While many will spend Parents Weekend cheering on the Bobcats or draining their parents’ bank accounts, some will be transported back in time.
The Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St., will present a special screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail for Parents Weekend.
The movie is the first feature film from the British comedy troupe, Monty Python, who had a weekly television show on BBC called Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The spoof follows the classic story of King Arthur, his Knights of the Round Table and their quest for the Holy Grail. Unlike other films about this era, Monty Python’s film includes insulting French guards, tap-dancing knights and killer rabbits.
The screenings, which begin Thursday night, will be one of several times that the cult-classic film has been shown at the Athena, said Alexandra Kamody, sales manager at the theater. She added that the film was specially chosen for Parents Weekend.
“We are showing Monty Python and the Holy Grail because it is a classic comedy and it fit what we were looking for to bring to the Athena for Ohio University Parents Weekend,” Kamody said. “We thought it would be a great movie to bring for the whole family to enjoy.”
Though the film was first released in theaters in 1975 and features a less-than-modern theme, Kamody said that the topics it mocks are still relevant today.
“Part of the enjoyment that the audience derives from watching it is from the jokes and scenes that have become part of our everyday culture,” she said. “Even for people who haven’t seen it before, there will be recognizable lines and characters.”
For those who are fans of the film, the Athena’s screenings are a nice way to see the film with others, said Rebecca Iacobone, a senior studying environmental geography.
“I like that it doesn’t take itself too seriously,” Iacobone said. “Though the ‘Quest for the Holy Grail’ certainly sounds very important, and though these characters have abandoned everything else going on in their lives to pursue it, the story is sprinkled with hilarious moments of ‘yeah, well, whatever,’ right up to the very end.”
With the film’s silly message, Kamody said that she hopes it will be a positive part of Parents Weekend.
“We just want to bring everyone together to have a good time at the movie,” she said.
ks574510@ohiou.edu
