Friday, May 09, 2008

Killer Bunny!


I love this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's funny (and ironic) in many directions:
  1. They expect a ferocious beast to emerge, but it's a white lab rabbit.
  2. Yet, they're warned, he's vicious.
  3. Surprise! He really is vicious!
  4. His attacks (and gore) are ridiculously fun-house fake.
I also like how King Arthur (Gram Chapman) speaks in a formal, medieval style, but is reduced to modern slang when he's disgusted or frustrated- a shtick that runs throughout the film.

6 comments:

Linda Davick said...

Namowal, you are funny. Is this the one where limbs get chopped off and blood splurts way up in the air? I loved that.

Anonymous said...

We loved Spamalot because it brought back all the memories of these great episodes!!! It even had the bunny!

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

That's the one, Linda!
I almost posted the "black knight" scene instead. It's just funny how the knight shrugs off losing limbs as "just a flesh wound" and "tis but a scratch!" and wants to keep fighting!
Stray g,
Hi stray g,
Spamalot sounds like fun. I've got to see it one of these days.

Anonymous said...

I was reminded of the black knight scene when we recently saw "Walk Hard."

Jesse said...

I like how they warn so assiduously in the Book of Armaments regarding the use of the Holy Hand Grenade that you must count to exactly "three" before tossing it. They go so far as to warn against counting to 4 or stopping at 2, and then wind out with "and 5 is right out!!"

Yet regardless, King Arthur can never tell the difference between 3 and 5 (established earlier in the film) and nearly jinxes the whole thing ;)

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Hi Stray g,
I'll have to check out "Walk Hard" sometime...!
Hi Jesse,
I think one of the things that made Monty Python so funny is (what looks to me like) an effort to see how far they could ratchet up the crazyiness in any situation. A lesser film might have threw in a "Holy Hand Grenade" joke. Leave it to them to throw in silly instructions about how to use it.