Monty Python and the Holy Grail was produced in 1975 by directors Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. It is a comedy on the quest by the Arthur and his knights to find the holy grail. While the movie isn't fully accurate the changes were made to make the movie more enjoyable for the audience. The movie says much both about the middle ages and audiences view of that period in history.
The movie is set in 932 AD in England. Arthur is on a quest to recruit knights. At the first castle he visits he tries to speak to the lord of the castle but the guards keep asking about how he could have gotten coconuts in England. The movie then goes to a plague infested village where someone keeps yelling "bring out your dead." Another person pays him to take a relative…show more content… He then goes to a bridge where a black knight fights him before he is able to cross. The movie then goes to monks beating themselves on the head before some villagers start yelling that they have a witch to burn and take her to Sir Bedevere. Using very questionable logic Sir Bedevere "proves" the woman is a witch and then he agrees to join the round table. Sir Arthur and his knights receive a quest to find the holy grail from God after deciding not to go to Camelot. However they fail to capture a castle held by the French and then split up. An unnamed famous historian briefly narrates before being killed by a knight and each of the knights of the round table encounters a different quest. Sir Robin flees from a three headed knight, Galahad is saved by Lancelot from naughty nuns, Arthur and Bedevere need to find a shrubbery for the knights who say ni, and Lancelot has to save a prince who is being forced to marry against his will. All of the knights meet together afterwards and meet an enchanter named Tim who warns that a monster guards the way to the grail. They manage to get pass the monstrous…show more content… At the very beginning of the movie it says that it is set in the year 932 AD. This is probably a joke due to the uncertainty as to when or if Arthur existed. The movie also makes fun of the audiences views of the Middle Ages. When most people think of the Middle Ages they tend to see it as plague infested with very low life expectancy. The movie makes fun of both these views."Not long into the movie it shows dead peasants being loaded into a cart with someone yelling 'bring out your dead.'" "Later in the movie a peasant is offended that he is called old when he is only 37." The movie also makes fun of the flagellants. "When the monks appear they chant in Latin and beat themselves on the head repeatedly." However monks would usually try to imitate Christ by whipping themselves. The writers clearly toned it down in order so that it would be less bloody and brutal and be more silly and humorous. Had the writers intended a movie with a more serious outlook they might have made the scene more realistic. "Early in the movie a group of peasants bring a woman who they accuse of being a witch. Sir Bedevere says that since witches burn they are made of wood. He argues further that since both wood and ducks float that if she has the same weight as a duck she must be made of wood and be a witch." Sir Bedevere used syllogism
