I don't want to say that the film is bad, but, I REALLY HAD A HARD time listening to BRITISH ENGLISH....IT IS A TORTURE...
In memory of my first movie seen in USA. Yeah!Here is the YOUTUBE piece of the movie,
hope you guys enjoy...:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eMkth8FWno
Thanks for Wikipedia for the introduction of the film!!!!
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
| Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones |
| Mark Forstater, Michael White |
| Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin. |
| Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin. |
| Terry Bedford |
| John Hackney |
| 20th Century Fox (UK, video), Columbia Pictures (USA), EMI (UK, 1975) |
| April 3, 1975 (UK) |
| 91 min. |
| English |
| £229,000 |
| And Now For Something Completely Different |
| Monty Python's Life of Brian |
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin), and directed by Gilliam and Jones. It was made during a gap between the third and fourth seasons of their popular BBC television series Monty Python's Flying Circus.
In contrast to the group's first film, And Now For Something Completely Different, which was a compilation of sketches from the television series, Holy Grail was their first film composed of wholly original material. It generally spoofs the legends of King Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail. The film was a success on its initial run and retains a large-scale cult following today. The film was the inspiration for the 2005 Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, written by Eric Idle.
Background
The group (including Cleese) reformed in 1974 to write and star in their first feature film of new material. The film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, was based around Arthurian Legend and directed by Jones and Gilliam, the latter also drawing the film's linking animations and opening credits. Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but it was Chapman who took the lead as King Arthur. Holy Grail was filmed on a budget of nearly £150,000; this money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin - and UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder/owner of the Charisma Records label for which the Pythons recorded).
The film was shot on location in Scotland, particularly around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and the privately owned Castle Stalker. Because of the small budget, the film had to make do without horses.That's why you c the actor jumping from the beginning till the end.... which is kind of interesting and daunting! This led to one of the film's most memorable running jokes, as every time the script calls for the knights to be majestically riding their steeds, they are actually play-riding along on foot while their squires behind them bang together coconut half-shells to imitate the sound of horses' hooves (a common radio sound effect now shown on screen for comic effect - though this joke had actually been seen previously in a 1956 episode of A Show Called Fred, produced by Richard Lester and starring Peter Sellers). The German name of the movie Die Ritter der Kokosnuss is actually based on this joke, as it literally translates as The Knights of the Coconut. The chain mail armour worn by the various knights was actually silver-painted wool, whilst the many castles seen throughout the film were either Doune Castle shot from different angles, or cardboard models held up against the horizon (this is used as a small joke, when Arthur and his knights arrive at Camelot, they all remark "Camelot!", then Patsy, Arthur's squire/steed, remarks "It's only a model." to which Arthur replies "Shh!").
The filming was apparently unpleasant. The weather was poor and the "chain mail" soaked up rain; the budget only allowed for low-quality hotels which could not provide sufficient hot water for the team to bathe every evening; Gilliam and Jones argued with each other and with the other Pythons; and the extent of Chapman's alcoholism became apparent when he began to suffer from delirium tremens during the filming. Terry Gilliam later said in an interview that "everything that could go wrong did go wrong".[citation needed] The Pythons recall that the filming of Holy Grail is the only time any of them can remember the usually amiable Palin losing his temper. This occurred when Jones and Gilliam insisted on repeatedly re-shooting a scene in which Palin played a character called "the mud eater". The scene was ultimately cut from the film.
The film proved a success and in 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Monty Python and the Holy Grail the 5th greatest comedy film of all time.
[edit] Plot
King Arthur is recruiting his Knights of the Round Table throughout England. He is frustrated at every turn by anarcho-syndicalist peasants, a Black Knight that refuses to give up despite losing both his arms and legs, and guards that are more concerned with the flight patterns of swallows than their lord and master. Finally he meets up with Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure (also called "the Chaste"), Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot, and the aptly named "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film", and declares them the Knights of the Round Table. They are given a quest by God to find the Holy Grail.
After they split up, Sir Robin encounters a Three-Headed Giant, Galahad runs across the perils of Castle Anthrax, Sir Lancelot massacres a wedding at Swamp Castle, and Arthur and Bedevere encounter the dreaded Knights who say Ni. They each overcome their individual perils and reunite to face a bleak and terrible winter. Surviving the winter by eating Sir Robin's minstrels, they venture further to a pyromaniac enchanter named "Tim", who takes them to a cave guarded by a killer rabbit.
After killing the vicious Rabbit of Caerbannog with the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, the knights face The Legendary Black Beast of Aaargh, and cross the Bridge of Death that is guarded by "the old man from Scene 24". Arthur and Bedevere survive to arrive at Castle Aaargh, and face the French Taunter once more. The film ends abruptly when a group of police from the 1970s interrupt the climactic battle scene to arrest Bedevere and King Arthur for the murder of the "famous historian".
[edit] Production
The film was shot on location in Scotland, particularly around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and the privately owned Castle Stalker. The many castles seen throughout the film were either Doune Castle shot from different angles or cardboard models held up against the horizon. (This was referenced in Patsy's famous line, the dismissive "It's only a model" in reference to Camelot — which it was.) The only exception to this is the very first exterior shot of the castle of the Swamp King, which is Bodiam Castle in East Sussex - all subsequent shots of its exterior and interior were filmed elsewhere. The chain mail armour worn by the various knights was also actually silver-painted wool (which tended to absorb moisture in the cold and wet conditions).
The film was co-directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, the first major project for both and the first project where any members of the Pythons were behind the camera. This proved to be troublesome on the set as Jones and Gilliam had different directing styles and it often wasn't clear who was in charge. The Pythons evidently preferred Jones, an acting member of the group, as opposed to Gilliam, who began as an animator. On the DVD audio commentary track Cleese expresses irritation at a scene set in Castle Anthrax where he says the focus was on technical aspects rather than comedy. The two later Python feature films, The Life of Brian and the Meaning of Life, both have Jones as the sole director.
The Pythons decided on a joke where the characters would pretend to ride horses while their porters banged coconut shells together, an in-joke as to how BBC radio shows and old-time radio in general had produced the sound effect of horses since the 1930s (a gag seen previously in the sole surviving episode of the 1956 program A Show Called Fred, produced by Richard Lester and starring Peter Sellers, and also used on The Goon Show in the form of "here comes a man riding on coconut shells"), with the added benefit of being much cheaper than hiring horses and learning to ride them. This was later referenced in the German release on 13 August 1976, which translated the title as "Die Ritter der Kokosnuß"[1] ("The Knights of the Coconut"), and in a successful attempt in Trafalgar Square at 7pm on St George's Day 2007 to break the world record for the largest coconut orchestra.[2]
The use of coconuts leads to an extended (and boring, to Arthur) discussion on how coconuts could have found their way to the British Isles. The possibility of swallows carrying them, absurd as it seems, reappears in a key moment late in the film and helps Arthur advance his quest.
As an extension of the group's penchant for bizarre title credits, the 2001 DVD release of the film commences with the British Board of Film Censors' certification for Dentist on the Job, a film "Passed as more suitable for Exhibition to Adult Audiences", followed by its grainy black and white opening titles and several minutes of the film itself (approximately 1 minute 48 seconds). During the opening scene of Dentist on the Job, the projectionist (played by Terry Jones) realises it is the wrong film and puts the correct one on. (Dentist on the Job was a 1961 comedy starring Bob Monkhouse, perhaps chosen as an epitome of the comedy to which Monty Python had once provided an alternative. Also, Dentist on the Job's alternate title is Get On With It, a phrase that appears multiple times throughout Holy Grail.)
Holy Grail's start credits include mock Nordic subtitles and many gratuitous references to "møøse" and llamas. The "Holy Grail" beginning credits are a spoof off of the Swedish Ingram Bergman's film "The Seventh Seal" being the exact same and that is why the subtitles are in Swedish. The subtitles fictionally tell how those responsible for the fake credits were sacked and replacement credits were created at great expense. The film has no ending credits, or indeed any indication whatsoever that the film is over, instead showing a policeman forcibly shutting down the camera and cutting straight to a black screen and a full two minutes and forty seconds of organ music. Due to the abrupt ending of the movie, the first few seconds of the opening credits are sometimes shown again when the film is played on television. The organ music is often missing from cinema showings as inexperienced cinema projectionists tend to mistake the ending blank footage (with audio track) as scrap film and remove it before sending the film back to the depot.
[edit] Cast
- Graham Chapman played King Arthur. He also played the voice of God, one of the Giant's three heads, and a guard of Swamp Castle with the hiccups.
- Terry Jones played Bedevere. He also played the female peasant who bothers Arthur, another of the Giant's three heads, and Prince Herbert.
- John Cleese played Sir Lancelot. He also played Tim the Enchanter, the Black Knight (except when he had been reduced to one leg), the second guard to discuss swallows, a man carrying a not-yet-dead man to the cart in the plague-ridden village, a peasant who accuses a woman of being a witch, and the insulting Frenchman.
- Eric Idle played Sir Robin. He also played a collector of the dead (who clangs on the musical triangle shouting, "Bring out your dead!"), a peasant who accuses a woman of being a witch, a guard who needs to be spoon-fed instructions at Swamp Castle, Lancelot's servant Concord, Roger the shrubber (somebody who arranges, designs, and sells shrubberies), and Brother Maynard (a priest who is eaten by the Black Beast of Aaaaargh).
- Michael Palin played Sir Galahad. Palin had the most roles in the film: a mud eater, Dennis the anarcho-syndicalist peasant who accuses Arthur of displaying "the violence inherent in the system," another peasant who accuses a woman of being a witch, the first guard to discuss swallows, another of the Giant's heads, the Lord of Swamp Castle, one of the wedding guests, the leader of the Knights who say "Ni!", a priest who reads the instructions for the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from the Book of Armaments (credited as "Brother Maynard's Brother"), and the narrator.
- Terry Gilliam played Patsy, Arthur's servant, who bangs coconuts together and calls Camelot "only a model". He also played the Green Knight who dies fighting the Black Knight, the Old Man from Scene 24 that pops up again as the Bridgekeeper, Sir Bors (who cries out during the Camelot song "I have to push the pram-a-lot!", and who is killed by the rabbit), a gorilla hand turning pages of "the book of the film" during the narration, and finally himself as the animator who dies of a fatal heart attack.
- Carol Cleveland played Zoot, one of the maidens in the Castle Anthrax. She also played Zoot's identical twin sister Dingo.
- Connie Booth played the woman accused of being a witch.
- Neil Innes played Sir Robin's favourite minstrel, another peasant who accuses a woman of being a witch, a monk, and Galahad's servant/horse crushed by the Trojan Rabbit.
- John Young played the famous historian and the not-yet-dead old man carried by Cleese.
- Bea Duffell played the old crone who was questioned by Arthur about where to locate a shrubbery. On the DVD commentary, the Pythons compliment her performance, but none of them can recall why they cast an actual old woman when any of them could have done it just as easily.
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