| The comedians known as Monty Python released four films, and this is the first of them. It tells the story of King Arthur in a completely random and desperately silly way. Despite having actually spent a fair bit of time in the same room as Eric Idle, I had never seen any Monty Python before I went to Spamalot. Not even our visit to Doune Castle in Scotland, where the movie was filmed, could convince me to check it out. But finally, I started dating a guy who is a big Monty Python fan, and so I didn’t have much choice – I had to watch it! It was probably a fairly different experience for me, having seen the musical first and then watching the movie. Of course, I kept noticing things that were “missing”, particularly in the later parts of the film. Still, I will admit I appreciated a lot of the silliness more in the film than I had on stage – whether that was due to the actors or the presentation, I’m not sure. There were also funny bits in the film that were not in the show, like the crossing of the bridge with the three questions. But overall the two are very similar – they weren’t kidding when they said the musical is “ripped off” from the film! If you are a Monty Python fan, you will have already seen this film – if you haven’t seen it, but enjoyed the show, then you might want to check it out and see what all the fuss is about! |