Once a Python, always a Python

Posted on October 18, 2009 in Outtakes | No Comments

The 40th anniversary of Monty Python sees the debut on IFC of a 6 hour documentary on the comedy troupe that gave the Ministry of Silly Walks, The Knights that Say Nigh, and — of course — SPAM!

…Despite its equivocal title, “Almost the Truth” beats any Python documentary yet made for comprehensiveness and depth. It is at its heart the story of six men and their sometimes contentious, sometimes gleeful relationship to one another, their work and their culture, as told by themselves, the people they worked with and the people they influenced. But it also makes room for silly walks, upper-class twits, a dead (not a resting) parrot, the Four Yorkshiremen, the Fish-Slapping dance, flying sheep, Arthur (King of the Britons), a taunting Frenchman, Brian (who is not the Messiah, whatever you may have heard), Mr. Creosote, the All-England Summarize Proust Competition, various pepper pots and policemen, a cross-dressing singing lumberjack and a naked man playing the organ. From “Flying Circus” to “Holy Grail” and “Life of Brian” and beyond, their best work remains — after 26 to 40 years, depending — timelessly funny.

— LA Times.com | Read The Full Article

Here’s a trailer for the program: