Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Encyclopedia : M : MO : MON : Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a comedy film from 1975. It was written, performed, and directed by Monty Python, an English comedy group, during a gap between the third and the final series of their popular BBC television series Monty Python's Flying Circus. The group's first film, And Now For Something Completely Different, had been a compilation of sketches from the television series; in contrast, Holy Grail was composed of wholly original material. It generally spoofs the legends of King Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail, and the film was a success on its initial run and retains a large-scale cult following today. It also ranks among IMDb's list of top 250 films of all time. The film was the inspiration for the 2005-Present Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot written by the Python Eric Idle.
This film is number 40 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies.
Overview
Monty Python was famous for parodying the conventions of television and motion picture formats, often including fake continuity announcements or using the opening and closing credits as part of the humour. As a continuation of this, the opening credits are subtitled in pseudo-Swedish (e.g. "Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?") and list as film contributors 'Ralph' the Wonder Llama, Red Llamas, 142 Mexican Whooping Llamas, 14 North Chilean Guanacos (closely related to the llama), Reg Llama of Brixton, and 76000 Battery Llamas from 'Llama Fresh Farms Ltd' near Paraguay". [link] According to the group's DVD commentary track, the credits followed this format because the film's budget had run out.The film was directed by series regular Terry Jones and the group's American animator, Terry Gilliam, who also drew the film's linking animations and opening credits. Along with their co-stars, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film. There were also prominent speaking parts for songwriter Neil Innes, John Cleese's then-wife Connie Booth, and Carol Cleveland, who had appeared several times in the group's television series. The experiment with co-direction on Holy Grail proved to be a one-off, as it led to creative friction, but both Jones and Gilliam went on to have successful careers as directors. Gilliam found that his training as an animator did not lend itself to directing human beings, although his graphic sense — which would come to prominence with later films such as Time Bandits and Brazil — has ensured that Holy Grail remains visually impressive, despite a budget of only about £200,000 ($300,000) (Source: DVD Commentary). This money was raised in part with donations from rock groups such as Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin (as a means of salvaging their earnings from the oppressive tax rates of the time).
The film was shot on location in Scotland, particularly around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and the privately-owned Castle Stalker. The Pythons decided on a joke where the characters would pretend to ride horses while their porters banged coconut shells together, an in-joke to how BBC radio shows were made at the time with the added benefit of being much cheaper than hiring horses and learning to ride them. The chain mail armour worn by the various knights was actually silver-painted wool (with a tendency to absorb moisture in the cold and wet conditions), whilst the many castles seen throughout the film were either Doune Castle shot from different angles or cardboard models held up against the horizon.
As an extension of the group's penchant for bizarre title credits, the 2001 DVD release of the film commences with the British Board of Film Censors' certification for Dentist on the Job, a film "Passed as more suitable for Exhibition to Adult Audiences", followed by its grainy black and white opening titles and several minutes of the film itself (approx. 1 minute 48 seconds). During the opening scene of Dentist on the Job, the projectionist (played by Terry Jones) realises it is the wrong film and puts the correct one on. (Dentist on the Job was a 1961 comedy starring Bob Monkhouse, perhaps chosen as an epitome of the comedy to which Monty Python had once provided an alternative. Also, Dentist on the Job's alternate title is Get On With It, a phrase that appears multiple times throughout Holy Grail.) The credits for Holy Grail have mock Swedish subtitles and many gratuitous references to "møøse", and the llamas mentioned above. The film has no ending credits, instead cutting to a black screen and some organ music. Due to the abrupt ending of the movie, the first few seconds of the opening credits are sometimes shown again when the film is played on televison.
The main theme of this movie, an all-out parody of the medieval beliefs and the code of chivalry, could be found in the Italian movie L'Armata Brancaleone (1966). Sir Lancelot's assault to the Swamp Castle resembles Brancaleone's attack on the monastery where a former love interest of his is a nun.
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Monty Python and the Holy Grail the 5th greatest comedy film of all time.
Plot
The Holy Grail has an episodic plot line, with a style based on the sketch comedy of Monty Python's television show. Most of the story is told in isolated sections, linked only by the ongoing theme of the quest for the Holy Grail and Terry Gilliam's animations.
The story begins with King Arthur (Graham Chapman) recruiting Knights of the Round Table throughout England. He is initially frustrated at his recruiting attempts several times (e.g., the battle with the Black Knight); eventually, he is joined by Sir Bedevere the Wise (Terry Jones), Sir Lancelot the Brave (John Cleese), Sir Galahad called both the Chaste and the Pure (Michael Palin), Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot (Eric Idle), and the aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film (the infant William Palin, son of Michael Palin).
Once assembled, the knights receive a quest from an animated version of God to find the Holy Grail. In their search, they encounter the perils of Castle Anthrax (Doune Castle), the Knights who say Ni (later known as the Knights Who Say "Ecky-ecky-ecky-f'tang-zoop-boing! Goodem-zoo-owli-zhiv", led by Palin), a killer rabbit (which they defeat by means of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch), the Cave of Caerbannog itself, and a gigantic cartoon monster, The Legendary Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh. (They are saved when animator Terry Gilliam suffers a fatal heart attack.) There are other misadventures involving anarcho-syndicalist peasants (played by Jones and Palin), Latin-chanting monks led by Neil Innes, an alleged witch (Connie Booth), the King of Swamp Castle (Palin and Doune Castle again) and his effeminate musical son, Herbert (Jones), a pyromaniacal enchanter called "Tim" (Cleese), the Bridge of Death (guarded by "the old man from Scene 24", Gilliam), and Frenchmen (led by John Cleese) who revel in taunting the travellers.
At a number of key places in the film the question is raised, What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? It is introduced in the opening scenes of the film, and remains an open question right up to the end. The only clear response is given by King Arthur, requesting clarification: "What do you mean, an African or European swallow?" References to swallows are ubiquitous in the film, and in one scene Sir Bedivere is seen holding a dove in one hand and a coconut in the other, tied together in an attempt to prove that swallows can carry coconuts. According to the internet movie database,[link] "The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles per hour, beating its wings 7-9 times per second rather than 43. And a 5 ounce bird cannot carry a one pound coconut."
Sir Robin's minstrels (their leader played by Neil Innes) sing of how brave he would hypothetically be in the face of horrific and graphically-described tortures, and then sing about how bravely he flees at the first sign of danger. Much to Sir Robin's relief, he and the other knights are later forced to eat the minstrels ("And there was much rejoicing").
The film ends abruptly when a group of police from the 1970s interrupt the climactic battle scene to arrest Sir Lancelot, Bedivere, and King Arthur for the murder of a "famous historian" (who looked very much like A.J.P. Taylor) earlier in the film. The Grail presumably is left in the hands of the Frenchmen in Castle Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh (Castle Stalker).
Movie soundtrack
The movie's official soundtrack (of the trailer of the movie) contained many comedic bits from the film, but lacked the movie's main hero theme. Since then, many mock versions of the theme have popped up all over the internet (including many MIDI versions).
Home video editions, locations
Among the many home-video releases of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the DVD "Special Edition" is most recommended for its exhaustive list of special features, including two commentary tracks, documentaries related to the film, the "Camelot Song" as sung by LEGO men ([Source]), and "Subtitles For People Who Don't Like the Film", consisting of lines taken from William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2. There are also two scenes synchronised in Japanese, where the knights search for a "holy sake cup" and where the Knights Who Say Ni request a bonsai. Most of the home video adaptations feature an extra scene where several characters are telling Carol Cleveland's character, Zoot, to "Get on with it!". Some of them include characters not seen yet at that point in the film, such as Tim the Enchanter, The Old Man from Scene 24 and the army at the end of the film (this scene was also shown in the Comedy Central broadcasts of the film). It also features a small featurette about proper use of a coconut.
The DVD "Special Edition" includes "The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations", hosted by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, which 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). Many scenes were filmed in or around Doune Castle, "Scene 24" and the blood-thirsty rabbit's "Cave of Caerbannog" were in sight of Loch Tay, near Killin, and "The Bridge of Death" was in Glen Coe. In the closing battle scene, shots facing "Castle Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh" were filmed at Castle Stalker but the shots looking the other way towards the huge army were filmed later somewhere near Stirling once they'd managed to get enough people.
Dedications
In the DVD commentary for the Lord of the Rings films, director Peter Jackson admitted crowd scenes with rural peasants were tricky to design, as they could easily remind viewers of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Also, in The Two Towers commentary, previsualization artist Christian Rivers makes a clever comment comparing Helm's Deep to Camelot, saying, "it's only a model."A number of works, such as video games, novels, and even anime pay homage to this movie, an indication of its huge following.
- Doom: The original 90's game allowed players to download "sound packs" to change all the audio clips in the game. One of the most popular packs was full of sound-bites from this movie.
- Shadow Warrior: In the third level of this late 90's parody- and sarcasm-laden first-person shooter game, there is a secret area set behind a waterfall. When the player enters, you see ahead what looks like a cave. As you approach the cave, you see a helmet reminiscent of the one worn by Bors in the movie. When you get closer, you see a small white rabbit and your character utters (in his faux-engrish speech): "That's no ordinary rabbit!" When the character crosses over a low ledge to enter the cave, the rabbit begins attacking and its eyes turn red.
- Battle Chess: The animation for Knight captures Knight is a recreation of Arthur's battle with the Black Knight.
- Conquests of Camelot: Typing "ham and jam and spam a lot" in the treasury will cause three knights to appear on the screen dancing the "Spamalot" theme. Then a text window appears mentioning that this Easter egg is dedicated to the memory of Chapman.
- Destroy All Humans: While you are in holobob, a guard asks you what your name and your quest are. He then asks one of many random questions. This is from the Bridge of Death scene.
- Quest for Glory: In the first game, a gargoyle will ask the user questions that are inspired from the Bridge of Death scene. The fourth features killer rabbits as a monster type. In Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire, when visiting the wizard Erasmus, you must bypass a cloud guardian which almost exactly parodies the scene from the movie.
- Asheron's Call: In this MMORPG, the White Rabbit is a fearsome beast that drops the Orb of the Bunny Booty. Its level is 666.
- Eternal Lands: In this MMORPG, the Fluffy White Rabbit is one of the highest level monsters. The motto of one of the guilds, Linux Warriors, is "We are the knights who say ls".
- Heroes of Might and Magic III: The game has a number of cheat codes, all of which are references to this movie. All coded are preceded with "NWC", developer New World Computing's initials, followed by the reference. For example, typing in nwcshrubbery (A reference to Arthur's encounter with the Knights who say "Ni") rewards the player with 100,000 gold and 100 of every resource. The code nwcalreadygotone rewards the player with a full Grail map, nwcsirrobin forfeits the game and nwccoconuts gives unlimited movement.
- Warcraft III: Many "annoyed messages" (which are spoken by the units when clicked several times on them) from the Human race are Monty Python references. For example, peasants sometimes utter "We found a witch, may we burn her?", "You're the king? Well, I didn't vote for you!" or "Help, help, I'm being repressed!" Knights sometimes say "I never say Ni!" and "My favourite colour is blue ... no, yellow!". Footmen are also found to utter "It's only a flesh wound!".
- Escape from Monkey Island: The line "Your mother was a hamster!" is used in a friendly bout of insult swordfighting. The comeback is "Your father smelt of elderberries!"
- Wizardry series: One of the early games has a monster called a "Vorpal Bunny". Vorpal means it can decapitate its opponent.
- Fallout 2: A Bridge of Death parody functions as closely to the original scene as the game engine allows (the player takes thousands of points of damage instead of flung into a pit). While the player can play the role 'straight' and simply walk past, players are encouraged to answer a question incorrectly. The robes the bridge-keeper wears are amusingly stronger than most armor in the game. Answering with a question will lead to the bridge-keeper dying horribly. Another parody exists, but doesn't usually function. In it, the player discovers a large group of knights wearing power armor who ask the player if he has found the Holy Hand Grenade. Had the joke existed fully, the player could (through a random encounter) find the Grenade for these Knights. However, perhaps it was just half-made. One of these random encounters will never show up. There is, however, a fan-made patch that allows the player to have the random encounter in which the Holy Hand Grenade (an extremely powerful, one-time-use item) can be found.
- Worms series: The Holy Hand Grenade is one of the most powerful hand-launched weapons, unleashing a huge explosion only after a Handel-esque "Hallelujah". It made its first appearance in Worms: The Directors Cut for the Amiga and has since appeared in almost every version of the game to date. In , when attacked, worms with the knight voice utter 'It's just a flesh wound!'.
- The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang: The frozen country Vampra features an enemy called "Python Bunny", which seems to be a harmless white fluffy bunny ... with a set of nasty, sharp, pointy teeth.
- MythBusters: In "Breakstep Bridge" after Adam is cut while making the bridge, he utters "It's only a flesh wound!"
- RuneScape: Pulling the lever in the party room causes a bunch of knights to dance on a table and sing a song similar to a scene in this movie. There is also a members only quest called "The Holy Grail".
- : At one point in the game, the character is given the choice of tracking down the Stillwater Giant, a monster with the ability to turn into a harmless looking blue bunny.
- Banjo-Tooie: "Old King Coal" is a boss that loses all of its limbs while still continuing its attack. Its attitude about losing limbs is similar to that of the Black Knight, with such quotes as "I've still got another one," when he loses an arm, show how hard headed he is.
- Dynasty Warriors 4 : Huang Zhong's True Musou quote is "I'm not dead yet !". Considering the normal condition to activate True Musou is to have a very small amount of health, it could be referencing to the dead body's quote "I'm not dead !" during the Dead Collector scene.
- Mortal Kombat 3: One of the fatalities for the character Kitana would have her transform into a small, seemingly harmless, white rabbit, that attacks the opponent in the same manner as the Killer Rabbit. Like wise in Shaolin Monks, 2 of Kung Lao's fatalites involved a white rabbit.
- : The game's protagonist, Nick Kang, quotes a number of lines from the film after the player completes certain tasks.
- Age of Empires III: When the "Home City Chatter" customization is enabled, a nobleman will remark that his wig "smells of elderberries", and a laborer will shout, "Help! I'm being oppressed!".
- Dredd vs Death: One of the lines used by the medical judge when consulted is, "It's only a flesh wound."
- Shining Force: When you search a bookshelf somewhere in the game, it will say that one of the books is entitled "Do witches really float?" Possibly as a reference to Sir Bedevere's theory that witches are made of wood and therefore, they float.
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail was also spoofed as a LEGO movie. This spoof was then itself spoofed with a version done in Macromedia Flash with the style of 8-bit Theatre.
- The card game Munchkin (by Steve Jackson Games) has a very weak monster called the 'perfectly ordinary bunny rabbit' (itself a reference to the webcomic Sluggy Freelance), which has a chance of actually being 'that rabbit from that movie' and a very strong monster.
- A game The Bard's Tale (2004) features a creature for summoning, a virtually harmless rat. After upgrading it, it gains the highest damage in the game. It is described as 'most bad-tempered rodent', as was the rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- The song and flash video The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny features the Black Knight, armless and legless, as one of the combatants.
- An online game called Legend of the Green Dragon contains a monster called the "Pair of Swallows," which attacks with "Coconuts." Following the swallows' defeat, the screen displays "I wonder if they were African or European," a reference to the Bridge of Death scene in the movie.
- The Flash movie The Demented Cartoon Movie features an opening credit sequence that bears some similarity to the opening credits of Holy Grail. Also, in several scenes, the music slows down and eventually stops, a gag also used in the "prince in the tower" scene in Holy Grail.
- In Fable (video game), when attacking guards they sometimes utter the phrase "It's only a flesh wound!" a reference to King Arthur's battle with the Black Knight.
- features a city largely destroyed by a plague. One of the survivors will shout "Bring out your dead" if you talk to him in disguise as a villager.
- One of the most popular Disney comic artist's, Don Rosa has paid homage to Monty Python And The Holy Grail two times in his stories. These little pieces of dialog can be found from following stories: The Billionaire of Dismal Downs (which is also a part of long story line, The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck) and A Little Something Special.
- In , an insane Argonian at the shrine to Sheograth comments on how she used to be a dog, but she got better.
- In Denis Leary's 1993 stand-up special No Cure for Cancer, Leary recalls an incident where his older brother and a friend shoot an arrow into his head and renacts his brother's reaction by shouting "Run away! Run away!"
- The Simpsons' episode Homer Goes to College pays homage to the famous The Knights who say Ni scéne.
See also
- Spamalot
- Knights of the Round Table
- Anarcho-syndicalism
- Castle Anthrax
- Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
- Black Knight
- Knights who say Ni
- Doune Castle
- Castle Stalker
- Sir Robin the Not-So Brave
- Tim the Enchanter
- List of films based on Arthurian legend
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.