and performed in a stage show, Monty Python Live (mostly), held at The O2 arena in London in July 2014.
See also
- List of films considered the best
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Larsen, Darl. A Book About the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail: All the References From African Swallows to Zoot. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. ISBN 9781442245532
- Li, Martin (2011). "Scotland on Film". Glasgow & the River Clyde. Hunter Publishing, Inc. ISBN 158843785X.
- McCall, Douglas (2013). Monty Python: A Chronology, 1969-2012 (2 ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9780786478118 - via Google Books.
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Book), Eyre Methuen, 1977, ISBN 0 413 38520 5. Contains screenplay, photographs, and other material.
- Palin, Michael (2006). Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
External links
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail on IMDb
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail at Rotten Tomatoes
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail at Metacritic
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Lego on IMDb
- 2012 interview with Carol Cleveland, covering Holy Grail and the TV series
- Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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