Monty Python - The French Waiter
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- Опубліковано 18 жов 2024
- (From Monty Pythons's "The Meaning of Life - Part VI: The Autumn Years")
I think this will help explain.
And sorry for the not very loud sound but I can live my life in my own way ok ?
I love how he carries the table napkin on his arm the entire way to the house. Same gait and everything.
Serviette…
And he only throws it down when the viewer allegedly disapproves of his philosophy. XD
Genius!
That's part of the joke...
a true professional! :-D
This segment just fascinated me, not because of how funny it was, which it is, but by the way the camera just takes you on that little jaunt through 80s Britain. It's like a time capsule, seeing it from the pedestrians perspective.
There's an extended version of this on the dvd where he walks for ages and even gets on a bus.
lol really? I didn't know there was an extended version, must seem even more silly/absurd!:-)
The transitions between sketches in this film have always felt to me like actual dream logic captured perfectly in film, this one is the stand out example.
As a kid I loved this and the scene prior to it. Wasn't crazy about the rest of the movie, it was kinda hit or miss but this scene and the vomiting and exploding fat guy was perfection.
Exactly! I feel this dreem logic like in Alice of Lews Carrol, even in the cartoon of Disney. It's isn't the same but there both have a dream atmosfer.
I always wondered why they didn’t put this at the very end, it feels so very Monty Python-esque as an ending and it kinda fits in with the whole “the meaning of life is nothing special, just bugger off now” theme they had.
@thatzim wtf That's the best part. It's the grindcore of comedy and I love it and more so I love to see faces of people who decided to watch a movie with me.
The first time I watched it I was convinced they were just trolling and Eric Idle was just going to keep walking while the credits rolled.
that misses the point so hard
I fart in your general direction
@@SmashAtoms l
0:14 to 1:42 is like in a video game when you have a companion and you keep telling them to follow you so they don't get stuck and lose you.
Robert Medd
Underrated comment.
More like being the NPC follower yourself
Same, the vintage camera helps a lot as well
At 2:41 is when the npc companion is still not following you.
It's like being a camara man 🙂
I find this oddly beautiful
I know it's like if you take away all the context it just says "Hey, i have a life. A simple life, but a life. Fuck you."
Snake Keeper And, furthermore, I have thought about my principles and what I hold dear AND I have the confidence to share with others that what means the most to me. And if someone else judges me for that, then "fuck off" is the right answer. "I can live my own life, in my own way, if I want to." Anyone trying to stray me from that is, by definition, attempting to exercise control over me.
thi is tragic skit about small life
I can empathise with gaston fully. He lives his quiet life in his own way and it is cool. To many people today are so consumed with materialism and greed that they cannot see the wood from the trees. Covet beautiful and simple things in life and they will reward you a million times over with smiles and virtue. So what if he is a bit camp? Hey you! Fuck off with your homophobia and racism! We burn Nazi fucks like you with petrol round here!
@@MrDegsy69 you did not quite get it. They are poking fun at France as a whole.
I'm a part time waitress and my colleagues and I love repeating lines of this to one another at work. Ahhh it makes the hospitality industry and the snotty annoying customers almost bearable.
I once had the pleasure of no, really, ordering two potato and leek soups as a starter and as the words fall out of my mouth, i realise what I have done, I look up at the server smiling, server looks down at me... nothing, not a twitch. Time passes, table talk, ah here come the starter soups, the server is almost doing the whole back half of the 'two soups' (look for it) schtick christ! half the place was laughing at it marvelous... needless to say extra large tip at the end ;-)
🤗
I really like the idea that this could either be the sweet and positive lines, the "follow me" stuff, or literally just "fuck off" - all of which would be appropriate for waitstaff jobs haha
I’m glad.
"Snotty, annoying customers"? You sound like a libtard scumbag, entitled loser and hold a job that proves my point. I just left a 25% tip today.... maybe that's not enough for someone of your stature? If you don't like the customers... get an education or skill and switch jobs. Eatshytdiepuke.............
Its actually about the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre who wrote about a waiter in his book Being and nothingness. Based on an existential theory called
Bad Faith.
Clever lads those Pythons.
Explain further
JPS has a interesting connotation
Brilliant
And I suppose his mother really did live in a beautiful place - but the waiter’s return to what was her house symbolises that the waiter never escaped the dominance of his mother and developed an independent philosophy motivating his own life. The waiter knows he does not feel what his mother felt and that he has failed to develop authentic activity. He resents the world as forcing this upon him. But he has repressed his recognition that this is only cover for his own failure of will.
Thus taking on even positive philosophies from other people can risk existential inauthenticity. Authenticity requires the person to develop their own response to their own experience in order to avoid the resentment (following Nietzsche) of the conformist who is too afraid to live. Only by properly developing one’s own perspective does one develop the strength of mind necessary for authentic living.
This is also somewhat like transactional analysis in that it indicates a failure to move from the parent child to the adult adult stance.
A very clever sketch with quite a lot of psychological insight.
But, I am not sure that Sartre himself ever really got to grips with a western equivalent to the daoist concept of wu wei. To me at least, existentialism can read like an attempt to rescue the western concept of the individual self from its inherent problems. Whereas Buddhist and Daoist thinkers have tried to transcend it altogether. The pursuit of authenticity a la Sartre can leave you in a cold place.
@@austinthornton3407 I started reading your comment as a joke, but it makes perfect sense and is actually helpful. Thank you, sir.
This is what it feels like taking a customer to the item they think they wanted when you work retail.
I always found these extended walking sequences they liked to do sort of comforting. There's an oddly cozy feeling to following their absurd characters through the city streets and countryside.
I agree!
It also amusingly heightens expectations. You'd expect that after showing a solid 60 seconds of someone walking around, there'd be some sort of crazy comedic payoff... but there usually isn't.
I saw this movie as a kid, but appreciated this particular segment so much more after spending a few years waiting tables.
I remember my dad watching this when I was a kid and the scene came on and I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Then I got in trouble in 4th grade for talking about it with my friends. Probably because I said the "Well fuck you!"
Is it weird this almost made me cry? It's not just funny, it has soul to it.
Yep, also for me this scene is very powerful and sad :) cheers
I cry as soon as he starts walking.. Just because I know what's coming
It happens to be distant from daily work and city life, where the music and suburb quietness and peace surrounds. Life would be good, there doesn't require much philosiphies I think. Love would presper- until you step into the city. I had only watched this film once but it immediately becomes my top 5. So sacarstic, yet cast cheers and tears in your heart. Cheers
Yeah it's like he tries to be good , to do the best but he suddenly realize as he say it that it has no point, he has no idea how give happiness to other and most of all, to himself. So, he begins to be angry about that sudden realization and fuck us. it's like he never had a deap think about his own life because it's too scary and sad
This movie is unbelievable, we can discover new stuff everytime we watch it
It's like he is in a never ending cycle where he wants everyone to be pleased of him but he gets anxious because you can't please or make everyone happy, which is a sad reality, and if you don't figure that out soon, you are going to wear yourself out.
His posture and his walk is everything
So wait, if he's a French waiter who presumably lives in England (just going by the way people drove), and he shows us the house he was born in, does that mean he made the viewer cross the English Channel with him?
+Xeron Quaram Cxercxess Thanks, stranger.
Well, you can't take it seriously
That's what I thought when I first watched it back in 84,still mad and funny though so,fuck you don't come following me
They went through the chunnel lol
Matthew Iler He was born in England (of French descent, hence the name), and he moved to France at a very young age. He spent his formative years there and trained as a waiter, before returning to England, as an adult.
Simple.
As a veteran waiter myself when I first watched this scene... Dunno... I cried :) I really, REALLY did, it was so beautiful, so heart touching. And I really felt a lot of love to this character - he is an average Joe, who just enjoys making people happy - no big philosophy behind it - just kindness...
And then he told me to fuck off...
:/
I guess I saw a different joke when that look of realisation came across his face. "My mother told me to spread happiness... so now I'm a French waiter..."
Sod off.
@The Wandering Knight It's a very respectable profession. Waiters are responsible for the edibility of food, too.
not you, the general public, that would laugh at him, not understanding that simple meaning of life. And so much better meaning than ruling the world, causing harm and suffering...
Idiot - its about how he becomes a waiter and forget his dreams and meaning of life. waiters are trash , and you are stupid idiot. its not about how good to be a waiter lol
This is the most tragically European character of all time.
The way he walks is spot on.
What's interesting is that considering he speaks with French accent, he was probably born in France and moved to Britain later in life. That means he and the camerman walked all the way from UK to France in that montage.
Yes to emphasize how important would be to the observer what he would disclose.And in the end he realizes how mundane his story is and how common his life is and projects his anger and shame with the "f...ck of"....Sad but true for almost all of us...
Perhaps he was born in that lovely quaint cottage in the English countryside, and then soon afterwards his family moved to France where he was raised, and lived for many years before returning? Yes I know you shouldn't really dissect Monty Python.
Ah, the genius of Monty Python! When I get fed up with the inevitable aches and restrictions of old age, I remind myself that I was privileged enough to be around to watch Monty Python weekly as each brilliant episode unfolded - so it's worth it!
When this was filmed, it was. VERY DIFFICULT to move the camera like that. Today a move like that would be pretty routine. But this was a big undertaking back then.
Just want the youngins to realize that.
Steadicam?
Steadicams were developed for Kubrick's "The Shining" in 1979. Those were available in late 1982 which is when this was shot, but the camera was indeed heavy and it could not store too much film.
@@ricarleite the first steadycam was used in Rocky I, going up the stairs of the museum.
Yes a variation of the steadicam. Adding to the complexity is the exposure going from indoors to out as well as pulling focus. This would have been much more difficult than using the technology today.
@@r3dl0g1c and look at that nice subtle rack focus when he points out his childhood home, it was so perfectly smooth I couldn't believe it
I wish this is how the movie ended. I know they discussed ending it like this before deciding on Christmas in Heaven, but I think this would have been the perfect ending. It’s beautiful in a way
I heard that this scene was going to happen after Christmas in Heaven.
Editor Julian Doyle had originally structured it to go over the end credits. For whatever reason, this idea was rejected.
"The World is a beautiful place. You must go into it and love everyone, but to make everyone happy, and bring peace and content with everywhere you go..."
Every waiter's/waitress' mother around the World
(Pythons at their very best. Simply brilliant)
Jesus, that's some of the best Steadicam operation I've ever seen.
Nah, just a cheap Chinese gimbal and a go pro mate.
I always lose it, when he says: „Mind the stairs!“, and consecutively raises his finger to add: „I think this will help explain!“, because it totally doesn‘t, and I just have to mention: that‘s totally me, whenever I try to get a point across or explain something to someone else.
Apart from anything else, technically brilliant.
At the center of it all... insecurity.
"Man is driven in toto by his insecurities." Hesh, The Sopranos.
Exactly. Insecurity about his life and it's philosophy, the realisation followed the insecurity. Perhaps people don't critically evaluate their beliefs as you say because of this insecurity?
And unbearable cliché of our life stories while we think we are unique
"He alone is great and happy who fills his own station of independence, and has neither to command nor to obey." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The indifferent Cat archetype
Such a very well shot piece, so atmospheric, a fantastic snapshot of the era. How I wish I could go back to then, I don't have many regrets, would just love to do it all over again.
Well you can't.
@@mattiemclean9882 And that's what makes it all the more desirable, we always want what we haven't got, or can't have.
I’ve watched this multiple times, but it popped up just now when I need it most.
Hilarious, always makes me crack up.
This always reminds me of an old French waiter I knew when I was a teenager. He was in his 60's and he would start telling these long stories about his youth and his wisdom of life. Usually the stories made absolutely no sense and were just random ramblings while he was drunk. This old waiter would always get pissed that people didn't understand nor appreciate his ramblings so it always ended with him saying "F-You or F-OFF" and he would storm out of the room.
Now it is my headcanon this waiter is just this character as an aged up person
Some how to me , that's the French !
J’aime cette histoire
Me too
My dad was a posh waiter!
this sounds too good to be true, but I'm inclined to believe it.
Perhaps best piece of acting Eric Idle did - seriously.
This is actually a really clever sketch
And I basically just followed this nigga for three minutes and a second xD.
You can see the exact moment when his life philosophy breaks down xD
How did Mr Creosote get up those stairs
A special reciprocating dual blast stairlift
He had whirrring helicopter blades around his head www.flickr.com/photos/joecws/19732505232/
They rolled him
There is a lift for industrial crates.
I suppose.
By using the one irresistible tool in his social arsenal - immense charm!
This was meant to be the ending of the film.
Like the credits would start rolling and end with him at the house, he says fuck off and the film goes black.
That would have been perfect.
I was half expecting the house to explode.
How not to be seen..
The penguin on top of the television just might.
Working in my family's restaurant all my life, this scene hits home in so many ways LOL.
I think he realised that of all he was the one who was not happy. The Monty Python were philosophers.
This seems like a long drawn-out joke at first, but looking back on this, and over the years I started to realize it is really incredibly deep philosophy disguised in a superficially silly way! I love the way Monty Python could do a punch line!
we need a full length, two hour, movie version of this
edit: all in one take
Absolutely
all that time for big fuck you to the audiance, Genius
Honestly, his whole speech is the epitome of the meaning of life. Especially his reaction when questioned - FUCK YOU, I'll live my own life in my own way if I want to!
A beautiful scene, you can feel the emotion when he tells his story.
His French accent started out well enough but he just about lost it at the end :)
I think his great-great-great-great grandfather was that french in the Holly Grail movie, the one in that castle.
The french taunter?
@@nurlindafsihotang49 YES!
@iwan2die Mind your own business!
this scene really affected me when I first saw it a few years ago. And I take to heart what he said. Live your life your own way.
I do not think that is the point here. It is a bitter remark on the meaning of life...
@@zotsi6218 I don't care if you don't think that's the point. Lol it's literally up to the person watching it...why don't you get that?
Yeah but he lived life his mother's way 😁
"So.. i became a waiter..." That's perfect!
There is no philosophy more noble than the French Waiter's ♡
Though I didn't really like this movie, I must commend the Pythons for their mastery of many cinematic techniques in it, including the Steadicam (a relatively new thing at the time), as well as their tasteful choice of locations, here a Baroque/Beaux Arts French restaurant/hotel and the pastoral French countryside. In fact, I once had a similar experience in France (without the rebuff at the end), where a woman asked me to follow her up the stairs of a lavish Baroque hotel ("Vous pouvez venir avec moi, s'il vous plaît?"), and I dined in restaurants like this, so at least this scene brought back memories. Merci bien!
By far the best of the Python films. Holy Grail is 100% silliness and hasn’t aged that well. This movie will still be fantastic 200 years from now
Probably one of the best one-shots of its time
The sound of the plane at the end is the icing on the cake.
Speaking empirically as an Englishman in France for over ten years, the end of this scene is sadly how most interractions with restaurants begin if you dare ask for something cooked 'properly'!
What a silly request 🤪
Why don't you ask for reasonable charges when you're at it ?!
@@lamaisontokyo4696 I like your thinking....we should do lunch! Bien cuit pour moi s'il vous plait. 😂
You see it as your right as a customer to get it cooked the way you want. But it pains most people who have some appreciation of the culinary arts to have good-quality cuts wasted with overcooking. "Well done" and "bien cuit" really mean "badly overcooked" for grilled beef. It becomes dry, chewier, and the difference between a good meat-cow and an old dairy-cow vanishes.
It actually is much of a philosophy and i love it
When you think about it, this is how everyone seems to be, actually.
Most of all, if you're a professional at it, you can become a politician, and live off the backs of others by doing nothing but this to large groups of people.
I was looking down scrolling through the comments, hoping to find this answer, its beautiful dont you think,.. FOLLOW ANDRE EVERYBODY
I forgot about this bit. I love it when he says "I know it's not much but... F**k you." Gets me every single time.😆
One of the most quoted things from the movie I use. "Nearly there now" not too many people pick up on it.
Happy Birthday Eric! You've always been a part of my life...Woohoo!
This was the first scene of this film I ever saw when it was on TV. I was instantly hooked.
Best scene in this, or any other movie, EVER!
When I watched the film, I was dying from laughter the whole set, but the ending just totally killed me!
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition
The meaning of life was the best movie I ever saw. I was a kid back then, and it still makes me laugh today ;)
I could live forever in that moment- being led through green countrysides by a friendly French waiter that looks exactly like Eric Idle.
This is so simple and can sound dumb if you tell someone but it is so good. I saw the movie more than one, but I never forget this part. I don't know how to explain but I feel it is so perfect.
I was waiting for that gigant foot to crush the house
This accent is how french portray stereotypical italian speaking.
+TheFiresloth, he made a terrible accent in this sketch. I'm not sure if it was on purpose or if his fake french accent is actually that bad...
It's Python - anything is allowed.
TheFiresloth Yeah. He kind of sounds like Al Pacino.
Oh, it's definitely on purpose. It's even worse in the Holy Grail movie
I'm French and I feel like he has a pretty good french accent
me: escuse me where do you have office supplies?
the store employee:
I remember watching this film in the cinema , and as this scene unfolded , thinking that perhaps the Muse was indeed deserting the Pythons on this occasion.
Very nicely put Eric.
"Well Fuck You. I can live my own life in my own way. Fuck Off!"
My sentiment exactly!!!
This should be the end of the movie!
In the book "Monty Python Speaks!", one contributor felt that this whole scene, from the aftermath of Creosote to the arrival at the country House, should have been put right at the very end of the movie after the end credits. It would have served as a callback to the memorable Mr. Creosote, and also worked as a typical Monty Python abrupt ending following a moment of poignancy.
Nah, the Death segment is brilliant too. I consider this one the best Monty Python movie. The other two, somehow do not connect as much.
Going down the rabbit hole... just to find nothing .
This sketch is genius on so many levels.
I have a feeling its a parody of Sartre's example of the waiter in Being and Nothingness
There is so much wisdom in this.
One of my favorite scenes in all film.
Did anyone else here actually see this in the theaters when it came out in 1979/1980? Back then, the swearing was quite rare and outrageous. Gave it an even bigger impact.
Yes I saw it, me and my mate watched it in a downtown picture theatre. And it was 1983.
I love how toward the end where he gets angry, you hear him slip a few times with the french accent
audience: "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU TAKING US?!"
I love how this shows 1970s UK Streets
The birth of hair metal 1:06.
A seemingly trifling handshake in an alley entrance, and music is changed forever.
@TheAllwalksoflife You know, I never really looked at it that way before. Originally when I saw this and thought about it I saw sincerity behind it, and the beauty of such a simple idea. The meaning of life is what you make it. The world is beautiful, try and have a good time, don't be a dick, and follow your heart, and always look on the bright side of life.
It is hard to sum up a single life within 3min, let alone all the hard work done every single day.
The best of the best scene in whole MPFC! Love it.
I have an interesting story about how this scene came along, and what it all means. It was told by a relative of mine who actually worked on the film. He mentioned how one day he actually got chatting to Eric between takes. It always fills me with happiness when I remember Seeing the look of pride on my great uncles face knowing that he’d worked with such great people. What happened was this......
Actually, no. Fuck off!
Why should I tell you!
I didn’t ask you to read this.
Fuck off!
Hahahaha
Brilliant
Well played, sir.
One of the funniest scenes ever.
Also tragic, because after walking off the job like that I don't think he's a waiter for that restaurant anymore.
He probably found another job. London is full of restaurants and waiters are much sought after.
How I love this scene
The birth of Manuel from Fawlty towers 👌
Had he been a real French waiter, he would have said “ ‘appy “ instead of “happy.”
I remember seeing this movie when I was about 7. It changed me. God bless the pythons
Yes oddly beautiful. The Meaning of life is very deep
Let us play rugby!
great character
Eric Idle, the most talented of the Pythons
Non..ce ne est pas le cas..il était passager
Eric Idle was the one who was better with words, puns, and lyrics. He wrote most of the lyrics used for Python show and films, and wrote sketches that involved fast paced dialogue, puns, or difficult dialogue (which he was a master of). He wasn't the funniest one or the most talented performer (except musically, he was the best singer).
Superb acting and comic timing. I've seen this skit a dozen times and every time, the punch-line hits me out of nowhere.
Palin. All-day
no that's chapman
Now that's the England I miss.
This is so good I want to comment, but alas, I won't.
Can't, definitely.
... how did Cresote get up those stairs? .........?!
Felix Catora By hovercraft full of eels, duh.
He bounced silly
There is a lift
I think this would have been the superior final scene to the Meaning of Life, i really like Eric Idle's performance.
I use to love this movie as a kid and only now do I realize that the actual meaning of life was in this scene
The real meaning of life is “Know, love and serve God in this life and to be happy with him forever in The next life.” Baltimore Catechism. 😊
I've never understood how a Frenchman could be born within walking distance of London and yet still have a strong French accent. Unless of course he walked across the channel and they just cut that bit out of the movie. There again maybe he was born near London and then grew up in France.........
If everyone lived like that, what a sweet world it would be.