How are the Moose this year? (Monty Python and the Holy Grail (2 DVDs))

Member Name: SWSt

Product:	Monty Python and the Holy Grail (2 DVDs)
Date:	07/04/08 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inspired, broad-ranging comedy, quick-fire humour, laugh out loud funny

Disadvantages: Complete lack of structure, unfunny, rubbish ending, non-Python fans will find it puerile

Whenever people discuss the Python films, most put this into second place behind The Life of Brian. Personally, I think that's unfair - it deserves to be seen on the same level as (and at times ahead of) Brian.

Holy Grail is just an inspired film, which perfectly captures the lunacy of the Python team at their best. True, it might be little more than a loose collection of similarly themed sketches, but those sketches are so funny that you really don't care (or even notice) when you're watching it - you'll be laughing too much.

Holy Grail is too often dismissed as a "silly" film - and it's true, it is. But it's also a very funny one, and one which has lots of different types of humour. There's downright stupid (the Black Knight), fun with words (the "swallows" discussion), digs at religion and fairy tales (Lancelot's "daring" castle rescue) and, of course, the sheer stupidity of the Knights Who Say NI (where else, but a Python film could you find a terrifying bunch of knights who demand a shrubbery?!) There's even a couple of musical spoofs, just to really mix things up. Basically, whatever your preferred style of humour, the chances are that Holy Grail will hit it at some point!

Purists may hate the film for playing fast and loose with the Arthurian legend - there's virtually nothing in there from the "accepted" myth story. That's just silly, though - like criticising Star Wars for not being an accurate portrayal of space travel. This film is about the humour and the spoof of the Arthurian legend. Anything that might get a laugh is shoved in. Right from the opening credits, you know you are in for a treat - the subtitles, with their animal fixation, let you know straight away that this is not going to be a sensible film (as if you would have expected one!) This does mean that the gags come thick and fast with no real structure to them. Whilst this gives a pleasing free-form flowing appeal, not all of them work - you'll sit there wondering how some of the jokes got past the quality control stage. Just like in the TV series though, the scattergun approach to humour means that even if you don't like one joke, there'll be another along in a minute which will make you laugh.

The cast is predominantly made up of the Python boys, who play multiple roles. Although the cast lack the acting versatility to properly bring off different characters, they do a good enough job providing each with a range of silly voices. They are all clearly having great fun, prancing around in daft costumes, and this sense of fun is infectious. You feel as if the whole film is one big joke between a bunch of mates - and that you've been allowed in on it.

Where the film fares less well is in the (very limited) female characters. The Python team were never terribly good writing for women, and that limitation shows up even more on the big screen. The proper women (as opposed to the Pythons dressing up as women) are basically divided into 2 sorts: hags or whores. Because of their limitations, whenever scenes feature a lot of women, they tend to be inferior to the rest of the film. In particular, the Castle Anthrax sequence drags terribly and probably should have been cut completely. Even the script's "knowing" acknowledgement that this is a weak scene can't help rescue it. It's probably the one mis-fire in the whole film.

So, what else is wrong? Well, those wanting a "proper" film with a "proper" script will be very disappointed. The plot is completely non-sensical and really is just there to hang a load of jokes off. If you don't get the humour, you won't enjoy the film. Put simply, if you thought the Monty Python TV show was "too silly", don't watch this, because it's more of the same, just on a bigger scale. Holy Grail will certainly not win any new fans for the team.

What little plot there is quickly runs out of the steam. One of the frequent criticisms of the Pythons was that whilst they were very funny, they didn't know how to write properly structured sketches. This is also true here. At times, the Pythons appear to struggle to bring the mass of jokes, spoofs and general lunacy under their control and the film appears to be running away from them and descending into a mess. They just about manage to hang onto it and bring some semblance of order to it, but it's a close run thing at times.

The messy structure is most clear in the endings - to both the individual scenes and the film itself. At times, they drag on for too long and it's very clear that the team don't have a clue how to end one scene in such a way as to move logically onto the next. Their answer? Cheat (think, the Animator's fatal heart attack). To some, this will be hilarious, and yet another example of the Pythons' two-fingered salute to film norms. To others, it will just be annoying.

More serious is the fact that, for all its hilarity, the film does start to lose steam towards the end. It's clear that the Pythons haven't really thought through how they are going to bring the glorious mess to a satisfactory conclusion. So they don't bother. They simply contrive a disappointing and curiously unsatisfying ending and the film abruptly stops. There aren't even any end credits, which, after the inspired stupidity of the opening ones is very disappointing. Something along the lines of the joke credits from the Naked Gun series would have ended the film well, but no. We just get a black screen. In truth, though, the film has run out of steam well before that. Certainly, once the reading from the Book of Armaments is complete, Holy Grail never quite hits the comedy heights again.

Despite some criticisms, though, Holy Grail remains a very funny film. Undoubtedly stupid, it's never going to win any new fans for the Python Team's anarchic style of comedy. For those who enjoyed the TV series, this is essentially more of the same with a bigger budget. A true comedy classic.

Basic Information
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1975
Directors: Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam
Running time: approx. 96 minutes
Certificate: 15

© Copyright SWSt 2008

Summary: Python's Cup brimmeth over