Monty Python and the Holy Grail
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The film Monty Python and the Holy Grail is (mostly) a parody of Arthurian legend produced in 1975 by Monty Python. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones shared directing credit with 40 specially trained Ecuadorian Mountain llamas, 6 Venezuelan Red Llamas, 148 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.
The DVD 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. In the opening scene of Dentist on the Job the projectionist (played by Terry Jones) suddenly realises it is the wrong film and puts the correct one on. (Dentist on the Job was a notably poor 1960 comedy starring Bob Monkhouse, perhaps chosen as an epitome of the comedy that Monty Python was providing an alternative to.) The credits for Holy Grail have (spurious) Swedish subtitles and many references to the moose.
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Warning: Plot details follow.
The story loosely follows the adventures of King Arthur (Graham Chapman) and his knights of the Round Table across England in their search for the Holy Grail. On the way, the brave knights and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-so-Brave (a complete bloody coward) (Eric Idle) encounter the Black Knight, the perils of Castle Anthrax, the Knights who say Ni (later known as the Knights who say "Ekky-ekky-ekky-ekky-z'Bang zoom-Boing z'nourrrwringmm"), a blood-thirsty rabbit (which they deal with using the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch), and a gigantic cartoon monster (they are saved when the animator, played by Gilliam, suffers a fatal heart attack.) There are other misadventures involving anarcho-syndicalist peasants, an alleged witch (Connie Booth), the King of Swamp Castle and his musical son, Herbert, an enchanter called "Tim", the Bridge of Death and Frenchmen (led by John Cleese) who revel in taunting the travellers, without much success (or, indeed, understanding).
At a number of key places in the film the question is raised, what is the 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 answer which King Arthur gives is: "African or European?" This is as much a running gag as a macguffin.
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.
The film ends abruptly when a group of police from the 1970s interrupt the climatic battle scene to arrest King Arthur. The Grail presumably is left in the hands of the Frenchmen in Castle Aaaargh.
Plot
Home Video Editions
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, and "Subtitles For People Who Don't Like the Film," consisting of lines taken from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II, specially selected to match the film's dialogue.