Monty Python's Life of Brian
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Monty Python's Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, is a 1979 British comedy film
written, directed and largely performed by the Monty Python
comedy team. It tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman
), a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as, and next door to, Jesus Christ, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah
.
The film contains themes of religious satire that were controversial at the time of its release, drawing accusations of blasphemy
and protests from some religious groups. Thirty-nine local authorities in the UK either imposed an outright ban, or imposed an X (18 years) certificate (effectively preventing the film from being shown, as the distributors said the film could not be shown unless it was unedited and carried the original AA (14) certificate). Some countries, including Ireland
and Norway
, banned its showing, with a few of these bans lasting decades. The film makers used such notoriety to benefit their marketing campaign, with posters stating "So funny it was banned in Norway!".
The film was a box-office success, grossing fourth-highest of any film in the UK in 1979 and highest of any British film in the United States that year. It has remained popular since then, receiving positive reviews and being named "greatest comedy film of all time" by several magazines and television networks. The film is the first Monty Python
film to receive an R rating in the United States.
who come to praise the future King of the Jews. Brian grows up an idealistic young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea
. While attending Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
, Brian becomes infatuated with an attractive young rebel, Judith. His desire for her and hatred for the Romans lead him to join the People's Front of Judea (PFJ), one of many fractious and bickering independence movements, who spend more time fighting each other than the Romans.
After several misadventures, and escaping from Pontius Pilate
, the fugitive winds up in a lineup of would-be mystics and prophet
s who harangue the passing crowd in a plaza. Forced to come up with something plausible in order to blend in and keep the guards off his back, Brian babbles pseudo-religious truisms, and quickly attracts a small but intrigued audience. Once the guards have left, Brian tries to put the episode behind him, but he has unintentionally inspired a movement. He grows frantic when he finds that some people have started to follow him around, with even the slightest unusual occurrence being hailed as a "miracle". After slipping away from the mob, Brian runs into Judith, and they spend the night together. In the morning, Brian opens the curtains to discover an enormous mass of people outside his mother's house, all proclaiming him the Messiah
(Brian's mother, loudly protests: "He's not the Messiah he's a very naughty boy"). Appalled, Brian is helpless to change their minds, for his every word and action are immediately seized as points of doctrine.
Neither can the hapless Brian find solace back at the PFJ's headquarters, where people fling their afflicted bodies at him demanding miracle cures
. After sneaking out the back, Brian finally is captured and scheduled to be crucified. Meanwhile, a huge crowd has assembled outside the palace. Pilate (together with the visiting Biggus Dickus) tries to quell the feeling of revolution by granting them the decision of who should be pardoned. The crowd, however, simply shouts out names containing the letter "R", in order to mock Pilate's mispronunciation. Eventually, Judith appears in the crowd and calls for the release of Brian, which the crowd echoes, since the name contains the letter "R". Pilate then agrees to "welease Bwian".
The order from Pilate is eventually relayed to the guards, but in a moment parodying the climax of the film Spartacus
, various crucified people all claim to be "Brian of Nazareth" (one man shouting "I'm Brian and so's my wife") and the wrong man is released. Various other opportunities for a reprieve for Brian are denied as, one by one, his "allies" (including Judith and his mother) step forward to explain why they are leaving the "noble freedom fighter" hanging in the hot sun. Hope is renewed when the Judean People's Front come charging towards the Romans, but fail to rescue Brian, as they are a suicide squadron, and kill themselves rather than dying in battle. Condemned to a long and painful death, Brian finds his spirits lifted by his fellow sufferers, who break into song with "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
".
) also played various bystanders and hangers-on. The Pythons themselves are listed first (in alphabetical order) followed by the rest of the cast in order of appearance.
Several characters are never named during the film but do have names that are used in the tracklisting for the soundtrack album and elsewhere. There is no mention in the film of the fact 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
had an unplanned cameo as a prophet ignored because his acolytes are chasing after Brian. By coincidence he was visiting his old World War II
battlefields in Tunisia
where the film was being made. The Pythons were alerted to this one morning and he was promptly included in the scene that just happened to be being filmed. He disappeared again in the afternoon before he could be included in any of the close-up or publicity shots for the film.
There are various stories about the origins of Life of Brian. Shortly after the release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(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
). 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 Grails enormous financial turnover, confirming an appetite among the fans for more cinematic endeavours, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era
in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. All they needed was an idea for a plot. Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, while promoting Holy Grail in Amsterdam
, had come up with a sketch in which Jesus' cross was 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
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 began in December 1976, with a first draft completed by mid-1977. The final pre-production draft was ready in January 1978, following "a concentrated two-week writing and water-skiing period in Barbados
". The film would not have been made without former Beatle and Python fan George Harrison
, who set up Handmade Films
to help fund it at a cost of £3 million (a move later described by Eric Idle as the "world's most expensive cinema ticket"). The original backers, EMI Films
, had been scared off at the last minute by the subject matter, particularly Bernard Delfont
. As a result, 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
as Mr. Papadopoulos, "owner of the Mount", who briefly shakes hands with Brian in a crowd scene. His one word of dialogue (a cheery Scouse
, but out-of-place-in-Judea, "ullo") had to be dubbed in later.
Directing duties were handled solely by Terry Jones on this project, having amicably agreed with Gilliam (who co-directed Holy Grail) that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grails 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. However, this did not put an absolute end to their feuding. On the DVD commentary, Gilliam expresses great pride in one set in particular, the main hall of Pilate's fortress
, which had been designed so that it accurately looked like an old Judean temple that the Romans had converted by dumping their structural artifacts
(such as marble floors and columns) on top. He later reveals his consternation at Jones not paying enough attention to it in the cinematography
. Gilliam also worked on the matte
paintings, useful in particular for the very first shot of the three wise men against a starscape 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 where Brian accidentally leaps off a high building and inadvertently 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; clearly this was influenced by the epic film Star Wars
. Afterwards, George Lucas met Terry Gilliam in San Francisco and praised Gilliam for his work.
The film was shot on location in Monastir, Tunisia
, which allowed the production to reuse sets from Franco Zeffirelli
's Jesus of Nazareth
(1977). Many locals were employed as extras on Life of Brian. Director Terry 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 took place in Sousse
(Jerusalem outer walls and gateway), Carthage
(Roman amphitheatre) and Matmata, Tunisia (Sermon on the Mount and Crucifixion). Graham Chapman, still suffering from alcoholism, 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 was also able to act as the on-set doctor on top of his acting duties. Following shooting between 16 September and 12 November 1978, a two-hour-long rough cut 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 before the final cut was complete, losing a number of entire filmed sequences (see Lost scenes below).
comments 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 this country. Once again a blasphemy was restrained - or its circulation effectively curtailed - not by the force of law but by the internalisation of this law." However, on its initial release in the UK, the film was banned by several town council
s – some of which had no cinemas within their boundaries, or had not even seen the film for themselves. A member of 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
, of which they knew nothing.
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
was finally lifted, and the subsequent showing was attended by Terry Jones
and Michael Palin
alongside mayor Sue Jones-Davies
(who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film). However, before the showing, an Aberystwyth University student discovered that the film had never been banned in Aberystwyth, but was shown (or was scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981.
In New York, screenings were 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").
In the UK, Mary Whitehouse
and other campaigners launched waves of leaflet
s and picketed at and around cinemas that showed the film, a move that was only felt to have ironically boosted the 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.
One of the most controversial scenes was the film's ending: Brian's crucifixion
. Many Christian protesters said that it was mocking Jesus's 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 also reinforced by the fact that several characters throughout the film claim crucifixion is not as bad as it seems, such as when Brian asks his cellmate in prison what will happen to him, he replies; "Oh, you'll probably get away with crucifixion." and when Matthias, the old man who works with the PFJ dismisses crucifixion as "a doddle" and says being stabbed would be worse. The director, Terry Jones, issued the following riposte 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".
Another argument was that crucifixion was a standard form of execution in ancient times and not just one especially reserved for Jesus. The Pythons often prided themselves on the depths of the historical research they had taken before writing the script. They all believe that, as a consequence, the film portrays 1st century Judea more accurately than actual Biblical epics, with its focus centred more on the average person of the era.
Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a what would become a notorious debate on the BBC2
discussion programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning
, in which Malcolm Muggeridge
and Mervyn Stockwood
, the Bishop of Southwark
, put the case against the film. Muggeridge and the Bishop 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. Cleese expressed that his reputation had "plummeted" in his eyes, while Palin commented that, "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 (or at least, what he'd seen of it) was that it was "Such a tenth-rate film that it couldn't possibly destroy anyone's genuine faith".
The Pythons unanimously deny that they were ever out to destroy people's faith. On the DVD audio commentary, they contend that the film is heretical
because it lampoon
s 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
) and portrayed with respect. The music and lighting make it clear that there is a genuine 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").
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 for a show that was broadcast on HBO and has since become available on video. The appearance was billed as the "U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Tribute to Monty Python", although video releases have gone by varying titles, including "Monty Python Live at Aspen
(1998)". The programme mostly consists of an interview, on stage, by U.S. comedian Robert Klein
. In the section where Life of Brian is being discussed, Terry Jones says, "I think the film is heretical, but it’s not blasphemous". Eric Idle can be heard to concur, adding, "It’s a heresy". However, John Cleese, disagreeing, counters, "I don’t think it’s a heresy. It's making fun of the way that people misunderstand the teaching". Jones responds, "Of course it's a heresy, John! It's attacking the Church! And that has to be heretical". Cleese replies, "No, it's not attacking the Church, necessarily. It's about people who cannot agree with each other".
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.”
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
, were highly critical of the decision to allow the screening to go ahead. The Rev'd 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. However Stephen Green, the head of Christian Voice, insisted that "You don't promote Christ to the community by taking the mick out of him". 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.
. "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; "ideological purity", as Cleese once described it. 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 Popular People's 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 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 legionnaires 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...". This joke is "the reverse" of a similar conversation recorded in the Babylonian Talmud
. 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 shop stewards
".
" in 1998 when they were destroyed 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 in the UK; it has not been disclosed how these scenes were saved or where they came from.
The scenes shown included the shepherds gathering for Jesus's birth, which would have been at the very start of the movie; a segment showing the kidnap of Pilate's wife (a huge mountain of a woman played by John Case); a scene introducing hardline Zionist Otto, leader of the Judean People's Front (played by Eric Idle); and a scene in which Pilate's wife alerts Otto to Brian's capture. The shepherds' scene has badly distorted sound, and the kidnap scene has poor colour quality. All of these scenes can now be found on the Criterion Collection DVD.
The most controversial cuts were the scenes involving Otto, initially a recurring character, who had a thin Adolf Hitler
-esque moustache and spoke with a German accent, shouting accusations of "racial impurity" at people whose conceptions were similar to Brian's (Roman centurion
rape of native Judean women), and other Nazi-based phrases. The logo of the Judean People's Front, designed by Terry Gilliam, was a Star of David
with a small line added to each point so it resembled a swastika
, 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 WWI era 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
'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
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
" 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
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
" 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
) 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 four-letter word
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 "MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK" 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
(1980). The idea of a violent rugby match between school masters and small boys was filmed in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983). A sketch about a boy who dies at school was released on the bootleg The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album
(1981).
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 "You'd never believe that these girls were plotting the downfall of Western Civilisation as we know it!", Communist Bulgaria being a member of the Warsaw Pact
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 $140,034 USD ($28,007 per screen) in its opening weekend. Its total gross was $19,398,164 USD. It was the highest-grossing British film in North America that year. In addition, the film was the fourth highest-grossing film in Britain in 1979.
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
's The Passion of the Christ
. It grossed $26,376 USD ($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 USD during its re-release. By comparison, a re-release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
had earned $1.8 million USD three years earlier. A DVD of the film was also released that year.
magazine in 2000, the British TV network Channel 4
in 2006 and The Guardian
newspaper in 2007. Rotten Tomatoes
lists it as one of the best reviewed comedies, with a 98% approval rating from 44 published reviews. Internet Movie Database
includes the film in its list of the top 250 movies of all time. A 2011 poll by Time Out magazine ranked it as the third greatest comedy film ever made, behind Airplane!
and This is Spinal Tap
.
The BFI
declared Life of Brian to be the 28th best British film of all time, in their equivalent of the AFI
's original 100 Years...100 Movies list. 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 on this occasion was Billy Wilder
's Some Like It Hot
, which was ranked 5th).
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, has been voted by readers of BOL.com the funniest line in film history.
This poll also featured two of the film's other famous lines ("What have the Romans ever done for us?" and "I'm Brian and so's my wife") in the top 10.
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was later re-released with great success, after being sung by British football fans. Its popularity became truly evident in 1982 during the Falklands War
when sailors aboard the destroyer HMS Sheffield
, severely damaged in an Argentinean Exocet
missile attack on 4 May, started singing it while awaiting rescue.
Indeed, many people have come to see the song as a life-affirming ode to optimism
. One of its more famous renditions was by the dignitaries of Manchester
's bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games, just after they were awarded to Sydney. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is also featured in Eric Idle's Spamalot
, a Broadway musical based upon Monty Python and the Holy Grail
, 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
special.
The song is a staple at Iron Maiden concerts, where the recording is played after the final encore.
An album of the songs sung in Monty Python's Life of Brian
has been released on the Disky label.
Julian Doyle, the film's editor, has written a book The Life of Brian/Jesus, which not only describes the filmmaking and editing process but argues that Monty Python's film is the most accurate Biblical film ever made.
In October 2008, a memoir by Kim "Howard" Johnson entitled 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.
In October 2011, BBC Four
premiered the made-for-TV comedy film Holy Flying Circus
, written by Tony Roche and directed by Owen Harris. The "Pythonesque" film explored the events surrounding the 1979 television debate on talk show Friday Night, Saturday Morning between John Cleese
and Michael Palin
and Malcolm Muggeridge
and Mervyn Stockwood
, the then Bishop of Southwark.
's musical retelling of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
, called Spamalot
, 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, Ontario
, 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 oratorio 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 U.S. premiere at the Caramoor International Music Festival
in Katonah
, New York. Cousins Peter Oundjian
(Caramoor's Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor) and Eric Idle joined forces once again for a double performance of the oratorio in July 2007.
sketch, a bishop who has made 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 director of the film (played by Rowan Atkinson
) claims that the reaction to the film has surprised him, as he "didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition
."
"Talk Radio
" host John Williams, of Chicago's WGN 720 AM, has used "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
" from Life of Brian in a segment of his Friday shows. The segment is used to highlight good events from the past week in listeners' lives and to generally celebrate the end of the work week. In the 1997 Oscar winning 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.
In the video game Fallout: New Vegas
, you can find "Romanes Eunt Domus" written on a wall by graffiti on a building in Cottonwood Cove, property of the Roman-styled Caesar's Legion.
A BBC history series What the Romans Did for Us
, written and presented by Adam Hart-Davis
and first broadcast in 2000, takes its title from John 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 Licence Fee
: "What has the BBC ever given us?")
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 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
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.
The alibi of the murderer in Simon Brett
’s comic thriller Shock to the System (1984) depends on having been in a cinema watching Life of Brian.
The stoning scene is referenced in Terry Pratchett's second Discworld computer game. A clip of the stoning scene was shown in the music video "Yang Yang" by Anika in 2010.
The scene in the ninth episode of 'South Park
's fifteenth season, 'The Last of the Meheecans
' where a naked Butters opens his window to find the townspeople in the street below hailing him as a god is a reference to the scene where the same thing happens to Brian.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
written, directed and largely performed by the Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
comedy team. It tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
), a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as, and next door to, Jesus Christ, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
.
The film contains themes of religious satire that were controversial at the time of its release, drawing accusations of blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
and protests from some religious groups. Thirty-nine local authorities in the UK either imposed an outright ban, or imposed an X (18 years) certificate (effectively preventing the film from being shown, as the distributors said the film could not be shown unless it was unedited and carried the original AA (14) certificate). Some countries, including Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, banned its showing, with a few of these bans lasting decades. The film makers used such notoriety to benefit their marketing campaign, with posters stating "So funny it was banned in Norway!".
The film was a box-office success, grossing fourth-highest of any film in the UK in 1979 and highest of any British film in the United States that year. It has remained popular since then, receiving positive reviews and being named "greatest comedy film of all time" by several magazines and television networks. The film is the first Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
film to receive an R rating in the United States.
Plot
Brian Cohen is born in a stable a few doors from the one in which Jesus is born, which initially confuses the three wise menBiblical Magi
The Magi Greek: μάγοι, magoi), also referred to as the Wise Men, Kings, Astrologers, or Kings from the East, were a group of distinguished foreigners who were said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh...
who come to praise the future King of the Jews. Brian grows up an idealistic young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea
Iudaea Province
Judaea or Iudaea are terms used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...
. While attending Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...
, Brian becomes infatuated with an attractive young rebel, Judith. His desire for her and hatred for the Romans lead him to join the People's Front of Judea (PFJ), one of many fractious and bickering independence movements, who spend more time fighting each other than the Romans.
After several misadventures, and escaping from Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
, the fugitive winds up in a lineup of would-be mystics and prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
s who harangue the passing crowd in a plaza. Forced to come up with something plausible in order to blend in and keep the guards off his back, Brian babbles pseudo-religious truisms, and quickly attracts a small but intrigued audience. Once the guards have left, Brian tries to put the episode behind him, but he has unintentionally inspired a movement. He grows frantic when he finds that some people have started to follow him around, with even the slightest unusual occurrence being hailed as a "miracle". After slipping away from the mob, Brian runs into Judith, and they spend the night together. In the morning, Brian opens the curtains to discover an enormous mass of people outside his mother's house, all proclaiming him the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
(Brian's mother, loudly protests: "He's not the Messiah he's a very naughty boy"). Appalled, Brian is helpless to change their minds, for his every word and action are immediately seized as points of doctrine.
Neither can the hapless Brian find solace back at the PFJ's headquarters, where people fling their afflicted bodies at him demanding miracle cures
Faith healing
Faith healing is healing through spiritual means. The healing of a person is brought about by religious faith through prayer and/or rituals that, according to adherents, stimulate a divine presence and power toward correcting disease and disability. Belief in divine intervention in illness or...
. After sneaking out the back, Brian finally is captured and scheduled to be crucified. Meanwhile, a huge crowd has assembled outside the palace. Pilate (together with the visiting Biggus Dickus) tries to quell the feeling of revolution by granting them the decision of who should be pardoned. The crowd, however, simply shouts out names containing the letter "R", in order to mock Pilate's mispronunciation. Eventually, Judith appears in the crowd and calls for the release of Brian, which the crowd echoes, since the name contains the letter "R". Pilate then agrees to "welease Bwian".
The order from Pilate is eventually relayed to the guards, but in a moment parodying the climax of the film Spartacus
Spartacus (film)
Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast...
, various crucified people all claim to be "Brian of Nazareth" (one man shouting "I'm Brian and so's my wife") and the wrong man is released. Various other opportunities for a reprieve for Brian are denied as, one by one, his "allies" (including Judith and his mother) step forward to explain why they are leaving the "noble freedom fighter" hanging in the hot sun. Hope is renewed when the Judean People's Front come charging towards the Romans, but fail to rescue Brian, as they are a suicide squadron, and kill themselves rather than dying in battle. Condemned to a long and painful death, Brian finds his spirits lifted by his fellow sufferers, who break into song with "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a popular song written by Eric Idle that was originally featured in the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals.-History:Whilst trying to come up...
".
Cast
A list of all the characters given actual names in the script, or with a spoken role. All names and character descriptions are taken from the published script. Each Python (especially Terry GilliamTerry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
) also played various bystanders and hangers-on. The Pythons themselves are listed first (in alphabetical order) followed by the rest of the cast in order of appearance.
- Graham ChapmanGraham ChapmanGraham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
– Brian, Biggus Dickus, 2nd wise man - John CleeseJohn CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
– Reg, the High priest, Centurion of the Yard, Deadly Dirk, Arthur, 1st wise man - Terry GilliamTerry GilliamTerrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
– Another person further forward (at Mount – "Do you hear that? 'Blessed are the Greek'!"), Blood and Thunder prophet, Geoffrey, Gaoler, Frank - Eric IdleEric IdleEric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
– Mr Cheeky, Stan/Loretta, Harry the Haggler, Culprit woman who casts first stone, Intensely dull youth, Otto, Gaoler's assistant, Mr Frisbee III. - Terry JonesTerry JonesTerence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
– Mandy, Colin, Simon the Holy Man, Saintly passer-by, Bob Hoskins (man in crowd) - Michael PalinMichael PalinMichael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
– Mr Big Nose, Francis, Mrs A, Ex-leper, Ben, Pontius PilatePontius PilatePontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
, Boring Prophet, Eddie, Nisus Wettus, 3rd wise man - Kenneth ColleyKenneth ColleyKenneth Colley is an English actor. A long-time character actor, he came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
– Jesus Christ - Neil InnesNeil InnesNeil James Innes is an English writer and performer of comic songs, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles.-Personal life:...
– A weedy Samaritan - Gwen TaylorGwen TaylorGwen Taylor is an actress who has appeared in many British television programmes, including Z-Cars, Murder Most Horrid, Yes, Prime Minister, Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders and Belonging...
– Mrs Big Nose, Woman with sick donkey, young girl - Terence Baylor – Gregory, Dennis
- Carol ClevelandCarol ClevelandCarol Cleveland is a British actress/comedienne, most notable for her appearances as the only significant female performer on Monty Python's Flying Circus.-Early life:...
– Mrs Gregory, Elsie - Charles McKeownCharles McKeownCharles McKeown 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.-Screenwriting career:...
– Man further forward (at Mount), Stig, Blind Man, False Prophet, Giggling Guard - Sue Jones-DaviesSue Jones-DaviesSue Jones-Davies is a Welsh actress and singer, who appeared as Judith in the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian. Mayor of Aberystwyth from 2008–2009, she now serves as town councillor.-Early life and education:Sue Jones-Davies was born in Wales...
– Judith Iscariot - John YoungJohn Young (actor)John Young was a Scottish actor. He is the father of the actor Paul Young.Some of his credits include Doomwatch, Monty Python and the Holy Grail , Life of Brian , Chariots of Fire, Time Bandits and Rab C. Nesbitt.-External links:...
– Matthias - Bernard McKennaBernard McKenna (writer)Bernard McKenna is a Scottish writer/producer who has written, or co-written, many hours of British television comedy. He is most noted for his work with Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame as well as his collaborations with Peter Cook and Douglas Adams...
– Stoner's Helper, Parvus - Spike MilliganSpike MilliganTerence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
– Spike - George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
– Mr Papadopoulos (uncredited)
Several characters are never named during the film but do have names that are used in the tracklisting for the soundtrack album and elsewhere. There is no mention in the film of the fact 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
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
had an unplanned cameo as a prophet ignored because his acolytes are chasing after Brian. By coincidence he was visiting his old World War II
Tunisia Campaign
The Tunisia Campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted of British Imperial Forces, including Polish and Greek contingents, with American and French corps...
battlefields in Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
where the film was being made. The Pythons were alerted to this one morning and he was promptly included in the scene that just happened to be being filmed. He disappeared again in the afternoon before he could be included in any of the close-up or publicity shots for the film.
Production
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
(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
Patton (film)
Patton is a 1970 American biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, and Karl Michael Vogler. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H...
). 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 Grails enormous financial turnover, confirming an appetite among the fans for more cinematic endeavours, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era
Christianity in the 1st century
The earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic, Jewish sect, which historians refer to as Jewish Christianity. The Apostles and others following the Great Commission's decree to spread the teachings of Jesus to "all nations," had great success spreading the religion to gentiles. Peter,...
in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. All they needed was an idea for a plot. Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, while promoting Holy Grail in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, had come up with a sketch in which Jesus' cross was 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
Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members...
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 began in December 1976, with a first draft completed by mid-1977. The final pre-production draft was ready in January 1978, following "a concentrated two-week writing and water-skiing period in Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
". The film would not have been made without former Beatle and Python fan George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, who set up Handmade Films
Handmade Films
HandMade Films is a British film production and distribution company. Through a series of sales, and acquisitions, the company now known as Handmade Plc owns all the rights and assets of the original HandMade Films Ltd...
to help fund it at a cost of £3 million (a move later described by Eric Idle as the "world's most expensive cinema ticket"). The original backers, EMI Films
EMI Films
EMI Films was a British film and television production company and distributor. The company was formed after the takeover of Associated British Picture Corporation in 1968 by EMI....
, had been scared off at the last minute by the subject matter, particularly Bernard Delfont
Bernard Delfont
Bernard Delfont, Baron Delfont , born Boris Winogradsky, was a leading Russian-born British theatrical impresario....
. As a result, 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
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as Mr. Papadopoulos, "owner of the Mount", who briefly shakes hands with Brian in a crowd scene. His one word of dialogue (a cheery Scouse
Scouse
Scouse is an accent and dialect of English found primarily in the Metropolitan county of Merseyside, and closely associated with the city of Liverpool and the adjoining urban areas such as the boroughs of south Sefton, Knowsley and the Wirral...
, but out-of-place-in-Judea, "ullo") had to be dubbed in later.
Directing duties were handled solely by Terry Jones on this project, having amicably agreed with Gilliam (who co-directed Holy Grail) that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grails 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. However, this did not put an absolute end to their feuding. On the DVD commentary, Gilliam expresses great pride in one set in particular, the main hall of Pilate's fortress
Antonia Fortress
The Antonia Fortress was a military barracks built by Herod the Great in Jerusalem on the site of earlier Ptolemaic and Hasmonean strongholds, named after Herod's patron Mark Antony...
, which had been designed so that it accurately looked like an old Judean temple that the Romans had converted by dumping their structural artifacts
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
(such as marble floors and columns) on top. He later reveals his consternation at Jones not paying enough attention to it in the cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
. Gilliam also worked on the matte
Matte (filmmaking)
Mattes are used in photography and special effects filmmaking to combine two or more image elements into a single, final image. Usually, mattes are used to combine a foreground image with a background image . In this case, the matte is the background painting...
paintings, useful in particular for the very first shot of the three wise men against a starscape 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 where Brian accidentally leaps off a high building and inadvertently 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; clearly this was influenced by the epic film Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
. Afterwards, George Lucas met Terry Gilliam in San Francisco and praised Gilliam for his work.
The film was shot on location in Monastir, Tunisia
Monastir, Tunisia
-Areas within Monastir:Monastir's north-eastern territories lead into a place called Route de la Falaise, through which you will reach its most notable suburb, Skanes, which is 6 miles from Monastir's town centre...
, which allowed the production to reuse sets from Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
's Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus of Nazareth (film)
Jesus of Nazareth is a 1977 Anglo-Italian television mini-series dramatising the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus based on the accounts in the four New Testament Gospels....
(1977). Many locals were employed as extras on Life of Brian. Director Terry 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 took place in Sousse
Sousse
Sousse is a city in Tunisia. Located 140 km south of the capital Tunis, the city has 173,047 inhabitants . Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The name may be of Berber origin: similar names are found in Libya and in...
(Jerusalem outer walls and gateway), Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
(Roman amphitheatre) and Matmata, Tunisia (Sermon on the Mount and Crucifixion). Graham Chapman, still suffering from alcoholism, 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 was also able to act as the on-set doctor on top of his acting duties. Following shooting between 16 September and 12 November 1978, a two-hour-long rough cut 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 before the final cut was complete, losing a number of entire filmed sequences (see Lost scenes below).
Religious satire and blasphemy accusations
Richard WebsterRichard Webster (author)
Richard Webster was a British cultural historian, and the author of five published books, dealing with subjects such as the controversy over Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses, Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, and the investigation of sexual abuse in Britain...
comments 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 this country. Once again a blasphemy was restrained - or its circulation effectively curtailed - not by the force of law but by the internalisation of this law." However, on its initial release in the UK, the film was banned by several town council
Town council
A town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
s – some of which had no cinemas within their boundaries, or had not even seen the film for themselves. A member of Harrogate council
Harrogate (borough)
Harrogate is a local government district and borough of North Yorkshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Harrogate but it also includes surrounding towns and villages...
, 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
Nationwide Festival of Light
The Nationwide Festival of Light was a grassroots movement formed by British Christians concerned about the development of the permissive society in the UK at the end of the 1960s....
, of which they knew nothing.
Some bans continued into the 21st century. In 2008, Torbay
Torbay
Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998...
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
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
was finally lifted, and the subsequent showing was attended by Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
and Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
alongside mayor Sue Jones-Davies
Sue Jones-Davies
Sue Jones-Davies is a Welsh actress and singer, who appeared as Judith in the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian. Mayor of Aberystwyth from 2008–2009, she now serves as town councillor.-Early life and education:Sue Jones-Davies was born in Wales...
(who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film). However, before the showing, an Aberystwyth University student discovered that the film had never been banned in Aberystwyth, but was shown (or was scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981.
In New York, screenings were 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").
In the UK, Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
and other campaigners launched waves of leaflet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
s and picketed at and around cinemas that showed the film, a move that was only felt to have ironically boosted the publicity.
Streisand effect
The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely...
Leaflets arguing against the film's representation of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old 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
Robert Hewison
Robert Alwyn Petrie Hewison is a British cultural historian.He was educated at Bedford School, Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated BA in 1965, MA in 1970, MLitt in 1972, and DLitt in 1989.For most of his professional life he has made a living...
's book Monty Python: The Case Against.
One of the most controversial scenes was the film's ending: Brian's crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
. Many Christian protesters said that it was mocking Jesus's 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 also reinforced by the fact that several characters throughout the film claim crucifixion is not as bad as it seems, such as when Brian asks his cellmate in prison what will happen to him, he replies; "Oh, you'll probably get away with crucifixion." and when Matthias, the old man who works with the PFJ dismisses crucifixion as "a doddle" and says being stabbed would be worse. The director, Terry Jones, issued the following riposte to this criticism: "Any religion that makes a form of torture into an icon
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
that they worship seems to me a pretty sick sort of religion quite honestly".
Another argument was that crucifixion was a standard form of execution in ancient times and not just one especially reserved for Jesus. The Pythons often prided themselves on the depths of the historical research they had taken before writing the script. They all believe that, as a consequence, the film portrays 1st century Judea more accurately than actual Biblical epics, with its focus centred more on the average person of the era.
Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a what would become a notorious debate on the BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
discussion programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Friday Night, Saturday Morning was a television chat show with a revolving guest host. It ran on BBC2 from 28 September 1979 to 2 April 1982, broadcast live from the Greenwood Theatre, a part of Guy's Hospital...
, in which Malcolm Muggeridge
Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy...
and Mervyn Stockwood
Mervyn Stockwood
Arthur Mervyn Stockwood was Anglican Bishop of Southwark from 1959 to 1980.Mervyn Stockwood was born in Bridgend, Wales, to a middle-class family. His solicitor father was killed during the First World War. He was introduced to Anglo-Catholic worship at All Saints' Church, Clifton, which...
, the Bishop of Southwark
Bishop of Southwark (Anglican)
The Bishop of Southwark is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark in the Province of Canterbury.Until 1877, Southwark had been part of the Diocese of Winchester when it was transferred to the Diocese of Rochester...
, put the case against the film. Muggeridge and the Bishop 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
The Establishment
The Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...
figures engaged in cheap jibes and point scoring. They also expressed disappointment in Muggeridge, whom all in Python had previously respected as a satirist. Cleese expressed that his reputation had "plummeted" in his eyes, while Palin commented that, "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 (or at least, what he'd seen of it) was that it was "Such a tenth-rate film that it couldn't possibly destroy anyone's genuine faith".
The Pythons unanimously deny that they were ever out to destroy people's faith. On the DVD audio commentary, they contend that the film is heretical
Christian heresy
Christian heresy refers to non-orthodox practices and beliefs that were deemed to be heretical by one or more of the Christian churches. In Western Christianity, the term "heresy" most commonly refers to those beliefs which were declared to be anathema by the Catholic Church prior to the schism of...
because it lampoon
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
s 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
Beatitudes
In Christianity, the Beatitudes are a set of teachings by Jesus that appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The term Beatitude comes from the Latin adjective beatus which means happy, fortunate, or blissful....
), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley is an English actor. A long-time character actor, he came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
) and portrayed with respect. The music and lighting make it clear that there is a genuine aura
Aura (paranormal)
In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object . The depiction of such an aura often connotes a person of particular power or holiness. Sometimes, however, it is said that all living things and all objects...
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").
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 for a show that was broadcast on HBO and has since become available on video. The appearance was billed as the "U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Tribute to Monty Python", although video releases have gone by varying titles, including "Monty Python Live at Aspen
Monty Python Live at Aspen
Monty Python Live at Aspen was a reunion show featuring the five surviving members of Monty Python: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Graham Chapman was also allegedly in attendance as his "ashes" were brought out in an urn. The Pythons looked back at their work...
(1998)". The programme mostly consists of an interview, on stage, by U.S. comedian Robert Klein
Robert Klein
Robert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer and actor.-Early life:Klein was born in the Bronx, the son of Frieda and Benjamin Klein, and was raised in a "prototypical 1950s Bronx Jewish" environment. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, Klein planned to study medicine...
. In the section where Life of Brian is being discussed, Terry Jones says, "I think the film is heretical, but it’s not blasphemous". Eric Idle can be heard to concur, adding, "It’s a heresy". However, John Cleese, disagreeing, counters, "I don’t think it’s a heresy. It's making fun of the way that people misunderstand the teaching". Jones responds, "Of course it's a heresy, John! It's attacking the Church! And that has to be heretical". Cleese replies, "No, it's not attacking the Church, necessarily. It's about people who cannot agree with each other".
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.”
The film continues to cause controversy; in February 2007 the Church of St Thomas the Martyr
Church of St Thomas the Martyr
The Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Newcastle upon Tyne, is one of the most prominent city centre landmarks, located close to both universities, the city hall and main shopping district in the Haymarket...
in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River 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
Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
). Although the screening was a sell-out, some Christian groups, notably the conservative Christian Voice
Christian Voice (UK)
Christian Voice is a Christian pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its stated objective is "to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy, and to defend and support traditional family life." It is independent of...
, were highly critical of the decision to allow the screening to go ahead. The Rev'd 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. However Stephen Green, the head of Christian Voice, insisted that "You don't promote Christ to the community by taking the mick out of him". 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.
Political satire
The film pokes fun at revolutionary groups and 1970s British left-wing politicsBritish left
The biggest organisation on the British left is the Labour Party with over 100,000 members.The Communist Party of Great Britain had a peak membership of 56,000 in 1945...
. "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
Iudaea Province
Judaea or Iudaea are terms used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...
, 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; "ideological purity", as Cleese once described it. 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 Popular People's Front, the Campaign for a Free Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
, and the Popular Front of Judea (the last composed of a single old man, mocking the size of real revolutionary 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 legionnaires 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
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
, roads, a fresh water
Fresh Water
Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...
system, public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
and peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
, followed by "what have the Romans ever done for us except sanitation, medicine, education...". This joke is "the reverse" of a similar conversation recorded in the Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
. 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 shop stewards
Union steward
A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company, who represents and defends the interests of her/his fellow employees but who is also a labor union official...
".
Lost scenes
A number of scenes were cut from the movie after filming. Most of these were "lostLost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
" in 1998 when they were destroyed 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 in the UK; it has not been disclosed how these scenes were saved or where they came from.
The scenes shown included the shepherds gathering for Jesus's birth, which would have been at the very start of the movie; a segment showing the kidnap of Pilate's wife (a huge mountain of a woman played by John Case); a scene introducing hardline Zionist Otto, leader of the Judean People's Front (played by Eric Idle); and a scene in which Pilate's wife alerts Otto to Brian's capture. The shepherds' scene has badly distorted sound, and the kidnap scene has poor colour quality. All of these scenes can now be found on the Criterion Collection DVD.
The most controversial cuts were the scenes involving Otto, initially a recurring character, who had a thin Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
-esque moustache and spoke with a German accent, shouting accusations of "racial impurity" at people whose conceptions were similar to Brian's (Roman centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
rape of native Judean women), and other Nazi-based phrases. The logo of the Judean People's Front, designed by Terry Gilliam, was a Star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
with a small line added to each point so it resembled a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
, 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 WWI era German helmets
Pickelhaube
The Pickelhaube , also "Pickelhelm," was a spiked helmet worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by German military, firefighters, and police...
. 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
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
'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
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
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
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
" 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
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
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
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a popular song written by Eric Idle that was originally featured in the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals.-History:Whilst trying to come up...
" 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
Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
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
Legio V Macedonica
Legio quinta Macedonica was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Octavian in 43 BC, and it was stationed in Moesia at least until 5th century. Its symbol was the bull, but the eagle was used as well...
to the headquarters of the People's Front of Judea, Reg (John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
) 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 four-letter word
Four-letter word
The phrase four-letter word refers to a set of English-language words written with four letters which are considered profane, including common popular or slang terms for excretory functions, sexual activity and genitalia, and sometimes also certain terms relating to Hell and damnation when used...
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 "MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK" 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
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album is an album released by Monty Python in 1980, a mixture of songs, new sketches and some rerecorded pre-Python work. As the title suggests, the album was put together to complete a contract with Charisma Records...
(1980). The idea of a violent rugby match between school masters and small boys was filmed in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983). A sketch about a boy who dies at school was released on the bootleg The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album is a bootleg album by Monty Python of unused material from the recording sessions of their Charisma albums, compiled and introduced by their producer Andre Jacquemin...
(1981).
Box office
For the original British and Australian releases, a spoof travelogue narrated by John CleeseJohn Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
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 "You'd never believe that these girls were plotting the downfall of Western Civilisation as we know it!", Communist Bulgaria being a member of the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
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 $140,034 USD ($28,007 per screen) in its opening weekend. Its total gross was $19,398,164 USD. It was the highest-grossing British film in North America that year. In addition, the film was the fourth highest-grossing film in Britain in 1979.
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 Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
's The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
. It grossed $26,376 USD ($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 USD during its re-release. By comparison, a re-release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
had earned $1.8 million USD three years earlier. A DVD of the film was also released that year.
Legacy
Life of Brian has regularly been cited as a serious contender for the title "greatest comedy film of all time", and has been named as such in polls conducted by Total FilmTotal Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
magazine in 2000, the British TV network Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 2006 and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper in 2007. Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
lists it as one of the best reviewed comedies, with a 98% approval rating from 44 published reviews. Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
includes the film in its list of the top 250 movies of all time. A 2011 poll by Time Out magazine ranked it as the third greatest comedy film ever made, behind Airplane!
Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...
and This is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap is an American 1984 rock musical mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner about the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap...
.
The BFI
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
declared Life of Brian to be the 28th best British film of all time, in their equivalent of the AFI
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's original 100 Years...100 Movies list. 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 on this occasion was Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
's Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
, which was ranked 5th).
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, has been voted by readers of BOL.com the funniest line in film history.
This poll also featured two of the film's other famous lines ("What have the Romans ever done for us?" and "I'm Brian and so's my wife") in the top 10.
Spin-offs
Spin-offs include a script-book The Life of Brian of Nazareth, which is backed by 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 were by two companies)."Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was later re-released with great success, after being sung by British football fans. Its popularity became truly evident in 1982 during the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
when sailors aboard the destroyer HMS Sheffield
HMS Sheffield (D80)
HMS Sheffield was the second Royal Navy ship to be named after the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire. She was a Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer laid down by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at Barrow-in-Furness on 15 January 1970, launched on 10 June 1971 and commissioned on 16 February 1975.An...
, severely damaged in an Argentinean Exocet
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. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...
missile attack on 4 May, started singing it while awaiting rescue.
Indeed, many people have come to see the song as a life-affirming ode to optimism
Optimism
The Oxford English Dictionary defines optimism as having "hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view." The word is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best." Being optimistic, in the typical sense...
. One of its more famous renditions was by the dignitaries of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
's bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games, just after they were awarded to Sydney. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is also featured in Eric Idle's Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
, a Broadway musical based upon Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
, 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
Monty Python Live at Aspen was a reunion show featuring the five surviving members of Monty Python: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Graham Chapman was also allegedly in attendance as his "ashes" were brought out in an urn. The Pythons looked back at their work...
special.
The song is a staple at Iron Maiden concerts, where the recording is played after the final encore.
An album of the songs sung in Monty Python's Life of Brian
Monty Python's Life of Brian (album)
Monty Python's Life of Brian is an album released by Monty Python in conjunction with the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian. It mostly contains scenes from the movie with only brief linking sections performed by Eric Idle and Graham Chapman. The album opens with a brief rendition of "Hava...
has been released on the Disky label.
Julian Doyle, the film's editor, has written a book The Life of Brian/Jesus, which not only describes the filmmaking and editing process but argues that Monty Python's film is the most accurate Biblical film ever made.
In October 2008, a memoir by Kim "Howard" Johnson entitled 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.
In October 2011, BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
premiered the made-for-TV comedy film Holy Flying Circus
Holy Flying Circus
Holy Flying Circus is a 90-minute BBC television comedy film from 2011, about the 1979 television debate about the film Monty Python's Life of Brian...
, written by Tony Roche and directed by Owen Harris. The "Pythonesque" film explored the events surrounding the 1979 television debate on talk show Friday Night, Saturday Morning between John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
and Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
and Malcolm Muggeridge
Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy...
and Mervyn Stockwood
Mervyn Stockwood
Arthur Mervyn Stockwood was Anglican Bishop of Southwark from 1959 to 1980.Mervyn Stockwood was born in Bridgend, Wales, to a middle-class family. His solicitor father was killed during the First World War. He was introduced to Anglo-Catholic worship at All Saints' Church, Clifton, which...
, the then Bishop of Southwark.
Oratorio
With the success of Eric IdleEric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
's musical retelling of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
, called Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
, Idle announced that he would be giving Life of Brian a similar treatment. The oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
, called Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)
Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)
Not the Messiah is a Monty Python comedic oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. It was written by former Python Eric Idle and collaborator John Du Prez, and commissioned by the Luminato festival....
, was commissioned to be part of the festival called Luminato
Luminato
Luminato - Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity, is a publicly-attended, multi-disciplinary arts festival held annually for 10 days each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
in Toronto, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, in June 2007, and was written/scored by Idle and John Du Prez
John Du Prez
John Du Prez is a musician, conductor, and composer. Du Prez was a member of the 1980s multi-hit Salsa-driven pop band Modern Romance and has since written several Film scores including Oxford Blues and the final Carry On film, Carry On Columbus...
, who also worked with Idle on Spamalot. Not the Messiah is a spoof of Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's oratorio Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
. It runs approximately 50 minutes, and was conducted at its World Premiere by Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
music director Peter Oundjian
Peter Oundjian
Peter Oundjian is a violinist and conductor, the youngest of five children from an Armenian father and English mother. He also claims Scottish ancestry through his maternal grandfather, a Sanderson, and the MacDonell of Glengarry clan.Oundjian was educated in England, where he began studying the...
, who is Idle's cousin.
Not the Messiah received its U.S. premiere at the Caramoor International Music Festival
Caramoor International Music Festival
The Caramoor International Music Festival is a summer music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Inc., which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of New York City in Katonah, New York.The Caramoor...
in Katonah
Katonah, New York
Katonah, New York is one of three unincorporated hamlets within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York, United States.-History:Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, an American Indian from whom the land of Bedford was purchased by a group of English colonists...
, New York. Cousins Peter Oundjian
Peter Oundjian
Peter Oundjian is a violinist and conductor, the youngest of five children from an Armenian father and English mother. He also claims Scottish ancestry through his maternal grandfather, a Sanderson, and the MacDonell of Glengarry clan.Oundjian was educated in England, where he began studying the...
(Caramoor's Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor) and Eric Idle joined forces once again for a double performance of the oratorio in July 2007.
Appearances in other media
In a Not the Nine O'Clock NewsNot the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
sketch, a bishop who has made 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
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
" 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 director of the film (played by Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
) claims that the reaction to the film has surprised him, as he "didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)
"The Spanish Inquisition" is a series of sketches in Monty Python's Flying Circus, Series 2 Episode 2, first broadcast 22 September 1970, parodying the real-life Spanish Inquisition. This episode is itself entitled "The Spanish Inquisition"...
."
"Talk Radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
" host John Williams, of Chicago's WGN 720 AM, has used "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a popular song written by Eric Idle that was originally featured in the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals.-History:Whilst trying to come up...
" from Life of Brian in a segment of his Friday shows. The segment is used to highlight good events from the past week in listeners' lives and to generally celebrate the end of the work week. In the 1997 Oscar winning film As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...
, the misanthropic character played by Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
sings "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as evidence of the character's change in attitude.
In the video game Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas is a first person action role-playing video game in the Fallout series developed by Obsidian Entertainment, and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is based in a post-apocalyptic environment in and around Las Vegas, Nevada...
, you can find "Romanes Eunt Domus" written on a wall by graffiti on a building in Cottonwood Cove, property of the Roman-styled Caesar's Legion.
A BBC history series What the Romans Did for Us
What the Romans Did for Us
What the Romans Did for Us, is a 2000 BBC documentary series that examines the impact of the Romans on modern society.The name of the programme is derived from the cult movie Monty Python's Life of Brian, referencing the famous scene where the People's Front of Judea discuss "What have the Romans...
, written and presented by Adam Hart-Davis
Adam Hart-Davis
Adam John Hart-Davis is an English scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster, well-known in the UK for presenting the BBC television series Local Heroes and What the Romans Did for Us, the latter spawning several spin-off series involving the Victorians, the Tudors, the Stuarts,...
and first broadcast in 2000, takes its title from John 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 Licence Fee
Television licensing in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies, any household watching or recording live television transmissions is required to purchase a television licence every year. As of 2010, this costs £145.50 for colour and £49.00 for black and white. The licence is required to receive any live...
: "What has the BBC ever given us?")
Former British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
in his Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...
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 MP David Clelland
David Clelland
David Gordon Clelland is a British Labour Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Tyne Bridge from 1985 until 2010.-Early life:...
, 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
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
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.
The alibi of the murderer in Simon Brett
Simon Brett
Simon Brett is a prolific writer of whodunnits. The son of a chartered surveyor, he was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first-class honours degree in English...
’s comic thriller Shock to the System (1984) depends on having been in a cinema watching Life of Brian.
The stoning scene is referenced in Terry Pratchett's second Discworld computer game. A clip of the stoning scene was shown in the music video "Yang Yang" by Anika in 2010.
The scene in the ninth episode of 'South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
's fifteenth season, 'The Last of the Meheecans
The Last of the Meheecans
"The Last of the Meheecans" is the ninth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 218th episode of the series overall. "The Last of the Meheecans" premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on October 12, 2011...
' where a naked Butters opens his window to find the townspeople in the street below hailing him as a god is a reference to the scene where the same thing happens to Brian.
Further reading
- Hewison, Robert. Monty Python: The Case Against. New York: Grove, 1981. ISBN 0-413-48660-5. 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. ISBN 978-88-87208-44-3. [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.
External links
- Monty Python's Life of Brian film script
- Keith Short – Film Sculptor Image of giant feet sculpted for this film
- Criterion Collection essay by George Perry
- Graffiti vandal strikes in Gloucester
- Filmcritic.com review of Monty Python's Life of Brian
- James Berardinelli's review on Monty Python's Life of Brian – A 2007 documentary about the controversy surrounding the film.