Quentin Tarantino Admits This Monty Python Scene Made Him Physically Sick

Quentin Tarantino once revealed which Monty Python scene made him physically sick, and it wasn’t the gory “Live Organ Transplants” segment from The Meaning of Life that many would expect.

That scene, featuring John Cleese and Graham Chapman removing Terry Gilliam’s liver while he’s alive, is full of blood and gore, the kind of thing Tarantino himself often includes in his films. But for the legendary director, a different moment pushed him over the edge.

The scene that truly made Tarantino queasy was “The Autumn Years,” which stars Terry Jones as the grotesque Mr. Creosote. In this segment, Creosote is an absurdly overweight dinner guest who vomits repeatedly and at high intensity.

Tarantino told The Irish Examiner, “The only time I’ve ever had to look away, because I couldn’t bear to watch, was The Meaning Of Life, when that fat b***** keeps being sick. I felt really nauseous – it was just too much. I was looking around and I thought, ‘If anyone here is sick and I have to smell vomit, I’m going to hurl.’”

He admitted that he barely managed to stay composed during the scene. “I just about held onto my lunch in the end, but I still can’t think about that scene without retching,” Tarantino added.

For a filmmaker known for pushing boundaries with violence and gore, this was a rare moment of real discomfort. The Mr. Creosote sketch was one of the last Monty Python skits to feature contributions from all six members. Jones and Michael Palin created the original outline, which was then refined by Cleese and Chapman.

Terry Gilliam designed the fat suit, eventually showing an open chest cavity, while Eric Idle provided the opening song, “The Not Noël Coward Song.”

Tarantino has said that watching the Mr. Creosote scene gave him insight into how far an audience can be pushed when it comes to on-screen grossness.

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