I was first exposed to Monty Python while I was in school; I picked up one of his albums, Monty Python’s Previous Record, from the local library and was instantly hooked. However, it would be over a decade before I had the opportunity to see all 4 seasons of Monty Python’s groundbreaking Flying Circus series in total and even then I had to shell out a small fortune to import the 14-disc ‘Mega Set’ DVD. ‘ which was only available on the Arts & Entertainment television network in the US at the time. I’m envious of the current generation of Python neophytes who can download all of their work directly from iTunes instantly.
Although the TV series was not available on home video in the UK during my teenage years, I was lucky enough to be able to record all three films to watch over and over again. After the box-office success of the low-budget film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Python secured financial backing from Beatle George Harrison’s fledgling HandMade Films and spent two weeks at a Caribbean beach retreat writing the script that would become in his renowned masterpiece Monty Python’s Life of Brian, an epic of literal biblical proportions.
While Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones had somewhat frustratingly shared the directing reins of Holy Grail, this time Gilliam focuses on production design, leaving Jones to concentrate directly on directing the performances. The bottom line is that Life of Brian is the most cinematic of Python movies, looking less like a comedy and a lot like the Hollywood biblical epics it parodies. Graham Chapman plays Brian Cohen, a young Jew who lives a life parallel to that of Jesus Christ and is often mistaken for the Messiah.
The production benefited from filming in Monastir, Tunisia, where Franco Zeffirelli had recently filmed the lavish mini-series Jesus of Nazareth. They were also able to reuse various costumes which helped add to the authenticity that the team was striving for, as Terry Jones says in the audio. comment “there’s no reason why a comedy can’t look beautiful” and Life of Brian certainly looks amazingly sharp on this Blu-ray release from Sony Pictures.
Despite being banned in the world’s most strictly Christian countries, including Scotland, for being blasphemous, the film actually treats Christ played by Kenneth Colley with great respect – after all, it doesn’t claim to be the life of Jesus. In fact, if the film could be charged with anything, it would be heresy, as the obvious target of its biting satire is the rigid dogma and hypocrisy of the various churches who seem to disagree on the exact meaning of the teachings. of Christ despite more than 2,000 years of often dire debate.
It also deals a side blow to the political infighting in separatist factions such as the “Popular Front of Judea” or the “Popular Front of Judea” and challenges the thoughtless devotion of the masses who yearn to see acts of God in the most banal everyday incidents. as shown by the unwanted pumpkin Brian picks up at the market. Above all, Life of Brian is packed with the wonderfully absurd puns you’ve come to expect from the Monty Python team, and each member gets a chance to shine in many memorable performances; they even get a chance to replay a scene with their Goon Show idol Spike Milligan, who was commemorating a battlefield in North Africa at the time and spent a day on set.
Animator Terry Gilliam takes the opportunity to do a full, incongruous action sequence in the middle of the film when Brian is being chased by Roman centurions and is picked up by a randomly passing alien spaceship, allowing for a fleeting escape. . from George Lucas’s Star Wars. The film climaxes with the sardonic singing of Eric Idle’s song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” by those on death row by crucifixion alongside Brian, an iconic image to close the film.
The hidef release contains most of the material from the Criterion Collection DVD release, including the two feature-length audio commentaries, one with Michael Palin and John Cleese and the other with Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Terry Jones, offering a lots of background information. . There is also the full audio reading of the script by the team that has been set up on the typed script and excerpts from the original storyboard. The Hour Long Story of Brian is a detailed documentary charting the controversy and subsequent ban on the film.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian is the most cohesive of all his films, not only is it one of the funniest comedies ever made, but it’s also an insightful exploration of the history of organized religion and a warning about the dangers of religion. blind faith and loss of individualism. .
