MovieChat Forums > The War Lord (1965) Discussion > Was this the main inspiration for "Monty...

Was this the main inspiration for "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" ?

posted 9 years ago by pete36
3 replies | jump to latest

This is a great movie and no less for its very realistic depiction of 11th century medieval Europe (French Normandy in this case).
Having recently seen this movie for the first time I couldn't help wondering if Monty Python didn't also see this movie and decided they had at least to try to copy the realistic look and feel of "War Lord".

There are several similarities, not only the realistic representation of the Middle Ages, albeit a very comical ofcourse, but the landscapes, the peasants, the cities and castles they do have serious resemblances with "War Lord". At one moment the Python knights come across a castle full of crazy Frenchmen and they decide ofcourse to attack but the French throw the most insane stuff at them (even a bunch of cows) and then the knights decide to build this Trojan horse (see the storming tower as in War Lord).

But what most got me convinced that this was a main inspiration for the Python team is that at some moment Heston's angry younger brother shouts at him : "well why don't you leave then and go on a quest for The Holy Grail or someting" ! He really says that !

[–] Interlepos (1811) 2 years ago

I thought the same. This film must have been, at least, one of the inspirations for The Holy Grail.

[–] thingmakersback (1409) 5 months ago

Really, I think it was mainly just an original take on the Arthurian stories with a Python's attitude, but I can't help thinking that Bresson's Lancelot du Lac had some influence.

[–] thingmakersback (1409) 5 months ago

"well why don't you leave then and go on a quest for The Holy Grail or someting" ! He really says that !

Interesting that this may be a historical inaccuracy. King Arthur and the quest for the holy grail may not even have existed as stories in the 11th century... At least not in what we think of as France. All of the basic material was just Welsh folklore and such and even the big fake history of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth comes from the 12th century and later.