Monty Python's Life of Brian
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Template:Infobox Film Life of Brian is a 1979 film by Monty Python which deals with the life of Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman), a young man born nearly the same time as, and right down the street from, Jesus.
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the greatest comedy film of all time. In 2004 the same magazine named it the 5th greatest British film of all time. On the IMDb, the film is consistently ranked among the top 250 films of all time.
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Synopsis
Brian (Graham Chapman) was born in the stable a few doors down from the one Jesus was born in (a fact which initially confuses the three wise men come to praise him, as they must instead put up with his boorish mother Mandy). He grows up to be an idealistic young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea and becomes infatuated with an attractive young rebel, who persuades him to join one of the many fractious and bickering separatist movements to strike at the Roman occupiers (despite his first attempt at writing graffiti on the city wall being criticised for its improper Latin grammar and the guard, in a manner resembling that of an old-fasioned english grammar school teacher, forcing him to copy it one hundred times as punishment).
However, a series of unfortunate coincidences - and some meaningless babble recited as an attempt to avoid the Roman guards - sees the majority of people come to regard him as the Messiah. Despite his best efforts to (a) convince people that this isn't the case and (b) try and use his influence to get people to embrace their individuality and not rely on Godheads or authority figures (advice which is merely parrotted unthinkingly back at him), he is arrested, sentenced to death, crucified, and abandoned by anyone who could possibly help him. Still, got to look on the bright side of life.
Analysis
Life of Brian is essentially a classic farce and is eloquently summed up by Brian's mother (played by Terry Jones) saying, "He's not the messiah; he's a very naughty boy". This notwithstanding, the film is variously seen as a critique of excessive religiosity, a satire depicting organised and popular religion as a racket involving hypocrisy and zealotry, a sacrilegious film "deserving censorship", or just a very funny movie.
It also pokes fun at revolutionary groups by featuring several factions that are nominally protesting against the Roman occupation of Judea, but are in fact more at loggerheads with one another (examples include 'The Judean People's Front', 'The People's Front of Judea', and (with only one member) 'The Judean Popular People's Front')[1]. According to the DVD commentary, this part of the story is a satire on the multiplication of ineffectual left-wing parties in Britain in the 1970s. These revolutionary groups would splinter every few weeks and would be angrier at each other than they were at the British government.
The film contains all members of Monty Python in multiple roles, and also features cameos by Spike Milligan (who happened to be on holiday in Tunisia where the filming was taking place), and George Harrison (without whom the film would not have been made — since Harrison set up Handmade Films to help fund it after the subject matter scared off the original backers, EMI). Chris Langham also appears as a centurion.
Either by accident or design, several characters are never named during the film, although they do have names which are used in the tracklisting for the soundtrack album and elsewhere. There is no mention of the fact that Eric Idle's ever-cheerful joker is called "Mr. Cheeky", that the terribly well-meaning Roman guard played by Michael Palin is (aptly) named "Nisus Wettus", or that Brian's mother (Terry Jones) is named "Mandy".
The movie's critical moment seems to be when Brian speaks to a large crowd of his followers:
- Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, You don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for yourselves! You're ALL individuals!
- The Crowd: Yes! We're all individuals!
- Brian: You're all different!
- The Crowd: Yes, we ARE all different!
- Man in crowd: I'm not...
- The Crowd: Shhhh!
Notes on the character names
"Brian" is an interesting example of a cultural meme at work. It probably began with a British TV commercial which ends with young boy telling his older brother "I wish I was clever like you, Brian." This connected with interviews between sports commentator Brian Moore and British football players, who are typically not very bright and tended to preface every response with "Well, Brian...". The Python team picked up on this and used it in parodies. The name also appeared in the animated series The Magic Roundabout which enjoyed some popularity among college students for its offbeat humour.
"Mandy" (Brian's mother) probably derives from Mandy Rice-Davies, an actress and participant in the Profumo affair, with influence from one of the characters portrayed by the popular comedian Dick Emery.
Blasphemy allegations
The film initially attracted some complaints about Michael Palin and Graham Chapman's portrayals of characters with speech impediments (e.g. Biggus Dickus), but Palin insisted that this was solely for humorous purposes. Indeed, his father had a stammer, and he has since both given his name to and supported 'The Michael Palin Centre'[2], which offers "specialist assessment and therapy service in stammering." However, what caused most contention was the film's supposed blasphemous content.
Protests against the film were organised based on its perceived blasphemy, not the least of which because the film ends with a comical song sung by the victims of a mass crucifixion ("Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"). Ironically, this song was later re-released with great success, after being sung by British football fans. The increase in popularity, though, became evident in 1982 during the Falklands War when British Sailors injured in an Argentine attack started singing it. Indeed, many people have come to see the song as a life-affirming ode to optimism. ("The Bright Side Of Life" is also featured in Eric Idle's Spamalot, a Broadway musical loosely based upon Monty Python and the Holy Grail.)
On its initial UK release the film was banned by some town councils (some of which had no cinemas within their boundaries). The film was also banned for eight years in the Republic of Ireland and for a year in Norway (it was marketed in Sweden as "the movie that is so funny it was banned in Norway!"). The film was not released in Italy until 1990, eleven years after it was made. The film was not shown on Jersey until 2001. The Bailiff of Jersey, Frank Ereaut's government wanted it to be watched only by adults, even though the BBFC rated it suitable for those aged 14 or over.
Accusations of blasphemy also centred on an off-the-cuff comment by Eric Idle who, asked about the name of the Pythons' forthcoming feature, replied "Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory". It has been variously reported, however, that this idea was merely one of a number abandoned at an early brain-storming stage, mainly when it became clear that a parody of Jesus' life just would not work or as the Pythons put it "we discovered (after extensive research) that Jesus's ways are unknockable".
The focus shifted to a separate individual born at a similar time and a legend was born. When Jesus does appear in the film (as he does on two occasions — in the stable and speaking the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-48)), he is portrayed according to Christian beliefs. The comedy only begins when members of the crowd mishear his statement "Blessed are the Peacemakers..." ("I think he said, 'blessed are the cheesemakers"; also, later, there is some debate on whether the 'Greek' should inherit the Earth).
Mary Whitehouse and other campaigners launched waves of leaflets and picketing at and around cinemas that showed the film, ironically boosting the publicity. Leaflets suggesting that the Wise Men would not have approached the wrong stable (as they do in the opening of the film), and similar arguments are documented in the Robert Hewison book Monty Python: The Case Against (ISBN 0413486605). Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a debate over it on the BBC2 discussion programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning, in which Malcolm Muggeridge and the Bishop of Southwark put the case against the film. Cleese has frequently said that he enjoyed the debate, since he felt that the film was "completely intellectually defensible". (The debate was then itself sent up the following week in the classic Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch General Synod's Life of Christ.)
For their part, the Pythons contend on the DVD commentary that the film is heretical because it lampoons the practices of modern organised religion, but does not blasphemously lampoon the God that Christians worship.
Re-releases
On 24 March 2004, CNN reported that the film distributor Rainbow Film Company would be issuing a re-release (marketed as a "Second Coming") of Life of Brian on April 30, 2004 in Los Angeles and New York before expanding to other cities across the USA through May 2004. This was variously reported to be a direct result of the release of Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, or the 25th anniversary of the original theatrical release.
Spin-offs
Spin-offs include a script-book The Life of Brian of Nazareth, which is backed by the aptly named MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK... (The printing of this book also caused problems, since there are rarely-used technical laws in the UK against "blasphemy" dictating what can and cannot be written about religion—the publisher refused to print both halves of the book, and original prints are printed by two companies).
An audio recording of Monty Python's Life of Brian (album) has been released on the Disky label.
External links
- {{{2|{{{title|Monty Python's Life of Brian}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Entire movie script
- Transcript of the sketch The General Synod's Life of Christ
- Keith Short - Film Sculptor Image of giant feet sculpted for this film
- A Monty Python & Britcom forum
- Monty Python Forums
- George Perry essay at criterionco.com
Reviews
- Filmcritic.com review of Life of Brian
- James Berardinelli's Review on Life of Brian
- Rotten Tomatoes entry on Life of Brian
Literature
- Hewison, Robert. Monty Python: The Case Against. New York: Grove, 1981. (ISBN 0413486605) This book discusses at length the censorship and controversy surrounding the film.
| Monty Python | Image:MontyPythonFootLeftSmall.jpg | |
|---|---|---|
| Members | Graham Chapman • John Cleese • Terry Gilliam • Eric Idle • Terry Jones • Michael Palin | |
| Other Contributors | Douglas Adams • Connie Booth • Carol Cleveland • Neil Innes | |
| Films & TV Series | Monty Python's Flying Circus • Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus • And Now For Something Completely Different • Monty Python and the Holy Grail • Monty Python's Life of Brian • Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl • Monty Python's The Meaning of Life • Monty Python's Personal Best | |
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