‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail,’ a touchstone of nerd cinema, turns 50

The Pythons’ ultra-silly take on the Arthurian legend was a series of vignettes and catchphrases, which remain funny- but underscore that this style of humor has basically vanished.

Image: Fathom Events

I’ve seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail probably over a hundred times in my life. But before I watched it yesterday to prepare for this piece, I realized something: I’ve never, not once, approached this film as a film critic.

I’ll always associate Holy Grail with nights in high school, when my friends and I would put on the movie again and again, to laugh one time at Tim the Enchanter, “it’s just a flesh wound,” “answer me these questions three,” and the Knights Who Say Ni.

But can I possibly view this film without the context of knowing all of the dozens of catchphrases, and always knowing what’s coming? All those times, was I just laughing at the repetition?

Watching it again, I see Monty Python and the Holy Grail less as a plot than as a succession of sketches and bits, very much showing their sketch comedy roots. But the bits hold up, and it remains very funny. But I can’t stress enough that it’s a unique style of humor- one that was uniquely of its time and place, but has all but disappeared from comedy today.

I showed my kids some scenes from the film a few months ago, and it was completely lost on them- the style of humor was so foreign to anything they’d ever experienced that I might as well have shown them something in a foreign language.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, widely seen as the best of the Monty Python films, came out in the U.S. in late April of 1975, 50 years ago this week.

Co-directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, and written by and starring the whole troupe — Gilliam, Jones, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and John Cleese, each playing several parts each — Monty Python and the Holy Grail arrived at the height of 1970s Python-mania, between the third and fourth seasons of their TV show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus.