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The Daily Tar Heel
Diversions

Late Take: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"

Editor's Note: Late Take is a new semi-regular feature of the Dive blog reviewing the classic movies showing at Franklin Street's Varsity Theater.

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” reels in heavy laughs in its spoof of King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail by irreverently smashing the fourth wall, mocking social institutions, and ignoring logic altogether.

The 1975 film opens with Arthur (Graham Chapman) and his servant Patsy (Terry Gilliam) using coconuts to make the sound of horse hooves.

The movie’s continual dedication to silliness forces the audience to see knights and medieval adventure lampooned.

The movie thrives in its ability to directly address the audience and occasionally cut into real time. An early scene shows a modern historian discussing King Arthur as he is mortally stabbed by a man dressed as a knight.

This suspension of sense throughout the movie furthers its mockery of academia and lore.

The film also regularly pokes fun at the time period’s religious importance. It is overtly derisive of Christianity with a cartoon representation of God, monks beating themselves with wooden planks, and a holy grenade used to destroy an evil rabbit.

Chapman, Gilliam, and the rest of the Monty Python brigade succeed in conversing in a way that reflects the group’s strong comedic chemistry.

Sarcastic dialogue about the origin of swallows, the role of government in England, and feudalism seem like the actors bantering without a script.

While retaining a lighthearted tone, the movie captures the dark mood of the Arthurian legend through fog, horn-based music, and the British Isles’ landscape.

Nearly 35 years after its release, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is a reminder that in the film industry, history and life, mockery is a timeless tradition.

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