Starring: Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, John Cleese
Directed by: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
Plot Summary: Arthur, King of the Britains, along with his squire Patsy, embark on a quest to find a group of knights to join him at the Round Table in Camelot. He is able to recruit Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot. On their journey, they are given a mission from God to find the Holy Grail. The knights split off and come across numerous obstacles while trying to find the Grail, including a three-headed giant, the Knights who say Ni, and the dreaded Rabbit of Caerbannog.
When it comes to how I review a movie, I like to keep it as spoiler-free as I can. That way, I can talk a lot about a movie, while still, hopefully, leaving my audience curious enough to check the movie out for themselves. With that said, I think comedies are the most difficult genre of films to review for me. I thought it would be difficult using many paragraphs to say how funny a movie is without spoiling the punchlines to numerous scenes and lines. So here I am, getting ready to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail, one of film's most celebrated comedies, and I find myself unsure about what I should focus on while watching it. There were numerous scenes and moments I could talk about, but I realized what I could talk about, without giving too much away, looking at the characters and seeing why the jokes work.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail follows the story of King Arthur, played by Graham Chapman. Arthur serves the purpose of being the straight man in this comedy. Every action and phrase Arthur has, Chapman tries to play him with seriousness and class, making his reactions to the ridiculousness of the situations and other characters around him all the more funny. While many of the film's actors play numerous roles throughout the film, Chapman mainly plays Arthur, with only a few other side characters. I think this was good for Chapman, as it allowed him to focus on one specific character, which makes sense since he is the main protagonist of the film and, logically, would be featured on screen the most.Probably the most famous member of the Monty Python comedy group is John Cleese, who plays Sir Lancelot in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like Chapman with Arthur, Cleese plays Lancelot with seriousness and as a brave character, but his bravery is over the top, as he ends up playing Lancelot as a knight who stabs first and asks questions later. What makes Lancelot's portrayal so funny to me is that he is a satire of how chivalrous the knights were, by making Lancelot TOO brave to be taken seriously. Cleese also is famous for playing a French knight who taunts Arthur and his knights, as well as playing the ruthless Black Knight, in some of the films most memorable and quotable scenes. Cleese is one of the best performers in the movie for his memorable characters and great comedic delivery, knowing how to have the audience's attention on his characters in every scene he's featured in.
Another one of the group's more beloved members is Eric Idle, who plays Sir Robin. Sir Robin is an ironic Knight of the Round Table who, instead of being brave and chivalrous, is actually cowardly and meek. One of the factors that make Sir Robin's scenes hilarious is his band
of minstrels, who not only sing his praises, but also sing of how
cowardly he is, which only further demonstrates the irony of this cowardly knight. Idle plays numerous side characters that I always found entertaining in their scenes, and I think it has to do with Idle himself. I find Idle's delivery to be quick witted and not over the top. There's a humor in his voice that is very distinct and I find it most hilarious when he's playing a ridiculous character like Sir Robin, and having other characters act off of his performances. So when looking at Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I had to ask "Why do the jokes work?" Throughout the film, I realized that it wasn't just the writing of the jokes, and it wasn't even the individual actors, but it is the comedic chemistry that the Monty Python group have with one another. Scenes in which all 6 actors, consisting of Chapman, Cleese, Idle, Michael Palin, and directors Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, are acting off of one another are the most effective because they are all very comfortable acting together. It would be like if I decided to make a comedy, I would film it with five of my closest friends because we would have the chemistry to perform comfortably with each other. You could tell the guys had a blast shooting the film, which translates on film through some of the wittiest dialogue and best comedic timing you could ask for in a comedy.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
This is one of my favorite comedies, as well as a movie with lines and scenes so memorable that I could recite most of them word for word. For one of the sharpest, wittiest, and most celebrated comedies of all time, I would highly recommend checking out Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review
Monty Python and the Holy Grail and movie images are copyrighted by EMI Films, Rainbow Releasing, and Cinema 5 Distributing
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