“What’s most striking is how unnecessarily gorgeous it is. Wreathed in Scottish mist, shot through with shafts of golden light and drenched in authentic medieval mud, there are moments where it feels like Tarkovsky with drag and farting. ”
Screened in tribute to Terry Jones (1942-2020) and Neil Innes (1944-2020)
Juxtaposing some excellently selected exterior locations with an unending stream of anachronistic one-liners, non-sequiturs, and slapstick set pieces, King Arthur (Graham Chapman) and his Knights of the Round Table (John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin ) set off in search of the Holy Grail (on foot, while their squires follow behind making clippety-cloppity sounds with coconut shells). The result is a film which, while not as sharply satirical or focused as The Life of Brian, is arguably funnier. And the songs (supplied by Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band) were good enough to spawn a hit West End Musical. Quite simply, Monty Python and The Holy Grail is one of the greatest big screen comedies of all time.
