Tuesday 11 August 2015

I've Just Seen: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

http://lsc.mit.edu/schedule/2014.2q/poster-montypythonandtheholygrail.jpg
Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones

This is a film that must be watched with friends; or, at least, make sure they have seen it, so you can quote it to each other all day long. The quotes have become almost a secret language, baffling the ignorant when dropped into everyday conversation: why would you get better from being a newt?

There is a great temptation to simply put quotes in this review. In fact, it would be easier to just attach the screenplay. But even that would not demonstrate how funny this film is; the visual gags of the Trojan Bunny, or the onslaught of flying farm creatures need to be seen to be laughed at. (Bet you are already smiling at the phrase 'Trojan Bunny')

I first saw this when I was eleven or twelve, the ideal age to be introduced to the Python universe. Seeing them from this age means that as you grow up you understand more of the jokes, meaning the film gets funnier as you get older. There is not much more to say about this film but that it is one of the funniest, wackiest films you will ever see. Oh alright, let's end with some quoting: 
King Arthur: I am your king. 
Peasant Woman: Well, I didn't vote for you. 
King Arthur: You don't vote for kings. 
Peasant Woman: Well, how'd you become king, then? 
King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king.
Dennis the Peasant: Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

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