This Is Spinal Tap

[Sydward Lartle]

Holy Grail is another one I rewatched lately and it didn't tickle me one bit.

(Dudley Moore voice) It's funny you should mention that...

...I watched Holy Grail to death when it came out on sell-through video in the late eighties, when I was still at secondary school. Loved it to bits. I even preferred it to Life of Brian. Like every other nerdy twat who was too sarcastic to have many friends, I quoted it faithfully and thought the whole 'servants walking behind the knights banging coconut shells together' was the funniest thing in the world.

Recently, however, I watched the scrubbed-up, remastered, extras-laden DVD and... oh dear, barely even a single laugh. Maybe I'm just too familiar with it, but there are so many sequences scattered throughout where the pacing really flags. Granted, it gets off to a flying start - the argument about the coconut shells, 'bring out your dead', the constitutional peasants, the Black knight duel, 'we've found a witch', but it's slim pickings after that. It doesn't help that there are a lot of scenes which just ramble on and on with far too few actual jokes or funny lines, either. I used to think the 'surprise ending' was subversive and hilarious when I was a kid, but now it just looks like a massive 'fuck you' to the audience. I half-expect a 'trollface' graphic to appear on the screen when that theatre organ music starts playing.

What do I like about the film? Well, considering the budget was paltry even for the time, costing around £300,000, it looks very good, with some genuinely stunning photography. (It's just a shame that Jones and Gilliam chose to co-direct, because their relative inexperience behind the camera really shows here.) The costumes, the locations, the eye for period detail, the authentic medieval squalor, the creative use of mostly library music, all that is brilliant. It's just that, considering it's supposed to be one of the funniest comedies of all time, it doesn't even have as many laughs as the Meaning of Life or even one of the better episodes of their TV series - and that's tragic.

[clingfilm portent]

I used to think the 'surprise ending' was subversive and hilarious when I was a kid, but now it just looks like a massive 'fuck you' to the audience.

They're both the same thing, surely? It's subversive (and hilarious) because it IS a massive fuck you to the audience. It's a great example of anti-comedy, or at least one of the earliest - to my knowledge.

[mobias]

Holy Grail is another film which hasn't benefitted by being endlessly quoted to death by people. I still absolutely love it though. There's no doubt its not as good a film over all as Life of Brian but out of the two its the one I still prefer to sit down and watch of an evening. Holy Grail does have a weak final act, there's no denying it but the rest more than makes up for it. It still makes me laugh a lot anyway, after what must be hundreds of viewings by now. I still laugh at the fact that for years I genuinely thought those were real medieval animations in the film after my brother told me when I was about 10 years old that they dated from the 14th century and Monty Python got permission from the British museum to use them. I believed that to quite an embarrassingly late age.   

I was just thinking the other day how much I'd like to see Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky again. I haven't seen it yonks. I knows its a different kind of film but it has quite a similar vibe to Grail.

[Sydward Lartle]

This is effectively the final scene of Holy Grail...



They should have ended on the 'animator suffered a fatal heart attack' gag, which was at least unexpected as well as funny and creative.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

They'd already escaped the Beast of Aaaaaaaaarrrgh thanks to the animator dying. The ending isn't all that different, is it?

[the science eel]

I'm always trying to work out what was so different about their films (especially Grail) and the TV series, which I love to bits.

Or maybe it's just (for me) the series was better 'cos they weren't trying to fit into any kind of thematic....whatever. You know what I mean.

[Sydward Lartle]

My favourite film of theirs is the Meaning of Life, simply because it's just a batch of sketches. Nothing more, nothing less. It's an 18-rated version of the series, and that suits me just fine.

[Dr Rock]

Excalibur had the same problem - the story of King Arthur and the Knights and Excalibur and all that is full of great stuff, but once you get to the bit with the search for the Holy Grail there's no decent ending to be had.

[Rizla]

I'm struggling to think of a single line in Spinal Tap that doesn't make me laugh. e.g. Ian's angry speech where he laments the difficulty of finding mandolin strings in Austin, TX and mentions prising the rent out of the local hebrews - neither of these things make any sense (for different reasons) but it's such hilariously great characterisation, like the aforementioned meeting with the other manager (played by the trigger-happy priest from the Brass Eye episode). And Di Bergi asking him about the cricket bat, and he's trying to say "i suppose it's kind of a...um...totemistic thing" and Marty helps out by suggesting "affectation?".

Also, Rainbow Trout studios. Fred Willard at the air force base. The fucking....nerve...you've displayed coming back here. The bit in the hotel room with Archie Hahn's "Thank God! Civilisation" and Mick Shrimpton's fag down top incident. Any scene with Mick Shrimpton in it.

Mick Shrimpton was played by the son of Jack Parnell, the conductor of the Muppet Show orchestra.

Oh, we're talking about Python now. As you were.

[NoSleep]

My favourite film of theirs is the Meaning of Life, simply because it's just a batch of sketches. Nothing more, nothing less. It's an 18-rated version of the series, and that suits me just fine.

But so is Holy Grail. So there's a theme to to the sketches, but...

[Sydward Lartle]

"You should have seen the cover they wanted to do. It wasn't a glove, believe me."

[NoSleep]

Was it a hand?

[Rocket Surgery]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfL50eABG3A

Not the exact quote I was searching for, but you do get to look at him.

[chocky909]

"There's such a fine line between stupid and... clever"

[Sydward Lartle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-5io1muSQ
Nigel's guitar room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7dybf6hdiI
"Sounds fucking barbershop!"

[NoSleep]

Jeff's guitar room (actually awesome and edifying):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_lAy1sGMys

Note Jeff's non-pick fingerstyle these days.

[Blumf]

We appear to have gotten through two pages without mentioning Bad News. I think there's some law about that.

[the science eel]

The Rutles is funnier

[Jake Thingray]

There have been unpleasant allegations about former Cambridge Footlighter Tony Hendra who played Ian Faith, sorry to report.

[Sydward Lartle]

The Rutles is funnier

Probably Eric Idle's finest post-Python hour, and definitely Neil Innes's. Doubleback Alley is a fucking good song that could stand alone outside of this particular context, and I'm surprised more of the songs haven't been covered by bands all over the world.

[HappyTree]

One of my favourite films of all time. It tickles me so because I "get the scene" man. I could identify all the references and parodies and identify with the band dynamics because I was in a band at the time myself. The petty bickering, the one cunt who will not stop noodling. "If he could play the fucking part he'd play it". The singer's giflfriend who diverts his attention, thinks she can butt in, and the rest of the band hate her. The diva behaviour backstage (who's in here, no-one, but in here there's a little guy - best line of the film). Been there, and back again. The whole film is pitch-perfect.

It all came together. The 1 hour of extra footage is also worth having a look at. It explains some of the things like, for example, the cold sores.

That was where it should have ended. We'll always have this perfect piece of art. But what came after was poor. The giant capo on the amp? Nah mate. It has to be somewhat plausible to be funny. This goes to 11 can't be beaten. Plus their English accents weren't so good later. But when it was good it was bloody brilliant. As was said, every line.

Have a good time all the time.

[Rizla]

Probably Eric Idle's finest post-Python hour, and definitely Neil Innes's. Doubleback Alley is a fucking good song that could stand alone outside of this particular context, and I'm surprised more of the songs haven't been covered by bands all over the world.

I saw Innes at the Fringe years ago, he finished up his set with an ace Rutles medley. I told him afterwards that Doubleback Alley was one of my favourite songs ever and that its use over the end credits made me feel intense nostalgia for a band which didn't really exist. "That was George's favourite too" was his reply.

What a namedropping prick eh?

[GeeWhiz]

One of my favourite films of all time. It tickles me so because I "get the scene" man. I could identify all the references and parodies and identify with the band dynamics because I was in a band at the time myself. The petty bickering, the one cunt who will not stop noodling. "If he could play the fucking part he'd play it". The singer's giflfriend who diverts his attention, thinks she can butt in, and the rest of the band hate her. The diva behaviour backstage (who's in here, no-one, but in here there's a little guy - best line of the film). Been there, and back again. The whole film is pitch-perfect.

It all came together. The 1 hour of extra footage is also worth having a look at. It explains some of the things like, for example, the cold sores.

That was where it should have ended. We'll always have this perfect piece of art. But what came after was poor. The giant capo on the amp? Nah mate. It has to be somewhat plausible to be funny. This goes to 11 can't be beaten. Plus their English accents weren't so good later. But when it was good it was bloody brilliant. As was said, every line.

Have a good time all the time.

'This twisted old brute'

Personally, I've always loved Faith describing Janine as dressing 'like an Australian's nightmare'.

Magic.

[McChesney Duntz]

the other manager (played by the trigger-happy priest from the Brass Eye episode).

No, different other chap - the other manager was Howard Hesseman, comedian/character actor whose roots date back to the genuinely radical 60s comedy troupe The Committee but is probably best known (to us Yankers at least) as burn out DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on the late seventies radio sitcom WKRP IN CINCINNATI.  Funny fellow.

And, while I'm indulging in such nitpickery, it's "twisted old fruit," surely.

[McChesney Duntz]

There have been unpleasant allegations about former Cambridge Footlighter Tony Hendra who played Ian Faith, sorry to report.

Yes indeed, and if there's been any test of the "love the art, not the artist" truism that's bugged me more, I can't think of one.  Even setting aside the major allegation against him (which, if true - and it seems pretty likely to be - makes Hendra an absolute fucking monster), there's plenty of lesser charges against him which, while not criminal per se, make him out to be rather a terrible prick: stealing the "comedy lecture" (the pie in the face demonstration as seen in MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL but written by Jones/Palin in the sixties) for the National Lampoon stage show LEMMINGS without permission or attribution and lying about it when Jones called him on it; then writing a piece for the Lampoon magazine attempting to savage Python and not only failing (he seemed to think their comedy was worthless because they never used their TV platform to satirize the IRA [!?]) but not having the minimal balls to put his name to the piece; and apparently taking credit for "creating" Tap in a New York Times interview, which engendered a rather frosty riposte on the letters page by Michael McKean; and others too tedious to recount here.

And yet, he's great as Ian Faith, deserves credit for discovering John Belushi and Chevy Chase, performed (though did not write) the utterly brutal and brilliant John Lennon parody on the first Lampoon album, penned a very good overview of "Boomer humor" called GOING TOO FAR, and wrote a good chunk of the first series of SPITTING IMAGE, among other accolades.  None of which makes him any less of a creep, but I can't bring myself to cast his genuinely good work aside all the same.

Also, I can't let a Tap thread go by without boasting that my very first concert, at age 14, was Spinal Tap themselves (they did a tour of smallish clubs a few months after the film came out), in the city of Boston, which, as the aforementioned creep noted, is not a big college town. Great fucking show.

[madhair60]

My favourite film of theirs is the Meaning of Life, simply because it's just a batch of sketches. Nothing more, nothing less. It's an 18-rated version of the series, and that suits me just fine.

It's my favourite too and also a film I find oddly poignant and powerful, on top of being fucking funny.

[Dr Rock]

 "Well, this is thoroughly depressing."
"It really puts perspective on things, though, doesn't it?"
"Too much. There's too much fucking perspective .

[Kane Jones]

Nigel Tufnel: [on what he would do if he couldn't be a rock star] Well, I suppose I could, uh, work in a shop of some kind, or... or do, uh, freelance, uh, selling of some sort of, uh, product. You know...
Marty DiBergi: A salesman?
Nigel Tufnel: A salesman, like maybe in a, uh, haberdasher, or maybe like a, uh, um... a chapeau shop or something. You know, like, "Would you... what size do you wear, sir?" And then you answer me.
Marty DiBergi: Uh... seven and a quarter.
Nigel Tufnel: "I think we have that." See, something like that I could do.
Marty DiBergi: Yeah... you think you'd be happy doing something like-...
Nigel Tufnel: "No; we're all out. Do you wear black?" See, that sort of thing I think I could probably... muster up.
Marty DiBergi: Do you think you'd be happy doing that?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, I don't know - wh-wh-... what're the hours?

One of my favourite closing lines to one of my favourite comedy films. Not funny? Pah.

[the science eel]

Not funny, no.

All the examples of humour cited have been subtle little observations. It's a film for smart arses to nod smugly to. Pat yourself on the back that you've recognised the habits of third-rate rock bands, the thought processes of not-very-bright muso types.

[HappyTree]

Fuckin' limeys.

It's a different world that they're in.