Literature in Film Blog #1: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail”

Irony is the first rhetorical device/literary technique I notice in the film; furthermore, one could argue that the film’s foundation is built with bricks of irony. Starting with the irony presented in the end of the novel, we expect King Arthur and his knight to bravely retrieve the Holy Grail they have searched for the entire film. However, just before the large army storm the castle Arthur is arrested by modern police and the film ends to the investigation being started because of an old historian killed by a knight while filming. I found the historian an interesting play on time and the irony within the film.

In the beginning of the film we expect to see King Arthur riding on a powerful horse; instead, he rides along with his squire who bangs coconuts together to make the appearance of a horse riding (the introduction to the irony in the movie).The irony also adds to the comedy within the film giving the audience a few laughs. We expect the Black Knight to be brutally slain by King Arthur. Yet, after getting each limb cut off he still wants to fight King Arthur and is relentless in his obvious defeat. My favorite scene of irony includes a very cute rabbit that initially appears harmless. To my surprise, the rabbit is insanely deadly and fools the brave knights when they dare to enter the cave. I found the scene funny because of how wrong the knights were while approaching the rabbit. We expect the knights to be torn apart by the legendary beast of aarrgh, but the beast’s animator has a heart attack so they barely escape the monster.