| Product: |
Monty Python's Life Of Brian (DVD) |
| Date: |
05/10/02 (153 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Very Funny
Disadvantages: None
~ Introduction ~
After reading a recent opinion here on dooyoo, about Monty Python’s Holy Grail, I rummaged through my videos to see exactly what I still had remaining on VHS, and there it was, my favourite of the Monty Python films – “The Life of Brian”.
I cannot believe that this film was released 23 years ago! I was watching this and laughing just as much as the first time that I watched it (around 14 years ago).
Starring:
· Graham Chapman
· John Cleese
· Terry Gilliam
· Eric Idle
· Terry Jones
· Michael Palin
Director: Terry Jones
Duration: 94 Mins
Release Date: 1979
Genre: Comedy, Cult
Rating: 15
~ Overview ~
This film is largely based around the character Brian of Nazareth (hence the title), who happened to be born a short distance away from Jesus and in similar surroundings i.e. a manger in a den. The story jumps straight to his adult years when he soon finds out that his father is Roman and slept with a Jewish prostitute (his mother), and in fact his father is a Roman centurion. Brian hates this and his hatred leads him to join up with the ‘Peoples Front of Judaeo’. These are a group revolutionaries that we see make feeble attempts to overthrow the Roman’s and are mostly unsuccessful. In his efforts, he brings much attention to himself from the roman authorities, and also unexpectedly a mass of people who believe that he is the Messiah.
Within the film there are gags galore that have me in stitches every time that I watch it – there are also the more subtle visual gags in places. There is one particular scene where we see ‘Pontius Pilate’ and ‘Biggus Dickus’ asking the general public outside of the imperial building to give a name that they will spare on the day of crucifixion, bearing in mind that Pilate has a problem pronouncing his R’s and Dickus has a problem pro
nouncing his S’s, the crowd shout out names which in turn the emperors say with their lisps whilst the roman guards are sniggering away in the background and the public are rolling around on the ground in fits of laughter.
At the end of the film we have all of the unfortunates strapped to their crosses when Eric Idle suddenly bursts out in song with a comic performance of ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’ – It is amazing that every time I watch this film, I can’t stop myself from whistling along to it. I also read an interesting fact that in 1982, the surviving crew of the sinking HMS Sheffield found some comfort in singing this tune during their difficult time!
When this film was first released, it was opposed by a group of Christians as they considered it to be blasphemous and an attack on Christianity and Judaism. The first showings were picketed by the group of Christians that later resulted in the film being banned from Norway. Although the film is more satirical than blasphemous, I give the warning to people who may be offended not to watch it.
~ Characters/Performances ~
I admire the way that these actors were able to play a number of different characters. Michael Palin actually played a total of 8 different characters throughout the film
In my opinion, it would be unfair to single out any one these actors as performing the best although Graham Chapman was shown as the main star of the film. I would say that they were all very funny, performed very well and suited all of the parts that they played. For your information, the actors played the following parts:
Graham Chapman – Brian, 1st Wise Man, Biggus Dickus
John Cleese – Reg, 3rd Wise Man, Stoning Official, Centurion
Terry Gilliam – Jailer, Blood & Thunder Prophet
Eric Idle – Stan, Harry the Haggler, Mr. Cheeky, Jailer’s Assistant, Mr. Frisbee 3rd
Terry Jones &#
8211; Mandy, Simon
Michael Palin – Francis, Pontius Pilate, Ben, Ex-Leper, 2nd Wise Man, Mr. Big Nose, Nisus Wettus, Boring Prophet
~ Summary & Recommendation ~
The films does contain some scenes of nudity and strong language hence the 15 rating.
A film that is very funny from the start through to the end that seems to run for just the right amount of time (94 mins). A good story line relating to the bible, but some may still be offending by this. An all-star cast they play a multitude of roles throughout the film, but respect must go to the scriptwriters because the script really does the film what it is.
Will I watch it again? Well, I have watched it 4 times so far, and will definitely watch it again – it’s one of those films that comes in very handy when there is nothing else worth watch on the TV.
This film is available on DVD but I have been advised that the DVD is not worth buying, as it does not offer much extra – therefore I would advise renting it out at your local video store if you do not already own the film.
For those of you who, who are that way inclined you can visit the following site that has the whole script for each of the scenes including a few pictures for various scenes in the film: - www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/brian.htm - you can also download the music track at the site but it is rather large!
For a film that can last this long as one of my all time favourites, it warrants nothing less than 5 stars!
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