112. Monty Python's Life Of Brian; movie review

MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN
Cert 15
90 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, moderate sex references, nudity, comic violence

"He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", "What have the Romans ever done for us?" and "Always Look On the Bright Side Of Life."
I did not need to re-watch Monty Python's Life Of Brian, to remind me of its three most famous quotes.
Instead, I merely bathed in the pleasure of one of the greatest satirical movies of all time.
But it says much for the quality of its writing that the quotes and whole sketches are imprinted on the mind of anyone who has watched Terry Jones's movie.
Times have changed since Life Of Brian hit cinema screens exactly 40 years ago.
Back then the Bishop of Southwark and Malcolm Muggeridge locked horns with John Cleese and Michael Palin on national television, arguing that the film was a tenth-rate lampooning of Jesus Christ.
In return, Cleese said that it was actually intended as an inspiration for people to challenge doctrine and 'find out for themselves'.
Four decades later and Life Of Brian is being shown in Coventry Cathedral among other churches.
Interestingly, when it was screened in Leamington Spa, the secretary of the Friends of All Saints Church, said: " It did cause quite a lot of controversy when it was released in the 70s, but I think everybody has grown up a bit since then. We’ve learnt to be able to smile at some things. Times have changed.”
And yet I still found this the best of the Python films and didn't believe it had dated at all.
However, I do have to take issue with Cleese's 1979 assertion that this is not a gentle mockery of the Jesus story.
Nowadays, the word blasphemy is not taken as seriously by the Christian establishment but we all know what happened when similar gags were made about the prophet Muhammad.
If you are new to the Python team's movie, let me explain briefly...
Graham Chapman plays Brian who is born on the same day a Jesus in a barn just across the way from the real Messiah.
He grows up in a society which is desperate to cut loose from the shackles of the occupying Romans.
Cleese, Palin, Jones, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam play numerous different characters, both male and female, as the parallel story is traced before confusion reigns over whether Brian is 'a' messiah.
Watching it again was a joy. Even though I must have watched Life Of Brian five or six times, I still found much mirth in its gags and sang and whistled to its finale...
So, all together: "When you're chewing on life's gristle, Don't grumble, give a whistle! And this'll help things turn out for the best... and.... Always look on the bright side of life!"

Reasons to watch: Classic Python
Reasons to avoid: If you are fanatically Christian without a sense of humour

Laughs: Four
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 9.5/10

Did you know? One of the perks of filming in Tunisia was the Pythons used some of the leftover props, costumes and sets of Franco Zeffirelli's TV mini-series Jesus of Nazareth.

The final word. Terry Jones: "I took the view it wasn't blasphemous. It was heretical because it criticised the structure of the church and the way it interpreted the Gospels. At the time religion seemed to be on the back burner and it felt like kicking a dead donkey. It has come back with a vengeance and we'd think twice about making it now." The Guardian

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