Monty Python's Life Of Brian (DVD 2003)

In 1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian struck a chord with the devoted, and the condemnations came loud and strong. Though it actually had little to do with the Messiah or his wisdom, this liturgical laugh-fest from Britain's rock stars of comedy was considered sacrilegious.

It's sad to say it, but Life of Brian

The more fundamental question, however, was why Monty Python (Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Terry Gilliam), who spent their BBC/PBS series skewering British uptightness, take on the sacrosanct subject of the Savior? In fact, Brian does not lampoon Jesus Christ, his teachings or his importance as a religious icon. Indeed, it's more a scathing satire on mob mentality, government bureaucracy, and cult ideology.

It was Eric Idle who first threw out the idea of a religious epic. After the successful medieval spoof, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the troupe was looking for another genre to deconstruct. Someone suggested the old-fashioned Cecil B. DeMille Bible ballyhoo and Idle visualized a send-up of Christianity. With a working title, "Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory," the debaucherous brainstorming began. They came up with the story of Brian (played with grace and goofiness by Chapman), the reluctant prophet, a simple man constantly mistaken for the King of the Jews. From his birth in a manger right next door to Christ's, to his unexplained rise as a spiritual emblem for the sheep-like folks of Judea, Brian remains an incorruptible innocent, even amid massive upheaval.

Life of Brian's cleverly crafted script stretches stupidity to its limits. And it's become even more relevant, as events in the Middle East escalate. The film explores extremism, the Romans' bullying set against the violent elements within the Jewish community. Brian's odyssey has him falling into a political party (The People's Front of Judea, not to be confused with the Judean People's Front), dead set on freeing their homeland from the crucifying influence of Rome.

Of course, the movie takes time out from its philosophizing for classic Python skits, as when the stoning of a Jehovah-spouting heretic becomes a short sketch plot stop. And when Brian is given the task of graffito-tagging a government wall with the Latin phrase for "Romans Go Home!", the lesson in the dead language by John Clesse's cranky Centurion is another spoof of public education.

This is without doubt one of the funniest films ever created, I watch it probably about once a year, and find myself repeating it's well known phrases for months afterwards.

If you're a Python fan, or if you're not, this is a great film, a British classic!!!!