SETS THE CINEMA BACK 900 YEARS!
King Arthur (Graham Chapman) is riding all over medieval Britain, trying to find men who can join his Knights of the Round Table. The first Monty Python film, And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), was a series of skits. You could arguably say the same about this one, but it does have the ambition to present a full story, a parody of the Arthurian legend. Muddy Scottish locations turn medieval misery into comedy. Complete anarchy reigns most of the time, and it is quite a mess, but crazy and funny. Some of the bits are now classics, including the dismembered knight who refuses to give up.
1975-Britain. 90 min. Color. Directed byĀ Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones. Screenplay, Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin.
Trivia: Later a stage musical, āSpamalotā.
Quote: “When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that’s what you’re going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.” (Palin as the King of Swamp Castle)
