Week 11 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Released: 3/14/1975*
• Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Connie Booth, Carol Cleveland
• Directors: Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones
• IMDB Page

Welcome to Week 11 of 52 Films, 52 Portraits: Election Day Edition! It’s not really Election-y in anyway, but since today is Election Day, I couldn’t let that go without being said. Plus, this week’s subject cares deeply about this Election, so I guess that it is a little appropriate.

Speaking of, this week’s film is brought to us by my good friend, Carrie. Carrie works in Washington, DC in education and workforce policy and programming. I met Carrie through my boyfriend, Joe, who was the Best Man in Carrie’s wedding last year.

Dan (Carrie’s husband), Carrie, myself and Joe dressed up in our finest Stranger Things Halloween costumes this year.

When I first approached Carrie to participate in the project, she didn’t hesitate for a second in naming Monty Python and the Holy Grail as her choice. Still, I was interested in getting a little more background.

Carrie told me that she would consider herself a film fan, although with the caveat that she is rather picky when it comes to the movies that she enjoys watching. She loves watching movies that draw the viewer in and take them on the emotional journey with the characters. She also said that she has found that she has become more sentimental in her viewing, and thinks that this could be due to the fact that she has now lived through enough experiences to have a better understanding of different characters and to be able to put herself in others’ shoes more completely. She said that her favorite kind of movie is one that can make her really think about what is going on under the surface, but that can make her laugh at the same time.

Growing up, Carrie was obsessed with The Little Mermaid and, to a lesser extent, the live-action Peter Pan starring Mary Martin. Her mother would create handmade costumes for her to wear as she watched the films, and she had three separate outfits to watch The Little Mermaid in, changing as Ariel, the lead character, changed. She would watch the movie over and over, making her wardrobe changes and belting out the song “Part of Your World” with Ariel. She also told me that she has always loved a good comedy, of pretty much any subgenre. She loves a good rom-com (such as When Harry Met Sally) as well as a silly comedy (ex. Spaceballs). She loves wordplay and well-executed farce, and feels that a good comedy can make the viewer walk away with more insight into relationships, life, politics, etc.

I asked Carrie whether there were certain directors, actors, or any other aspects of a film that generally drew her to a film, and she told me that there were a number of them. She told me that she loved Monty Python films in general, as well as Mel Brooks, whom she considers to be possibly the best writer alive in the comedy genre. In terms of acting, Carrie said she is drawn to performers including Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman and Anna Kendrick. It doesn’t hurt, she notes, that I have told her that one of my first impressions of her was that she looked like Anna Kendrick to me. She claims to not see it, but considers it a very nice compliment (as she should!).

When I asked Carrie what other options she would have considered besides Monty Python and the Holy Grail, she told me that there were a few others that she could think of. As I mentioned above, Carrie loves Mel Brooks, and Spaceballs is one of the screwball comedies that really holds up in her eyes. Another option was Love Actually, which, in her words, is a “Colin Firth and Alan Rickman two-for-one!” While on the subject of Firth, she also named the version of Sense and Sensibility as a favorite, citing viewing parties with her mother, accompanied by tea and fancy sandwiches with their crusts cut off. The Music Man is Carrie’s favorite musical (and she loves a good musical) and she told me that it is impossible for her to watch the film without humming the music for the rest of the day. Finally, Carrie named Casablanca. Carrie told me that her mother loves classic films and that she has rubbed off on her in that way. She hopes that one day she is able to watch Casablanca with her kids in the same way that her mother watched it with her.

In the end, however, Carrie went with Monty Python and the Holy Grail. She said that, in her opinion, it has every thing necessary to become a great classic. It has great writing and one-liners. It is silly enough for viewers who just want to sit back and enjoy the ride, but smart enough for viewers who want more substance in their comedy. She points out the scene where King Arthur and the peasant woman are discussing different systems of government as a scene that reflects our current election cycle rather remarkably. Her love for the film is only heightened by the fact that her family to this day will quote random lines of it to each other on a regular basis. She said that when she finds a friend who also loves the film, it instantly explains a lot about the nature of their friendship.

As Carrie and I finished our discussion, she had one last sentiment for anyone going into the film. She hopes that, if anything, this film can prove that quirky and smart is also cool.

I really enjoyed hearing Carrie’s thoughts on film in general, and especially on her pick. I have to admit that this was not one of the films that I was particularly looking forward to, if only because I remember watching some or all of it about ten to fifteen years ago and not finding it funny at all. I just did not get the hype for it in the slightest. However, hearing her take on it made me a little more optimistic, and by the time I was starting the film, I think that I had a mostly positive outlook on the film.

After watching it, I can honestly say that I am glad that Carrie picked it. I have been saying for years that I was not a Monty Python fan (except for Sara Ramirez on the cast recording of Spamalot) and it was all based on a viewing that I wasn’t fully committed to sometime around 8th grade. I enjoyed it so much more than I remembered. I’m still not sure that it is my favorite genre of comedy (although, to be honest, neither is Mel Brooks most of the time, so that could explain it), but I still was able to understand why others love it so much this time around. I definitely had multiple laugh out loud moments, starting right at the beginning with the guards talking to King Arthur and getting sidetracked with the swallow and coconut conversation. I really enjoyed the little moments like that in the film a lot. I’m also a sucker for a musical number, so the little song and dance moments were great.

I loved that they were so unapologetic about recycling the same actors in their troupe in all of the rolls instead of trying to find people outside of the group for each part. It made the film much more fun to try to figure out who was popping up in each scene as what character.

It was also nice to have a really silly and fun movie after some recent heavier movies for this project. It was great to just sit back and laugh along with the film, although I did agree with Carrie that there was plenty of deeper moments of commentary that you could dig into. I just took the opportunity to sit back and enjoy the laughs, so I may have to go back and watch it again to explore those aspects of it more.

It’s also great that a bunch of them have gone on to do other things that I’m more familiar with. This probably wouldn’t make Eric Idle very happy, but I can’t see him without thinking of Casper. And of course I know John Cleese from lots of stuff.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and it’s another movie that I’m glad was picked for this project, because I probably would have never given it another chance on my own. I may even have to check out more Monty Python projects after this.

Thanks for joining me again! Please comment and subscribe! I’d love to hear more thoughts on the various movies and film in general!

Next week: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

*There are many release dates for this film, so I picked the earliest date, which was the premiere in LA.