John Cleese will be on hand at a Sugar Land screening of ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’
Still contemplating meaning of life, comedy legend talks ‘Grail’
Now for something completely familar: The comedy classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” — the highly quotable crackpot comedy spun from Arthurian legend that courted a cross-generational fan base — will screen this week at the Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land. And this particular viewing will be accompanied by John Cleese, a founding member of the Monty Python troupe that hatched the comedy 43 years ago.
Cleese, 78, will participate in a talkback after the screening, allowing fans to air their longgestating queries about bloodthirsty rabbits and flesh wounds. He still sounds humbled by the film’s enduring allure, and soured about the state of the world. So expect some polite if cantankerous commentary from the comedy legend. He fielded a few questions about “The Holy Grail” and military leaders with amputated limbs.
Q: Not to put too much weight into a joke, but the recurring “run away” theme in “Holy Grail” feels apropos for our time. This idea of getting in over one’s head and then fleeing…
A: Yes, I’m very fond of that moment. I love it as a military command: “Run away!” And yes, I think sometimes it makes a great deal of sense when there’s not much point in struggling. I believe you also mean it as fitting the politics at the moment. Which also is true.
Q: Then the Black Knight makes even more sense for our weird times: people whose confidence greatly outweighs their competence.
A: Well, you hit the nail on the head there. Some days it feels like I have no idea who’s in charge. If you read about it, it’ll make your hair stand on end. About how introverts quietly go about their day. But others, they learn how to sound certain when they don’t really know what they’re talking about. You end up with stupid people who get the power, and they’re so confident they don’t really see the problems. And other stupid people see them as a promising alternative to the problems. I guess it doesn’t matter much. I’ll be dead in a few years. It won’t affect me much. But I have daughters. I’d like them to be saved from the worst.
Q: That’s not the sunniest of views.
A: Well, I don’t know. I think it’s a fine view. I believe there is no hope. I’m working on a show called “There Is No Hope,” incidentally.
Q: Are you aware of Blas
de Lezo? There was a statue of him in Cartagena, Colombia. He was a Spaniard beloved for fighting back a British fleet. I bring this up because he lost an arm, leg and eye. So his statue seemed like something Monty Python would’ve appreciated.
A: Are you quite serious?
Q: Yes! I couldn’t make that up.
A: That’s very interesting and strange. It reminds me of our greatest admiral, Lord Nelson, who defeated the French. I think he had one eye and one arm. But he was our greatest admiral. Maybe it’s a sign of good luck?
Q: That’s a hard-earned luck. So do you recall at all the troupe’s expectations for its films? Obviously, you couldn’t imagine a future when people would quote them for generations.
A: No, it’s been the most complete and most delightful surprise. It would’ve been a complete surprise if anyone had told us anybody would pay attention to it. It’s all a mystery. You never know what’s going to catch on and what isn’t. Often you don’t know for years. They ought to have a Retrograde Oscars. Who cares about what wins an Oscar now? But films from 1997, we have a better idea. I think we’d make better choices for what wins.
Q: Hindsight ages better than eyesight.
A: True, but it’s not just hindsight being 20/20. It’s that great movies are the ones that last. And that’s completely unpredictable. People think they can predict the future. I think there was an American psychic who had predictions about the tech market that proved not true. We’re terrible at forecasting.