By Colton Silva
On May 4th, 1975, the British comedy troupe Monty Python released its first ever feature film entitled: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Though, from today’s time, and even back in the 70’s, the film looks seemingly cheap, Holy Grail quickly became a cult classic and a heavily praised film following its release. With only a budget of $400,000, it is beyond impressive how much the cast and crew were able to accomplish.
Since the film turned 50 years old this May, the film was brought back to theaters for a limited time run. However, due to popular demand and sold out theaters, the film’s run has been extended in select theaters.
Personally, Holy Grail is my favorite film not only out of the 3 films the troupe has made (“Life of Brian” 1979 & “The Meaning of Life” 1983) but in general. With that being said, does Holy Grail still hold up to this day 50 years later? If so, what is it that makes this film still so iconic in pop culture when it was made for barely any profit? I’m here to give my take on the questions that surface the fandom.
Firstly, the film contains absolutely amazing stunts and effects. Building massive sets, such as ships, castles, bridges, towns, and a full on trojan rabbit to throw in the air and crush an actor with all for a 5 second bit is truly impressive. The film has dedicated moments to show off the scale of these large set pieces and landscapes that they utilize to their advantage to make things the more grander and funnier.
They went so big in scale with everything that they needed extra help funding everything. The team was donated money from big names of the time, such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and George Harrison. Even then, they went over budget, resulting in some cut scenes. For example, at the end of the film there was supposed to be a massive battle scene with armies of knights, but they ran out of money and couldn’t afford to film a battle.
So, they had to compromise by bringing in the police to arrest all the knights and stop the “camera crew” from filming. This was a big contrast from the ending of the film to the opening, having the opening credits super long but the ending having no real closure.
Secondly, the film is just funny beyond expression. The film doesn’t have a big plot they follow other than the basic story of King Arthur (played by Graham Chapman) setting off on a quest to form a group of knights called “The Knights of The Round Table” and to find the Holy Grail. However, the film focuses more on how to make people laugh and then work the plot around the characters and worlds they created.
This is a great example of a film making sure that the film doesn’t drag. Rather, people are just waiting to get to the next big joke and actually laughing every minute. The film has a bunch of random jokes, either from physical comedy or subtle jokes, which ensures everyone will see a form of humor for anyone to enjoy.
Overall, this film holds a special place in my heart, helping me get through a lot of tough times in my life by making me laugh and inspiring me to continue entertaining people through humor. Clearly, it has made an impact on not only me but on many people’s lives and the world of comedy and film.
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