I put off watching monty python and the holy grail for years because everyone kept quoting it at me and I felt behind. My brother Owen finally made me sit down with a bowl of popcorn. I laughed less than I expected the first time, and a lot more the second.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 comedy about King Arthur and his knights, and you don’t need to know the Pythons to enjoy it. My first try was a Tuesday night in November, and I dozed off for about ten minutes. The rest is how I came around, coconuts included.
Plain notes on watching monty python and the holy grail for the first time, from my own very awkward viewing.
What the movie actually is
It’s a British comedy that retells the King Arthur legend as a string of sketches. Arthur and his knights go looking for the Holy Grail, and nearly everything that happens on the way is a joke, a detour, or both. There isn’t a tight plot to follow, which was the first thing that threw me. Once I stopped waiting for the story to behave, the film got easier.
The Tuesday I watched it and didn’t get it
It was a Tuesday in November, around 9:40, and I’d just finished a long shift. Owen had texted all week that I couldn’t call myself a comedy person until I’d seen it. So I put it on the laptop, lay on the couch with a blanket, and gave it about twenty minutes before my eyes started closing.
Marisol came in from the kitchen and paused it for me. “Are you watching or are you sleeping?”
she asked.
“Both,” I said.
I woke up during a scene I couldn’t place, with no idea who anyone was, and shut the laptop. I told Owen it was fine. It wasn’t a great answer, and he knew it, because he called the next morning to say he was disappointed in me.
Who made it
The film came from the Monty Python group, the British comedy troupe behind a TV show that came before it. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones directed, and the six members wrote and acted in it. Knowing that helped me, because it explained why it feels like a pile of sketches wearing a medieval costume.
What I was wrong about
I assumed I’d missed my chance. I figured a film this old, quoted this often, couldn’t surprise me, and that the jokes would feel worn out from other people repeating them for me. I was wrong. A few weeks later Owen came over and we watched it again, properly this time, with the lights low and no phones, and the stuff I’d slept through was the funniest part. Hearing a joke secondhand and watching it land in its own scene turn out to be different experiences.
The scenes people always bring up
Everyone has a favorite, and mine changed between viewings. The coconut gag, where the knights are riding without horses and someone else supplies the sound, is the one most people mention first. There’s also a fight with a knight who refuses to quit no matter what happens to him, and a rabbit that turns out to be far less friendly than it looks. I won’t spoil how any of them play out. Part of the fun is not knowing.
How to watch it so it lands
This is the list I gave Marisol when she wanted to try it:
- Watch it in one sitting, not in pieces over a week.
- Turn the captions on, because some lines go by fast.
- Skip your phone for the first half hour.
- Watch with someone who has seen it before.
- Don’t expect a plot to follow.
The $4.99 rental and the sound problem
I rented it first for $4.99 and played it through the laptop speakers, which was a mistake. The dialogue sits close to the music and the sound effects, and half the jokes disappeared into the mush. The second time we ran it through a small speaker Owen brought over, and it was a different film. Not great for the laptop, but I stopped blaming the movie. If you’re having trouble hearing the lines, fix the sound before you decide it isn’t funny.
Why it still gets quoted
People quote the Holy Grail movie for the same reason they quote any comedy they love, which is that it gives them a shared language. Hank from work can say three words at lunch and half the table knows exactly which scene he means. That was the thing that finally got me. I’d been outside a joke that a lot of people had been in for decades, and I wanted to be inside it too.
Is it okay for kids?
I’m no film critic and I don’t have a clear answer about monty python and the holy grail for kids. The film plays violence for laughs, and there’s crude humor and some adult jokes throughout. Ratings differ by country, so check the one where you live, and watch it yourself before putting it on for a young kid. Mr. Delgado next door told me he watched monty python and the holy grail with his nephew and spent half of it reaching for the remote. Your own judgment beats mine here, and that goes for monty python and the holy grail more than most films.
Frequently Asked Questions About Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1. Do I need to know anything before watching Monty Python and the holy grail?
No, though knowing it’s a pile of sketches rather than a tight plot helped me a lot. I’d also check the captions setting, since a couple of lines get lost under the music, and I’d watch it with the sound turned up properly instead of through laptop speakers.
2. Is the Holy Grail movie worth watching if I don’t like old comedies?
Maybe, and I only found out on the second try.
3. How long did it take you to like monty python and the holy grail?
Two viewings, about three weeks apart. The first time I fell asleep, and the second I paid attention, and that was the whole difference.
4. Can you watch Monty Python and the holy grail without seeing the TV show first?
I did. I hadn’t seen the show, and I had no trouble following the film once I stopped looking for a plot.
5. Should kids watch the Python Holy Grail film?
It depends on the kid, so I’d watch it first myself and check the rating where you live
Conclusion
I think about monty python and the holy grail every time Hank says a line from it at lunch and I know exactly which scene he means. A few weeks ago I couldn’t have told you. Last week Owen texted me a single coconut emoji, and I sent one back before I’d even finished my sandwich.
