Das Leben des Brian

And in the 1979th year of Our Lord, God took in a screening of Monty Python's "Life Of Brian," and thought it was funny.

He did NOT think the film was blasphemous or offensive in any way. Yea, God did admire it's incredibly clever pokes at religion and at religious fanatics, for God Himself knew the virtue of being able to laugh at one's self. He also knew before He even walked into the theater that the title character, Brian, was NOT Jesus Christ, but merely a man who was born at the same time as Christ---right next door, in fact---and became mistaken for a messiah. God settled into His seat, with popcorn in one hand and diet soda in another, and had a rollicking good time.

He recommended "Life Of Brian" to His Son, Jesus, who went to see it the following week. He, too, thought it was a hilarious film, and immediately sang the praises of the Monty Python troupe---John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam & Michael Palin---for creating such a wonderful spoof. And He recommended the film to His friends. Have an open mind, He told them, and have fun.

But God and His Son were quite puzzled why so many people in the Bible Belt community were so upset by "Life Of Brian"---especially the ones who hadn't even bothered to SEE the frigging film for fear of being damned for all time. And They both shook their heads in dismay. It's only a movie, They thought, and a very funny, harmless one at that. Get a life!

But God gave Monty Python's "Life Of Brian" the power to overcome such ridiculous adversity, and today, well over two decades later, the film is rightfully regarded as a comedy classic, and one of the Python's finest works. It's *still* not a film for everybody, but does it have to be? If you're in tune with the Python's style of zany comedy, you'll enjoy "Life Of Brian."

And praise be to Saint George Harrison, late of The Beatles, for lending the Pythons a hand in making this wonderful movie. :-)

Marvelous satire of religion and its followers - how the message is distorted, how factions invariably form and fight one another, and how blind worship quickly replaces reason (and even kindness). After the Sermon on the Mount is delivered to a crowd who mostly can't hear Jesus and squabble among themselves, one guy walks off commenting "What Jesus fails to appreciate is that it's the meek who are the problem," in shades of the conservative view in 1979 and today. Mostly it's just good, sacrilegious fun, sometimes venturing into territory that's now frowned upon (like making fun of a speech impediment), but overall very creative and intelligent. Here's another funny bit:

Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't need to follow me! You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals! Crowd, as one: Yes! We're all individuals! Brian: You're all different! Crowd, as one: Yes, we're all different!

When a film is still funny 25 years after it's made, and doesn't feel particularly aged, even a quarter of a century later, then you know that you've struck gold. The famous Monty Python crew once again take a well-known subject and make a lot of fun of it. This time, the subject is religion, or, more specifically, Christianity. Everyone who knows at least a little about Christianity, which is pretty much anyone from the western world, will probably be able to laugh at something in this movie. Unless, of course, you are very Christian yourself, in that case you will probably feel that the film is blasphemous(I don't personally think so, since it makes fun of the followers and the general stupidity of people and organizations back in 30-something A.D., rather than Jesus and his teachings). The plot is about as incoherent as the usual Monty Python team film, though it should be noted that, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it is an actual film, and not a series of sketches, like, for example, the Meaning of Life. It's about as paced as they usually are, most of the scenes contain a lot of jokes, and then they move on to the next scene, after about five minutes of jokes and sight gags. This is, unfortunately, the problem with their films; if you don't like the jokes, the film might seem extremely slow to you; of course, one could argue that Monty Python mainly make movies for the jokes sake, but they could do better on the pacing, for the sake of viewers who don't like all those repeated jokes. That's not to say that I don't like them, I laugh at them most of the time, heck, I laughed so hard that I almost got stomach ache from it at one particular instant. But, I guess that a lot of people won't like them for this way of making movies. Oh well. You can't please everyone. The humor is great, it's standard Python wacky, crazy humor, so every Python fan should enjoy it. People who don't like Monty Python should give this a chance too, if they have at least a little humor, and they aren't Christian extremists. Christian "believers" can probably laugh at it too, like I said, it's not the religion itself, it's more the brainwashed followers that the film makes fun of. All in all, a great film for fans of the Python crew, and people who have a sense of humor about religion(a dark sense of humor, that is). I recommend it to fans of Monty Python, people who enjoy dark humor and people who can laugh a little at the less intelligent parts of Christianity. I fall into all three categories, and I loved it. 8/10

Famous lines from Michael Palin as Pontius Pilate...and also my favourite lines from this wondrous film. This is not a piece of criticism, just an exhibition of love. For those of you who believe that Holy Grail is better - I'm sorry to inform you that you're wrong. Life of Brian has such good consistent humour that really can't be beaten. The variety and range of characters the Pythons play is sublime. The chemistry they have with each of other is what makes the film work so well. I won't ramble on anymore because most of what I want to say has already been said!

Afterthought: Well, what is myrrh anyway?

For many years I have worked tirelessly to promote the aims of the Popular Front of Judea, and quite frankly I'm disgusted at its treatment of us. To depict us as a lonely old man is one of the most grotesque distortions ever commited to celluloid. We are at least three times that number, and furthermore we don't have a single repressed transexual among us. An absolute disgrace. I shall never watch this film again, unless I rent it out on video or see it on the TV in the near future. Vive la PFJ.