''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
starring and written by the comedy group
Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
(
Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two P ...
,
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
,
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including ''Time Bandits'' (1981), ''B ...
,
Eric Idle
Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...
,
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team.
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
and
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
). It was directed by Jones. The film tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Chapman), a young
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
-
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
man who is born on the same day as—and next door to—
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, and is subsequently mistaken for the
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
.
Following the withdrawal of funding by
EMI Films
EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief conne ...
just days before production was scheduled to begin, long-time Python fan and former
Beatle George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
arranged financing for ''Life of Brian'' through the formation of his company
HandMade Films
HandMade Films was a British film production and distribution company. Notable films from the studio include ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'', ''Time Bandits'', ''The Long Good Friday'' and ''Withnail and I''.
History
Foundation
HandMade Fil ...
.
The film's themes of religious satire were controversial at the time of its release, drawing accusations of
blasphemy
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
and protests from some religious groups. Thirty-nine local authorities in the United Kingdom either imposed an outright ban, or imposed an
X (18 years) certificate. Some countries, including
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, banned its showing, and in a few of these, such as Italy, bans lasted decades. The filmmakers used the notoriety to promote the film, with posters in Sweden reading, "So funny, it was banned in Norway!"
The film was a box office success, the fourth-highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom in 1979, and highest grossing of any British film in the United States that year. It has remained popular and has been named as the
greatest comedy film of all time by several magazines and television networks, and it later received a 96% "Certified Fresh" rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
with the consensus reading, "One of the more cutting-edge films of the 1970s, this religious farce from the classic comedy troupe is as poignant as it is funny and satirical."
In a 2006
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
poll, ''Life of Brian'' was ranked first on their list of the
50 Greatest Comedy Films.
Plot
Brian Cohen is born in a stable next door to the one in which Jesus is born, which initially confuses the
three wise men
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...
who come to praise the future King of the Jews. Brian later grows up into an idealistic young man who resents the continuing
Roman occupation of Judea. While listening to Jesus's
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
, Brian becomes infatuated with an attractive young rebel, Judith. His desire for her and hatred of the Romans, further exaggerated by his mother revealing Brian himself is half-Roman, inspire him to join the "People's Front of Judea" (PFJ), one of many fractious and bickering
independence movements
Presented below is a list of lists of active separatist movements:
*List of active separatist movements in Africa
*List of active separatist movements in Asia
*List of active separatist movements in Europe
*List of active separatist movements i ...
which spend more time fighting each other than they do the Romans.
To prove himself, Brian is tasked by the PFJ to paint slogans on
Roman governor
A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many provinces constituting the Roman Empire.
The generic term in Roman legal language was '' Rector provinciae ...
Pilate
Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...
's palace, but is interrupted by a
Roman officer. The officer however, is more concerned with Brian's appalling grammar and, after correcting the slogan, orders him to write it repeatedly. The next morning, Brian has finished writing out the slogan one hundred times and is subsequently chased away by a separate patrol of
legionaries
The Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius'', plural ''legionarii'') was a professional heavy infantryman of the Roman army after the Marian reforms. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the late Republi ...
, unaware that Brian's act of vandalism had actually been ordered by one of their own Centurions. Brian then participates in an abortive attempt by the PFJ to kidnap Pilate's wife but is captured by the palace guards.
Escaping when the guards suffer paroxysms of laughter over Pilate's speech impediment, Brian winds up trying to blend in among prophets preaching in a busy plaza, repeating fragments of Jesus' sermons. He stops his sermon mid-sentence when some Roman soldiers depart, leaving his small but intrigued audience demanding to know more. Brian grows frantic when people start following him to the mountains, and there they declare him to be the messiah. After spending a night in with Judith, Brian, still naked, discovers an enormous crowd assembled outside his mother's house. Her attempts at dispersing the crowd are rebuffed, so she consents to Brian addressing them. He urges them to think for themselves, but they parrot his words as doctrine.
The PFJ seeks to exploit Brian's celebrity status by having him minister to a thronging crowd of followers demanding
miracle cures. Brian sneaks out the back, only to be captured by the Romans and is sentenced to
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
. In celebration of Passover, a crowd has assembled outside the palace of Pilate, who offers to pardon a prisoner of their choice. The crowd shouts out names containing the letter "r", mocking Pilate's
rhotacistic speech impediment. Eventually, Judith appears in the crowd and calls for the release of Brian, which the crowd echoes, and Pilate agrees to "welease Bwian".
His order is eventually relayed to the guards, but in a scene that parodies the climax of the film ''
Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...
'', various crucified people all claim to be "Brian" so they can be freed and the wrong man is released. Other opportunities for a reprieve for Brian are denied as the PFJ and then Judith praise his martyrdom, while his mother expresses regret for having raised him. Hope is renewed when a crack suicide squad from the "Judean People's Front" charges and prompts the Roman soldiers to flee; however, the squad commits mass suicide as a form of political protest. Condemned to a slow and painful death, Brian finds his spirits lifted by his fellow sufferers, who cheerfully sing "
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the Python film '' Life of Brian'' and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matc ...
."
Cast
*
Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two P ...
as Brian Cohen (of Nazareth), Biggus Dickus (who has a
lisp
A lisp is a speech impairment in which a person misarticulates sibilants (, , , , , , , ). These misarticulations often result in unclear speech.
Types
* A frontal lisp occurs when the tongue is placed anterior to the target. Interdental lisping ...
), 2nd wise man
*
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
as Reg,
High priest
The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste.
Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...
, Centurion of the Yard, Deadly Dirk, Arthur, 1st wise man
*
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including ''Time Bandits'' (1981), ''B ...
as Another person further forward (at Mount – "Do you hear that? 'Blessed are the Greek'!"), Revolutionary, Blood and Thunder prophet, Geoffrey, Gaoler, Audience Member, Frank, Crucifee
*
Eric Idle
Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...
as Mr Cheeky, Stan/Loretta, Harry the Haggler, Culprit woman who casts first stone, Warris, Intensely dull youth, Otto, Gaoler's assistant, Mr. Frisbee III
*
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team.
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
as Mandy Cohen (Brian's mother), Colin, Simon the Holy Man, Bob Hoskins, Saintly passer-by, Alarmed Crucifixion Assistant
*
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
as Mr Big-Nose, Francis, Mrs. A, Culprit woman who casts second stone, Ex-leper, Announcer, Ben,
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...
, Boring Prophet, Eddie, Shoe Follower, Nisus Wettus, 3rd wise man
*
Terence Bayler
Terence Bayler (24 January 1930 – 2 August 2016) was a New Zealand film, television, and stage actor. His most memorable roles were in '' Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979) and ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (2001).
Biograph ...
as Mr Gregory, 2nd Centurion, Dennis
*
Carol Cleveland
Carol Cleveland (born 13 January 1942) is a British-American actress and comedian, particularly known for her work with Monty Python.
Early life
Born in East Sheen, London, she moved to the United States with her mother and U.S. Air Force step ...
as Mrs. Gregory, Woman #1, Elsie
*
Charles McKeown
Charles McKeown ( ; born 1946) is a British actor and writer, perhaps best known for his collaborations with Terry Gilliam. The two met while shooting '' Monty Python's Life of Brian'', while McKeown was doing bit parts in the film.
Screenwriti ...
as False Prophet, Blind Man, Giggling Guard, Stig, Man #1
*
Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...
as
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
*
Neil Innes
Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the Mon ...
as A Weedy
Samaritan
*
John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...
as Matthias
*
Gwen Taylor
Gwen Taylor (born 19 February 1939) is an English actress who has appeared in many British television programmes. She is known for her roles as Amy Pearce in the sitcom ''Duty Free'' (1984–1986); Barbara Liversidge in the sitcom '' Barbara'' ...
as Mrs Big-Nose, Woman with ill donkey, Female heckler
*
Sue Jones-Davies
Sue Jones-Davies (born 1 January 1949) is a Welsh actress, singer and local politician. She played Judith Iscariot in the film '' Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979) and was Mayor of Aberystwyth from 2008 to 2009.
Early life and education
Sue ...
as Judith Iscariot
*
Chris Langham
Christopher Langham (born 14 April 1949) is an English writer, actor, and comedian. He is known for playing the cabinet minister Hugh Abbot in the BBC sitcom '' The Thick of It'', and as presenter Roy Mallard in '' People Like Us'', first on B ...
as Alfonso, Giggling Guard
*
Andrew MacLachlan
Andrew MacLachlan (27 February 1941 – 17 December 2018) was a Scottish people, Scottish first-class cricketer and actor who was active on United Kingdom, British television and in films 1979 to 2006.
Early life and cricket
The son of the Sco ...
as Another Official Stoners Helper, Giggling Guard
*
Bernard McKenna as Parvus, Official Stoners Helper, Giggling Guard, Sergeant
*
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
as Mr Papadopoulis
*
Charles Knode as Passer-by (uncredited)
Several characters remained unnamed during the film but do have names that are used in the soundtrack album track listing and elsewhere. There is no mention in the film that Eric Idle's ever-cheerful joker is called "Mr Cheeky", or that the Roman guard played by Michael Palin is named "Nisus Wettus".
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
plays a prophet, ignored because his acolytes are chasing after Brian. By coincidence Milligan was visiting his old
World War II battlefields in Tunisia where the film was being made. The Pythons were alerted to this and he was included in the scene being filmed that morning. He left in the afternoon before he could be included in any of the close-up or publicity shots for the film.
Production
Pre-production
There are various stories about the origins of ''Life of Brian''. Shortly after the release of ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) an ...
'' (1975), Eric Idle flippantly suggested that the title of the Pythons' forthcoming feature would be ''Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory'' (a play on the UK title for the 1970 American film ''
Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in Franc ...
'').
This was after he had become frustrated at repeatedly being asked what it would be called, despite the troupe not having given the matter of a third film any consideration. However, they shared a distrust of organised religion, and, after witnessing the critically acclaimed ''Holy Grail''s enormous financial turnover, confirming an appetite among the fans for more cinematic endeavours, they began to seriously consider a film lampooning the
New Testament era in the same way that ''Holy Grail'' had lampooned
Arthurian legend
The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...
. All they needed was an idea for a plot. Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, while promoting ''Holy Grail'' in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, had come up with a sketch in which Jesus' cross is falling apart because of the idiotic carpenters who built it and he angrily tells them how to do it correctly. However, after an early
brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members.
In other words, brainstorming is a situation where a grou ...
stage, and despite being non-believers, they agreed that Jesus was "definitely a good guy" and found nothing to mock in his actual teachings: "He's not particularly funny, what he's saying isn't mockable, it's very decent stuff", said Idle later.
After settling on the name Brian for their new protagonist, one idea considered was that of "the 13th disciple".
The focus eventually shifted to a separate individual born at a similar time and location who would be mistaken for the Messiah, but had no desire to be followed as such.
Writing
The first draft of the screenplay, provisionally titled ''The Gospel According to St. Brian'', was ready by Christmas 1976. The final pre-production draft was ready in January 1978, following "a concentrated two-week writing and water-skiing period in
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
".
The film would not have been made without Python fan Beatle
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
, who set up
HandMade Films
HandMade Films was a British film production and distribution company. Notable films from the studio include ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'', ''Time Bandits'', ''The Long Good Friday'' and ''Withnail and I''.
History
Foundation
HandMade Fil ...
to help fund it at a cost of £3 million.
Harrison put up the money for it as he "wanted to see the movie"—later described by Terry Jones as the "world's most expensive cinema ticket."
The original backers—
EMI Films
EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief conne ...
and, particularly,
Bernard Delfont
Bernard Delfont, Baron Delfont (born Boris Winogradsky; 5 September 1909 – 28 July 1994) was a leading Russian-born British theatrical impresario.
Life and career
Delfont was born in Tokmak, Berdyansky Uyezd, Taurida Governorate, Russian ...
—had been scared off at the last minute by the subject matter.
The very last words in the film are: "I said to him, 'Bernie, they'll never make their money back on this one'", teasing Delfont for his lack of faith in the project. Terry Gilliam later said, "They pulled out on the Thursday. The crew was supposed to be leaving on the Saturday. Disastrous. It was because they read the script ... finally."
[
] As a reward for his help, Harrison appears in a
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
as Mr. Papadopoulos, "owner of the Mount", who briefly shakes hands with Brian in a crowd scene (at 1:08:50 in the film). His one word of dialogue (a cheery but out of place
Scouse
Scouse (; formally known as Liverpool English or Merseyside English) is an Accent (dialect), accent and dialect of English language, English associated with Liverpool and the surrounding county of Merseyside. The Scouse accent is highly dis ...
"'ullo") had to be dubbed in later by Michael Palin.
Filming
![TUNISIE MONASTIR RIBAT 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/TUNISIE_MONASTIR_RIBAT_02.jpg)
Terry Jones was solely responsible for directing, having amicably agreed with Gilliam (who co-directed ''Holy Grail'') to do so, with Gilliam concentrating on the look of the film. ''Holy Grail''s production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of
set design
Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...
. However, this did not put an absolute end to their feuding. On the DVD commentary, Gilliam expresses pride in one set in particular, the main hall of
Pilate's fortress, which had been designed so that it looked like an ancient synagogue that the Romans had converted by dumping
their structural artefacts (such as marble floors and columns) on top. He reveals his consternation at Jones for not paying enough attention to it in the
cinematography
Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...
. Gilliam also worked on the
matte
Matte may refer to:
Art
* paint with a non-glossy finish. See diffuse reflection.
* a framing element surrounding a painting or watercolor within the outer frame
Film
* Matte (filmmaking), filmmaking and video production technology
* Matte p ...
paintings, useful in particular for the very first shot of the three wise men against a star-scape and in giving the illusion of the whole of the outside of the fortress being covered in graffiti. Perhaps the most significant contribution from Gilliam was the scene in which Brian accidentally leaps off a high building and lands inside a starship about to engage in an interstellar war. This was done "in camera" using a hand-built model starship and miniature pyrotechnics. Gilliam recounted in an interview: "Well, we didn't know what to do with Brian. He got himself to the top of the tower and we had to rescue him somehow, so I said, 'OK, spaceship for that.' That was purely it."
The film was shot on location in
Monastir,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, which allowed the production to reuse sets from
Franco Zeffirelli
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...
's ''
Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
'' (1977). The Tunisian shoot was documented by
Iain Johnstone
Iain Johnstone (born 8 April 1943 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English author, broadcaster and television producer.
Early life
Johnstone attended Crosfields School, Reading, Campbell College, Belfast and Bristol University.
Career
Johnst ...
for his BBC film ''
The Pythons''. Many locals were employed as extras on ''Life of Brian''. Director Jones noted, "They were all very knowing because they'd all worked for Franco Zeffirelli on ''Jesus of Nazareth'', so I had these elderly Tunisians telling me, 'Well, Mr Zeffirelli wouldn't have done it like that, you know.'"
Further location shooting also took place in Tunisia, at
Sousse
Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...
(Jerusalem outer walls and gateway),
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
(
Roman theatre) and
Matmata (
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
and
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
).
[Palin, Michael. ''Diaries: The Python Years, 1969–1979.'']
Graham Chapman, suffering from
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
, was so determined to play the lead role – at one point coveted by Cleese – that he dried out in time for filming, so much so that he also acted as the on-set doctor.
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
(1 January 2007). ''The Secret Life of Brian''.
Rough cut and pre-screenings
Following shooting between 16 September and 12 November 1978,
a two-hour
rough cut
In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and ...
of the film was put together for its first private showing in January 1979. Over the next few months ''Life of Brian'' was re-edited and re-screened a number of times for different preview audiences, losing a number of entire filmed sequences.
Editing
A number of scenes were cut during the editing process. Five
deleted scene
A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...
s, a total of 13 minutes, including the controversial "Otto", were first made available in 1997 on the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
Laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
. An unknown amount of raw footage was destroyed in 1998 by the company that bought Handmade Films. However, a number of them (of varying quality) were shown the following year on the
Paramount Comedy Channel
Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US versi ...
in the UK. The scenes shown included three shepherds discussing sheep and completely missing the arrival of the angel heralding Jesus's birth, which would have been at the very start of the film; a segment showing the attempted kidnap of Pilate's wife (a large woman played by John Case) whose escape results in a fistfight; a scene introducing hardline
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
Otto, leader of the Judean People's Front (played by Eric Idle) and his men who practise a suicide run in the courtyard; and a brief scene in which Judith releases some birds into the air in an attempt to summon help. The shepherds' scene has badly distorted sound, and the kidnap scene has poor colour quality.
The same scenes that were on the Criterion
laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
can now be found on the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
DVD.
The most controversial cuts were the scenes involving Otto, initially a recurring character, who had a thin
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
moustache and spoke with a German accent, shouting accusations of "racial impurity" at Judeans who were conceived (as Brian was) when their mothers were raped by Roman
centurion
A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...
s, as well as other Nazi phrases. The logo of the Judean People's Front, designed by Terry Gilliam,
was a
Star of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
with a small line added to each point so it resembled a
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
, most familiar in the West as the symbol of the anti-Semitic Nazi movement. The rest of this faction also all had the same thin moustaches, and wore a spike on their helmets, similar to those on
Imperial German helmets. The official reason for the cutting was that Otto's dialogue slowed down the narrative. However, Gilliam, writing in ''The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons'', said he thought it should have stayed, saying "Listen, we've alienated the Christians, let's get the Jews now." Idle himself was said to have been uncomfortable with the character; "It's essentially a pretty savage attack on rabid Zionism, suggesting it's rather akin to Nazism, which is a bit strong to take, but certainly a point of view."
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
's personal journal entries from the period when various edits of ''Brian'' were being test-screened consistently reference the Pythons' and filmmakers' concerns that the Otto scenes were slowing the story down and thus were top of the list to be chopped from the final cut of the film.
However,
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom), Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and High ...
historian David Nash says the removal of the scene represented "a form of self-censorship" and the Otto sequence "which involved a character representative of extreme forms of
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
" was cut "in the interests of smoothing the way for the film's distribution in America."
The only scene with Otto that remains in the film is during the
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
sequence. Otto arrives with his "crack suicide squad", sending the Roman soldiers fleeing in terror. Instead of doing anything useful, they "attack" by committing mass suicide in front of the cross ("Zat showed 'em, huh?" says the dying Otto, to which Brian despondently replies "You silly sods!"), ending Brian's hope of rescue (they do however show some signs of life during the famous rendition of "
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the Python film '' Life of Brian'' and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matc ...
" when they are seen waving their toes in unison in time to the music). Terry Jones once mentioned that the only reason this excerpt was not cut too was due to
continuity reasons, as their dead bodies were very prominently placed throughout the rest of the scene. He acknowledged that some of the humour of this sole remaining contribution was lost through the earlier edits, but felt they were necessary to the overall pacing.
Otto's scenes, and those with Pilate's wife, were cut from the film after the script had gone to the publishers, and so they can be found in the published version of the script. Also present is a scene where, after Brian has led the
Fifth Legion to the headquarters of the People's Front of Judea, Reg (
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
) says "You cunt!! You stupid, bird-brained, flat-headed..." The profanity was overdubbed to "you klutz" before the film was released. Cleese approved of this editing as he felt the reaction to the profanity would "get in the way of the comedy."
An early listing of the sequence of sketches reprinted in ''Monty Python: The Case Against'' by Robert Hewison reveals that the film was to have begun with a set of sketches at an English public school. Much of this material was first printed in the ''
Monty Python's The Life of Brian / Monty Python Scrapbook'' that accompanied the original script publication of ''The Life of Brian'' and then subsequently reused. The song "
All Things Dull and Ugly" and the parody scripture reading "Martyrdom of St. Victor" were performed on ''
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album
''Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album'' is the final studio album by Monty Python, released in 1980. As the title suggests, the album was put together to complete a contract with Charisma Records. Besides newly written songs and sketches ...
'' (1980). The idea of a violent rugby match between school masters and small boys was filmed in ''
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'', also known simply as ''The Meaning of Life'', is a 1983 British musical sketch comedy film written and performed by the Monty Python troupe, directed by Terry Jones. ''The Meaning of Life'' was the last f ...
'' (1983). A sketch about a boy who dies at school appeared on the unreleased ''
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album
''Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck'' is the name of a bootleg of an unreleased album by Monty Python, mostly made up of outtakes from the 1980 sessions for their ''Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album, Contractual Obligation Album' ...
'' (1981).
Soundtrack
An album was also released by Monty Python in 1979 in conjunction with the film. In addition to the "
Brian Song
"Brian Song" is the title song from the 1979 film ''Monty Python's Life of Brian''.[Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the Python film '' Life of Brian'' and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matc ...]
", it contains scenes from the film with brief linking sections performed by Eric Idle and Graham Chapman. The album opens with a brief rendition of "
Hava Nagila
Hava Nagila ( he, הָבָה נָגִילָה, ''Hāvā Nāgīlā'', "Let us rejoice") is a Jewish folk song. It is traditionally sung at celebrations, such as weddings. Written in 1918, it quickly spread through the Jewish diaspora.
History ...
" on Scottish bagpipes. A CD version was released in 1997.
An album of the songs sung in ''
Monty Python's Life of Brian
''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It ...
'' was released on the Disky label. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was later re-released with great success, after being sung by British
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
fans. Its popularity became truly evident in 1982 during the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
when sailors aboard the destroyer
HMS ''Sheffield'', severely damaged in an Argentinean
Exocet
The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Etymology
The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical director ...
missile attack on 4 May, started singing it while awaiting rescue. Many people have come to see the song as a life-affirming ode to
optimism
Optimism is an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled wi ...
. One of its more famous renditions was by the dignitaries of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
's bid to host the
2000 Olympic Games
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
, just after they were awarded to Sydney. Idle later performed the song as part of the
2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry of Wales representing Queen Elizabeth II. The clo ...
. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is also featured in Eric Idle's ''
Spamalot
''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot'') is a musical comedy with music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and book by Idle. It is adapted from the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.
Like the motion picture ...
'', a Broadway musical based upon ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) an ...
'', and was sung by the rest of the Monty Python group at Graham Chapman's memorial service and at the ''
Monty Python Live At Aspen
''Monty Python Live at Aspen'' was a reunion show featuring the surviving members of the Monty Python team: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, appearing on stage together for the first time since their Monty Py ...
'' special. The song is a staple at
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
concerts, where the recording is played after the final encore.
Release
For the original British and Australian releases, a spoof travelogue narrated by John Cleese, ''Away From It All'', was shown before the film itself. It consisted mostly of stock travelogue footage and featured arch comments from Cleese. For instance, a shot of Bulgarian girls in ceremonial dresses was accompanied by the comment "Hard to believe, isn't it, that these simple happy folk are dedicated to the destruction of Western Civilisation as we know it!",
Communist Bulgaria
The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; bg, Народна Република България (НРБ), ''Narodna Republika Balgariya, NRB'') was the official name of Bulgaria, when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the ...
being a member of the
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...
at the time. Not only was this a spoof of travelogues ''per se'', it was a protest against the then common practice in Britain of showing cheaply made banal short features before a main feature.
''Life of Brian'' opened on 17 August 1979 in five North American theatres and grossed US$140,034 ($28,007 per screen) in its opening weekend. Its total gross was $19,398,164. It was the highest grossing British film in North America that year. Released on 8 November 1979 in the UK, the film was the fourth highest-grossing film in Britain in 1979. In London, it opened at the Plaza cinema and grossed £40,470 in its opening week.
On 30 April 2004, ''Life of Brian'' was re-released on five North American screens to "cash in" (as Terry Jones put it)
on the box office success of
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...
's ''
The Passion of the Christ
''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary M ...
''. It grossed $26,376 ($5,275 per screen) in its opening weekend. It ran until October 2004, playing at 28 screens at its widest point, eventually grossing $646,124 during its re-release. By comparison, a re-release of ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) an ...
'' had earned $1.8 million three years earlier. A DVD of the film was also released that year.
Reception
Reviews from critics were mostly positive on the film's release. Movie historian
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
reported that "This will probably offend every creed and denomination equally, but it shouldn't. The funniest and most sustained feature from Britain's bad boys."
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called the film "the foulest-spoken biblical epic ever made, as well as the best-humored—a nonstop orgy of assaults, not on anyone's virtue, but on the funny bone. It makes no difference that some of the routines fall flat because there are always others coming along immediately after that succeed."
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film three stars out of four, writing, "What's endearing about the Pythons is their good cheer, their irreverence, their willingness to allow comic situations to develop through a gradual accumulation of small insanities."
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' gave the film three and a half stars, calling it "a gentle but very funny parody of the life of Jesus, as well as of biblical movies."
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' declared, "Even those of us who find Monty Python too hit-and-miss and gory must admit that its latest effort has numerous moments of hilarity." Clyde Jeavons of ''
The Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' wrote that the script was "occasionally over-raucous and crude," but found the second half of the film "cumulatively hilarious," with "a splendidly tasteless finale, which even
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began h ...
might envy." Gary Arnold of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' had a negative opinion of the film, writing that it was "a cruel fiction to foster the delusion that 'Brian' is bristling with blasphemous nifties and throbbing with impious wit. If only it were! One might find it easier to keep from nodding off."
Over time, ''Life of Brian'' has regularly been cited as a significant contender for the title "greatest comedy film of all time", and has been named as such in polls conducted by ''Total Film'' magazine in 2000,
the British TV network
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
where it topped the poll in the
50 Greatest Comedy Films, and ''The Guardian'' in 2007.
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
lists it as one of the best reviewed comedies, with a 96% approval rating from 67 published reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. Its critical consensus reads, "One of the more cutting-edge films of the 1970s, this religious farce from the classic comedy troupe is as poignant as it is funny and satirical."
In 1999 the British Film Institute, BFI declared ''Life of Brian'' to be the BFI Top 100 British films, 28th best British film of all time. It was the seventh highest ranking comedy on this list (four of the better placed efforts were classic Ealing Films). Another Channel 4 poll in 2001 named it the 23rd greatest film of all time (the only comedy that came higher was Billy Wilder's ''Some Like It Hot'', which was ranked 5th). A 2011 poll by ''Time Out (magazine), Time Out'' magazine ranked it as the third greatest comedy film ever made, behind ''Airplane!'' and ''This is Spinal Tap''. In 2016, ''Empire (film magazine), Empire'' magazine ranked ''Life of Brian'' 2nd in their list of the 100 best British films, with only David Lean’s ''Lawrence of Arabia (film), Lawrence of Arabia'' ranking higher.
Various polls have voted the line, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!" (spoken by Brian's mother Mandy to the crowd assembled outside her house), to be the funniest in film history.
Other famous lines from the film have featured in polls, such as, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" and "I'm Brian and so's my wife".
Controversies
Initial criticism & blasphemy accusations
Richard Webster (British author), Richard Webster comments in ''A Brief History of Blasphemy'' (1990) that "internalised censorship played a significant role in the handling" of ''Monty Python's Life of Brian''. In his view, "As a satire on religion, this film might well be considered a rather slight production. As blasphemy it was, even in its original version, extremely mild. Yet the film was surrounded from its inception by intense anxiety, in some quarters of the Establishment, about the offence it might cause. As a result it gained a certificate for general release only after some cuts had been made. Perhaps more importantly still, the film was shunned by the BBC and ITV, who declined to show it for fear of offending Christians in the UK. Once again a blasphemy was restrained – or its circulation effectively curtailed – not by the force of law but by the internalisation of this law."
On its initial release in the UK, the film was banned by several town councils – some of which had no cinemas within their boundaries, or had not even seen the film. A member of Harrogate (borough), Harrogate council, one of those that banned the film, revealed during a television interview that the council had not seen the film, and had based their opinion on what they had been told by the Nationwide Festival of Light, a grouping with an evangelical Christian base, of which they knew nothing.
In New York (the film's release in the US preceded British distribution), screenings were Picketing (protest), picketed by both rabbis and nuns ("Nuns with banners!" observed Michael Palin).
It was also banned for eight years in Ireland and for a year in Norway (it was marketed in Sweden as "The film so funny that it was banned in Norway").
During the film's theatrical run in Finland, a text explaining that the film was a parody of Hollywood historical epics was added to the opening credits.
In the UK, Mary Whitehouse, and other traditionalist Christians, pamphleteered and picketed locations where the local cinema was screening the film, a campaign that was felt to have Streisand effect, boosted publicity. Leaflets arguing against the film's representation of the New Testament (for example, suggesting that the Wise Men would not have approached the wrong stable as they do in the opening of the film) were documented in Robert Hewison's book ''Monty Python: The Case Against''.
Crucifixion issue
One of the most controversial scenes was the film's ending: Brian's
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
. Many Christian protesters said that it was mocking Jesus' suffering by turning it into a "Jolly Boys Outing" (such as when Mr Cheeky turns to Brian and says: "See, not so bad once you're up!"), capped by Brian's fellow sufferers suddenly bursting into song. This is reinforced by the fact that several characters throughout the film claim crucifixion is not as bad as it seems. For example, when Brian asks his cellmate in prison what will happen to him, he replies: "Oh, you'll probably get away with crucifixion". In another example, Matthias, an old man who works with the People's Front of Judea, dismisses crucifixion as "a doddle" and says being stabbed would be worse.
The director, Terry Jones, issued the following response to this criticism: "Any religion that makes a form of torture into an icon that they worship seems to me a pretty sick sort of religion quite honestly."
The Pythons also pointed out that crucifixion was a standard form of execution in ancient times and not just one especially reserved for Jesus.
Responses from the cast
Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a Friday Night, Saturday Morning#Monty Python's Life of Brian, debate on the BBC Two, BBC2 discussion programme ''Friday Night, Saturday Morning'' with Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, the Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Bishop of Southwark, who put forward arguments against the film. Muggeridge and Stockwood, it was later claimed, had arrived 15 minutes late to see a screening of the picture prior to the debate, missing the establishing scenes demonstrating that Brian and Jesus were two different characters, and hence contended that it was a send-up of Christ himself.
Both Pythons later felt that there had been a strange role reversal in the manner of the debate, with two young upstart comedians attempting to make serious, well-researched points, while the Establishment figures engaged in cheap jibes and point scoring. They also expressed disappointment in Muggeridge, whom all in Python had previously respected as a satirist (he had recently converted to Christianity after meeting Mother Teresa and experiencing what he described as a miracle). Cleese stated that his reputation had "plummeted" in his eyes, while Palin commented, "He was just being Muggeridge, preferring to have a very strong contrary opinion as opposed to none at all."
Muggeridge's verdict on the film was that it was "Such a tenth-rate film that it couldn't possibly destroy anyone's genuine faith." In a 2013 interview on BBC Radio 4, Cleese stated that having recently watched the discussion again he "was astonished, first of all, at how stupid [the two members of the Church] were, and how boring the debate became". He added: "I think the sad thing was that there was absolutely no attempt at a proper discussion – no attempt to find any common ground."
The Pythons unanimously deny that they were ever out to destroy people's faith. On the audio commentary (DVD), DVD audio commentary, they contend that the film is Christian heresy, heretical because it Parody, lampoons the practices of modern organised religion, but that it does not blasphemously lampoon the God that Christians and Jews worship. When Jesus does appear in the film (on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor
Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...
) and portrayed with respect. The music and lighting make it clear that there is a genuine aura (paranormal), aura around him. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love and tolerance ("I think he said, 'blessed are the cheese makers'").
Importantly, he is distinct from the character of Brian, which is also evident in the scene where an annoying and ungrateful ex-leper pesters Brian for money, while moaning that since Jesus cured him, he has lost his source of income in the begging trade (referring to Jesus as a "bloody do-gooder").
James Crossley, however, has argued that the film makes the distinction between Jesus and the character of Brian to make a contrast between the traditional Christ of both faith and cinema and the Historical Jesus, historical figure of Jesus in critical scholarship and how critical scholars have argued that ideas later got attributed to Jesus by his followers. Crossley points out that the film uses the character of Brian to address a number of potentially controversial scholarly theories about Jesus, such as the Messianic Secret, the Jewishness of Jesus, Jesus the revolutionary, and having a single mother.
Not all the Pythons agree on the definition of the movie's tone. There was a brief exchange that occurred when the surviving members reunited in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998.
In the section where ''Life of Brian'' is discussed, the following dialogue ensued:
In a later interview, Jones said the film "isn't blasphemous because it doesn’t touch on belief at all. It is heretical, because it touches on dogma and the interpretation of belief, rather than belief itself."
21st century
The film continues to cause controversy; in February 2007, the Church of St Thomas the Martyr in Newcastle upon Tyne held a public screening in the church itself, with song-sheets, organ accompaniment, stewards in costume and false beards for female members of the audience (alluding to an early scene where a group of women disguise themselves as men so that they are able to take part in a stoning). Although the screening was a sell-out, some Christian groups, notably the conservative Christian Voice (UK), Christian Voice, were highly critical of the decision to allow the screening to go ahead. Stephen Green (Christian Voice), Stephen Green, the head of Christian Voice, insisted that "You don't promote Christ to the community by taking the mick out of him." The Reverend Jonathan Adams, one of the church's clergy, defended his taste in comedy, saying that it did not mock Jesus, and that it raised important issues about the hypocrisy and stupidity that can affect religion. Again on the film's DVD commentary, Cleese also spoke up for religious people who have come forward and congratulated him and his colleagues on the film's highlighting of double standards among purported followers of their own faith.
Some bans continued into the 21st century. In 2008, Torbay Council finally permitted the film to be shown after it won an online vote for the English Riviera International Comedy Film Festival.
In 2009, it was announced that a thirty-year-old ban of the film in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth had finally been lifted, and the subsequent showing was attended by
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team.
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
and
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
alongside mayor
Sue Jones-Davies
Sue Jones-Davies (born 1 January 1949) is a Welsh actress, singer and local politician. She played Judith Iscariot in the film '' Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979) and was Mayor of Aberystwyth from 2008 to 2009.
Early life and education
Sue ...
(who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film). However, before the showing, an Aberystwyth University student discovered that a ban had only been discussed by the council and in fact that it had been shown (or scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981. In 2013, a German official in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia considered the film to be possibly offensive to Christians and hence subject to a local regulation prohibiting its public screening on Good Friday, despite protests by local atheists.
Political satire
The film pokes fun at revolutionary groups and 1970s British left, British left-wing politics. According to Roger Wilmut, "What the film does do is place modern stereotypes in a historical setting, which enables it to indulge in a number of sharp digs, particularly at trade unionists and guerilla organisations". The groups in the film all oppose the
Roman occupation of Judea, but fall into the familiar pattern of intense competition among factions that appears, to an outsider, to be over ideological distinctions so small as to be invisible, thus portraying the phenomenon of the narcissism of small differences. Such disunity indeed fatally beleaguered real-life Judean resistance against Roman rule.
[Levick, Barbara (1999). ''Vespasian''. London: Routledge, pp. 116–119. ] Michael Palin says that the various separatist movements were modelled on "modern resistance groups, all with obscure acronyms which they can never remember and their conflicting agendas".
The People's Front of Judea, composed of the Pythons' characters, harangue their "rivals" with cries of "splitters" and stand vehemently opposed to the Judean People's Front, the Judean People's Popular Front, the Campaign for a Free Galilee, and the Popular Front of Judea (the last composed of a single old man, mocking the size of real revolutionary Trotskyism, Trotskyist factions). The infighting among revolutionary organisations is demonstrated most dramatically when the PFJ attempts to kidnap Pontius Pilate's wife, but encounters agents of the Campaign for a Free Galilee, and the two factions begin a violent brawl over which of them conceived of the plan first. When Brian exhorts them to cease their fighting to struggle "against the common enemy," the revolutionaries stop and cry in unison, "the Judean People's Front!" However, they soon resume their fighting and, with two Roman legionaries watching bemusedly, continue until Brian is left the only survivor, at which point he is captured.
Other scenes have the freedom fighters wasting time in debate, with one of the debated items being that they should not waste their time debating so much. There is also a famous scene in which Reg gives a revolutionary speech asking, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" at which point the listeners outline all forms of positive aspects of the Roman occupation such as sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health and peace, followed by "what have the Romans ever done for us except sanitation, medicine, education...". Python biographer George Perry notes, "The People's Liberation Front of Judea conducts its meetings as though they have been convened by a group of Union steward, shop stewards". This joke is the reverse of a similar conversation recorded in the Babylonian Talmud; some authors have even suggested the joke is based on the Talmudic text.
Film analysis
Themes and motifs
Bible
The depictions of Jesus in two short scenes at the start of the film are strongly based on Christian iconography. The resistance fighters leave the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
, which was a literal recital, angry because Jesus was too pacifistic for them. ("Well, blessed is just about everyone with a vested interest in the status quo…") In addition to the respectful depiction of Jesus, the film does not state that there is no God or that Jesus is not the son of God. The appearance of a leper, who says he was healed by Jesus, is in line with the Gospels and their reports about Jesus performing miracles.
Any direct reference to Jesus disappears after the introductory scenes, yet his life story partially acts as a framework and subtext for the story of Brian. Brian being a bastard of a Roman centurion could refer to the polemic legend that Jesus was the son of the Roman soldier Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera, Panthera. Disguised as a prophet, Brian talks about "the lilies on the field" and states more clearly, "Don't pass judgment on other people or else you might get judged yourself": Brian incoherently repeats statements he heard from Jesus.
Another significant figure in the film who is named in the Gospels is
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...
, who is humorously given Rhotacism (speech impediment), rhotacism. Although there is a hint to Barabbas prior to the crucifixion, no character in ''Life of Brian'' bears any resemblances to Judas or Caiaphas. An anti-Semitic interpretation of the story is therefore excluded, according to scholars. The crucifixion scene, a central part of Christian iconography, is viewed from a historical context within the narrative style of the film. It depicts historically accurate enactment of a routinely done mass crucifixion.
Belief and dogmatism
The intended subject of the satire was not Jesus and his teachings but religious dogmatism, according to film theorists and statements from Monty Python.
[Shilbrack in ''Monty Python and Philosophy''. pp. 14–21.] This is made clear in the beginning of the film during the Sermon on the Mount. Not only do the poor acoustics make it more difficult to hear what Jesus says, but the audience fails to interpret what was said correctly and sensibly. When Jesus said, "blessed are the peacemakers", the audience understands the phonetically similar word "Cheesemakers" and in turn interpret it as a metaphor and beatification of those who produce dairy products.
''Life of Brian'' satirises, in the words of David Hume, the "strong propensity of mankind to [believe in] the extraordinary and the marvellous". When Brian cuts his sermon short and turns away from the crowd, they mistake his behaviour as not wanting to share the secret to eternal life and follow him everywhere.
In their need to submit to an authority, the crowd declares him first a prophet and eventually a messiah. The faithful gather beneath Brian's window en masse to receive God's blessing. This is when Brian utters the main message of the film "you don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves!" Monty Python saw this central message of the satire confirmed with the protests of practising Christians after the film was released.
According to Terry Jones, ''Life of Brian'' "is not
blasphemy
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
but heresy", because Brian contested the authority of the Church whereas the belief in God remained untouched. He goes on to mention that "Christ [is] saying all of these wonderful things about people living together in peace and love, and then for the next two thousand years people are putting each other to death in His name because they can't agree on how He said it, or in what order He said it."
The dispute among the followers about the correct interpretation of a sandal, which Brian lost, is in the words of Terry Jones the "history of the Church in three minutes."
Kevin Shilbrack shares the view that you can enjoy the movie and still be religious.
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For the most part, lost in the religious controversy was the film's mockery of factional dogmatism among Left-wing politics, left-wing parties. According to John Cleese, an almost unmanageable number of left-wing organisations and parties was formed back then in the United Kingdom. He said that it had been so important to each of them to have one pure doctrine that they would rather fight each other than their political opponent. In the film, rather than presenting a common front as their organisational names should imply, the leader of the People's Front of Judea makes it clear that their hate for the Judean Peoples's Front is greater than their hate for the Romans. They are so caught up in constant debates that the "rather looney bunch of revolutionaries" indirectly accept the occupying forces as well as their execution methods as a fate they all have to endure. So, in the end, even though they have ample opportunity to rescue Brian, they instead leave Brian on the cross, thanking him for his sacrifice.
Hardly mentioned in the discussion was the sideswipe at the women's movement, which started to draw a lot of attention in the 1970s. In accordance with the language of political activists, resistance fighter Stan wants to exercise "his right as a man" to be a woman. The group accepts him from that moment on as Loretta, because the right to give birth was not theirs to take. Also as a result from that, the term sibling replaces the terms brother or sister.
Individuality and meaninglessness
One of the most commented-upon scenes in the film is when Brian tells his followers that they are all individuals and don’t need to follow anybody. According to Edward Slowik, this is a rare moment in which Monty Python puts a philosophical concept into words so openly and directly. ''Life of Brian'' accurately depicts the Existentialism, existentialist view that everybody needs to give meaning to their own life.
Brian can thus be called an existentialist following the tradition of Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre. He is honest to himself and others and lives as authentic a life as he can. However, Brian is too naïve to be called a hero based on the ideas of Albert Camus. For Camus, the search for the meaning of one's own life takes place in a deeply meaningless and abstruse world. The "Absurdism, absurd hero" rebels against this meaninglessness and at the same time holds on to their goals, although they know their fight leaves no impact in the long run. Contrary to that, Brian isn’t able to recognize the meaninglessness of his own situation and therefore can’t triumph over it.
[Shilbrack in ''Monty Python and Philosophy'', pp.14–21]
In ''Monty Python and Philosophy'', Kevin Shilbrack states that the fundamental view of the film is that the world is absurd, and every life needs to be lived without a greater meaning. He points out that the second-last verse of the song the film finishes on, "
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the Python film '' Life of Brian'' and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matc ...
", expresses this message clearly:
Shilbrack concludes that the finale shows that the executions had no purpose since the deaths were meaningless and no better world was waiting for them. On this note, some people would claim that the film presents a nihilistic world view which contradicts any basis of religion.
However, ''Life of Brian'' offers humour to counterbalance the nihilism, Shilbrack states in his text. He comments that "religion and humour are compatible with each other and you should laugh about the absurdity since you can't fight it."
Legacy
Literature
Spin-offs include a script-book ''Monty Python's The Life of Brian / Monty Python Scrapbook, The Life of Brian of Nazareth'', which was printed back-to-back with ''Monty Python's The Life of Brian / Monty Python Scrapbook, MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK'' as a single book. The printing of this book also caused problems, due to rarely used laws in the United Kingdom against blasphemy, dictating what can and cannot be written about religion. The publisher refused to print both halves of the book, and original prints were by two companies.
Julian Doyle, the film's editor, wrote ''The Life of Brian/Jesus'', a book which not only describes the filmmaking and editing process but argues that it is the most accurate Biblical film ever made. In October 2008, a memoir by Kim "Howard" Johnson titled ''Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday: My Life with Brian'' was released. Johnson became friendly with the Pythons during the filming of ''Life of Brian'' and his notes and memories of the behind-the-scenes filming and make-up.
Music
With the success of Eric Idle's musical retelling of ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'', called ''
Spamalot
''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot'') is a musical comedy with music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and book by Idle. It is adapted from the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.
Like the motion picture ...
'', Idle announced that he would be giving ''Life of Brian'' a similar treatment. The oratorio, called ''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)'', was commissioned to be part of the festival called Luminato in Toronto in June 2007, and was written/scored by Idle and John Du Prez, who also worked with Idle on ''Spamalot''. ''Not the Messiah'' is a spoof of Handel's ''Messiah (Handel), Messiah''. It runs approximately 50 minutes, and was conducted at its world premiere by Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian, who is Idle's cousin.
''Not the Messiah'' received its US premiere at the Caramoor International Music Festival in Katonah, New York, Katonah, New York. Oundjian and Idle joined forces once again for a double performance of the oratorio in July 2007.
Other media
In October 2011, BBC Four premiered the Television film, made-for-television comedy film ''Holy Flying Circus'', written by Tony Roche and directed by Owen Harris. The "Pythonesque" film explores the events surrounding the 1979 Friday Night, Saturday Morning#Monty Python's Life of Brian, television debate on talk show ''Friday Night, Saturday Morning'' between John Cleese and Michael Palin and Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, then Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Bishop of Southwark.
![RowanAtkinsonMar07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/RowanAtkinsonMar07.jpg)
In a ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' sketch, a bishop who has directed a scandalous film called ''The Life of Christ'' is hauled over the coals by a representative of the "Church of Python", claiming that the film is an attack on "Our Lord, John Cleese" and on the members of Python, who, in the sketch, are the objects of Britain's true religious faith. This was a parody of the infamous ''Friday Night, Saturday Morning'' programme, broadcast a week previously. The bishop (played by Rowan Atkinson) claims that the reaction to the film has surprised him, as he "didn't expect the The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python), Spanish Inquisition."
Radio host John Williams of Chicago's WGN (AM), WGN 720 AM has used "
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the Python film '' Life of Brian'' and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matc ...
" in a segment of his Friday shows. The segment is used to highlight good events from the past week in listeners' lives and what has made them smile. In the 1997 film ''As Good as It Gets'', the misanthropic character played by Jack Nicholson sings "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as evidence of the character's change in attitude.
A BBC history series ''What the Romans Did for Us'', written and presented by Adam Hart-Davis and broadcast in 2000, takes its title from Cleese's rhetorical question "What have the Romans ever done for us?" in one of the film's scenes. (Cleese himself parodied this line in a 1986 BBC advert defending the Television licensing in the United Kingdom, Television Licence Fee: "What has the BBC ever given us?").
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in his Prime Minister's Questions of 3 May 2006 made a shorthand reference to the types of political groups, "Judean People's Front" or "People's Front of Judea", lampooned in ''Life of Brian''. This was in response to a question from the Labour MP David Clelland, asking "What has the Labour government ever done for us?" – itself a parody of John Cleese's "What have the Romans ever done for us?"
On New Year's Day 2007, and again on New Year's Eve, UK television station
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
dedicated an entire evening to the Monty Python phenomenon, during which an hour-long documentary was broadcast called ''The Secret Life of Brian'' about the making of ''The Life of Brian'' and the controversy that was caused by its release. The Pythons featured in the documentary and reflected upon the events that surrounded the film. This was followed by a screening of the film itself.
The documentary (in a slightly extended form) was one of the special features on the 2007 DVD re-release – the "Immaculate Edition", also the first Python release on Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray.
Most recently, in June 2014 King's College London hosted an academic conference on the film, in which internationally renowned Biblical scholars and historians discussed the film and its reception, looking both at how the Pythons had made use of scholarship and texts, and how the film can be used creatively within modern scholarship on the Historical Jesus. In a panel discussion, including Terry Jones and theologian Richard Burridge (priest), Richard Burridge, John Cleese described the event as "the most interesting thing to come out of Monty Python". The papers from the conference have gone on to prompt the publication of a book, edited by Joan E. Taylor, the conference organiser, ''Jesus and Brian: Exploring the Historical Jesus and His Times via Monty Python's Life of Brian'', published by Bloomsbury in 2015.
See also
* BFI Top 100 British films
* List of films considered the best
* ''Deux heures moins le quart avant Jésus-Christ''
References
Sources
* This book chapter discusses the ancient sources which may have been used in the film and its critical take on theology.
* Hewison, Robert. ''Monty Python: The Case Against''. New York: Grove, 1981. . This book discusses at length the censorship and controversy surrounding the film.
* Vintaloro, Giordano. ''"Non sono il Messia, lo giuro su Dio!" – Messianismo e modernità in ''Life of Brian'' dei Monty Python''. Trieste: Battello Stampatore, 2008. . [Italian: ''"I'm not the Messiah, honestly!" – Messianism and modernity in Monty Python's "Life of Brian"'']. This book analyses the film structure as an hypertext and Brian the Messiah as a modern leader figure.
* Larsen, Darl. ''A Book about the Film'' Monty Python's Life of Brian. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. .
* Tatum, W. Barnes. ''Jesus at the movies''. Polebridge Press, Santa Rosa 1997, revised and expanded 2004, S. 149–162,
*Hardcastle, Gary L, and George A. Reisch. ''Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think!'' Chicago, Ill: Open Court, 2006. Print.
*
External links
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''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' film script* – A 2007 documentary about the controversy surrounding the film.
''Monty Python’s Life of Brian''an essay by George Perry at the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
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