Monty Python and the Holy Grail

• Tickets

Movie Details

• Genre: Comedy
• Release Date: 1975-01-01 n/a
• Running Time: 89 min.
• Director: Terry Gilliam
• Cast: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones
• Producer: Mark Forstater, Michael White
• Writer: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
• Distributor: Almi Cinema 5
• Official Site: Monty Python and the Holy Grail Official Site

There's an old saw that claims that one can determine whether or not a man is gay by quoting the following line from What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?: "You wouldn't be able to do these awful things to me if I weren't still in this chair." If the addressee is gay, he will respond accordingly: "But you are, Blanche. You are in that chair!" This 1974 film, I think, functions in a similar way. For if you were to say to someone, "I fart in your general direction," and he or she were to reply, "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries," then you'd know with assurance that that person was a nerd in high school. Which makes sense, for Monty Python and the Holy Grail rewards one's geeky knowledge of medieval legends and cinematic conventions while brandishing an irreverent and absurdist attitude toward both. Plus, it's pee-in-your-pants funny, featuring the sort of silly accents to which the smart but socially awkward are drawn. Nerd-culture associations aside, much of today's hipster alt-comedy (see, for example, Mr. Show) owes a great debt to the Python troupe, and to this, their best film, in particular. And there was much rejoicing... (Derek Nystrom)