Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Favourite Films #8: Life of Brian

I would probably put The Empire Strikes Back in the #8 spot. But I've already discussed the original Star Wars trilogy on this blog. My review of The Empire Strikes Back can be found here. So, I've decided to appoint a stand in; Monty Python's Life of Brian.

This is the third feature length film to exhibit Monty Python's anarchic and surreal humour. Their first film, And Now For Something Completely Different, was simply a compilation of their best sketches from their TV show - remade with better production value. Feature number two, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a collection of new sketches based on the Arthurian legend. However, Life of Brian is more of a single story following Graham Chapman as Brian Cohen, a Jewish boy born on Christmas Day next door to Jesus. In his adulthood, Brian joins one of the (many) (bickering) resistance groups opposed to the Roman occupation of Judea. This results in a series of misadventures culminating in Brian being mistaken for a Messiah.

When the film came out, the religious satire caused quite a stir and resulted in many religious groups condemning it as 'blasphemous'. Now, I'm not a religious man, although I attended two Church of England primary schools growing up, and my writing often takes place in settings where religion played a more prominent and important role in society. The film isn't making fun of Jesus, but rather the concept of organised religion in general.

Blasphemy aside, the film never fails to produce some great laughs, especially with the satire of left-wing British politics, personified through the resistance groups who spend more time fighting each other than the Romans.

Not to mention the opening and closing songs are hilarious and somewhat epic.

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