Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Year of Release:  1975
Directors:  Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
Screenplay:  Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
Starring:  Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
Running Time:  92 minutes
Genre:  Comedy

England, 963 AD:  King Arthur (Chapman) searches for the bravest and most noble knights to join him at his court at Camelot.  After eventually deciding not to go to Camelot after all because "it is a silly place", Arthur and his knights are visited by God who gives them the quest to find the Holy Grail.  On their way they will face rude French soldiers, the Knights who say "Ni", the almost certain temptations of Castle Anthrax and the world's most lethal fluffy bunny rabbit, to say nothing of the deadly Beast of Aaaargh!

This was the second film from British comedy troupe Monty Python, who rose to fame with the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1974).  Their first film, And Now for Something Completely Different (1971), was really a compendium of sketches from the TV series that were reshot on a slightly higher budget.  Holy Grail departs form the sketch format of the TV series by having an actual plot, albeit a very loose one.  The episodic nature of a quest narrative makes it perfect for a string of loosely connected sketches, it gives the Python team an opportunity to riff on and play around with anything they like as long as it is vaguely connected to the Middle-Ages.  This is a film where the gags start right at the opening credits, and keep coming thick and fast throughout.  Full of endlessly quotable lines that have kept schoolkids and office bores going for over forty years, this is one of the best comedies ever made.  It does have slow patches, and some jokes work better than others, but mostly it's an absolute treat.  The film is also visually strong, despite a minuscule budget, with an appropriately filthy Medieval look, and some impressive fight scenes, as well as terry Gilliam's distinctive surreal animations.

Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Michael Palin in Monty Python and the Holy Grail