If legends like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were willing to invest around £20,000 each into the production of a film, the said film must be worth viewing. Indeed was the case with me. I was immediately interested in watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail after both the fact stated prior and on my best friend’s insisting. Directed by multiple people (Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam) and crafted with a fairly low budget, Monty Python and the Holy Grail made me laugh hysterically. The classic, dry English humor was perfect for this 1975 satirical work of genius.
One of the primary reasons I believe The Holy Grail is a film worth watching stems from the fact that many of the scenes of the movie have made a lasting impact and are widely recognized references. For example, the iconic “Black Knight” scene, in which the famed knight engages in battle with Arthur and loses not one, not two, not even three, but all of his limbs, then brushes it off as “but a flesh wound.” Hilarity ensues.
Another scene, during which fellow villagers accuse a woman of being a witch, has lodged itself in my brain as one of the greatest scenes of the movie, poking fun at an ancient (yet ridiculous all the same) tradition of witch hunting. In the scene, a woman is placed “on trial” for being a witch while Arthur and his fellow knights curiously look on. “Well, how do you know she’s a witch?” an inspector asks the crowd, who immediately fires back, “Because she looks like one!” Real witch hunts that took place in Early modern Europe (the end of the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, so roughly during the 15th to 18th century) were about as accurate as the Monty Python scene, which is what makes the scene so funny and appealing to me.
Possibly one of the greatest comedies in history, Monthy Python and the Holy Grail has left its mark on the cinematic world, for sure. With side-splitting scenes that make fun of both the Arthurian legends and Early modern Europe, it is definitely a movie people should see before they kick the bucket. As it is one of my most favorite movies, I could not give it less than a 9. I would say the film review website Rotten Tomatoes agrees, as it got a 97% “Fresh” rating, along with the following review, which states, “A cult classic as gut-bustingly hilarious as it is blithely ridiculous, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has lost none of its exceedingly silly charm.”