1975 British comedyRating: 16/20 (Dylan: 12/20--laughed a lot but he wanted more plot coherence and a better ending)
Plot: King Arthur is riding around (sans horse) with hopes of recruiting valiant knights to sit as part of his round table in Camelot. He finds Lancelot, Galahad, Robin, and some other knights of varying degrees of bravery. After deciding not to go to Camelot after all ("It's a silly place."), they are directed by a cartoon deity to find the holy grail. Along the way, they meet black knights, pyromaniac sorcerers, a castle of siren-esque castle of beautiful women, bridges of death, snooty Frenchmen, and fluffy killer beasts.
This holds up so well as screwball period comedy, dada goofballery, and nutty absurdism. There are classic scenes (and admittedly a few that fall flat on their faces) and classic lines, stuff that college kids like to quote to each other while playing Halo or doing the drugs or whatever it is college kids do these days. There's also some quality low-budget set pieces that foreshadow Gilliam's later work, and some quality acting with the Monty Python chameleons playing multiple roles very well. Removing the problems with this movie (Dylan's problems with plot development and an ending he really hated) would take away almost all the appeal, by the way. There was a time, by the way, when I wanted to slap people who liked this movie, but I've gotten over it.
This is what I look like when I laugh:
It is a shame that this movie was not even better. It starts out so well with a series of scenes that are great. I especially love the bit with the peasant telling Arthur that an aquatic tart throwing him a sword is no way to elect a government (paraphrasing). The first 20 minutes are brilliant. Too bad the next hour and a half is typical Python. A 15.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely gets more tedious as it goes. I'm not really a Python fan which doesn't help, I suppose. I think it's still good stuff though.
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