Bring on the tough stuff. There’s not just one right answer.
- Class was a big deal in medieval England and there's sure a lot of class talk in The Holy Grail (especially when Dennis is involved). How could these same issues relate to class in modern day England (or other societies)?
- Did you notice the dead man lying on the pole in the very first shot of the movie? What's he doing up there? Why does the movie start out with such an eerie, somber image?
- One rule of comedy that the Terrys applied to The Holy Grail is that a joke is funnier when you can see all the characters in the scene. Why do you think this is? What do you notice by watching people that aren't the focal point of a joke but are still on camera?
- Which knight would most likely make it in the real medieval world? The brave Sir Lancelot? The cowardly Sir Robin?
- How do the small interludes (the animations, the police scenes, the actual intermission) affect your experience of the movie? Does it add to the continuity? Distract from it?
- Try and come up with all of the different kinds of humor used in the movie: the dramatic irony, situational humor, the just plain silly…but we don't want to answer it for you. How are the Pythons able to implement them all so effectively in a single film?
- What do you think is the significance of each of the knights' different challenges when they split up? How is each quest tailored specifically for (or should we say against?) each knight's attributes?