Day 114: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Movie #74 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - 91 min, cert 15.

The Monty Python team reunited some years after wrapping up their Flying Circus to put together this homage to King Arthur and his Knight of the Round Table. Arthur (Graham Chapman) is charged by God to gather together a band of knights and go in search of the Holy Grail.

I’m a big fan of the Monty Python team and their particular brand of humour. I’m a little surprised to see it higher up the list than The Life of Brian, but then I suspect that the score for that film has been dragged down slightly by the religious extremists who see it as a heinous blasphemy, but more of that later, when I watch that film. Personally, I prefer The Holy Grail. I find a lot of the sketches more memorable, like the French taunter, and the constitutional peasants. I must confess, I used to listen to some of their LPs ad nauseam in my youth, and can still to this day recite many of their sketches verbatim.

Basically, if you like watching grown men doing very, very silly things in an extremely straight-faced way, then you will love this film. If you don’t, then you’re probably American and should give this film a wide berth.

Score – 10/10, obviously.

Next up is Robert De Niro’s classic turn in Raging Bull, which I’ve never seen. It’s another of those movies that I feel I probably should have.