The movie: “Life of Brian”
Stars: Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
Rated: R
Released: 1979
What I “know”: I know more about it just by looking for an image for this post. I honestly didn’t even know it was a religious parody/whatever, but there are people on crosses and stuff, so I guess that’s what’s happening? I’ve seen 98 percent of “Holy Grail” and that’s the extent of my Monty Python exposure, though I love British comedy so I’m optimistic.
What I know after reading the Netflix sleeve: “Born on the original Christmas day in the stable next door to Jesus, Brian (Graham Chapman) grows up to join an anti-Roman separatist group. But as he tries to escape trouble with the law, he finds himself reluctantly thrust into the role of the Messiah. Monty Python legends John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Michael Palin co-star in this classic religious satire that pokes fun at fanaticism and hypocrisy.” Hmmm a movie that makes fun of religious fanaticism and is British? I’m open to this.
02:30: Thank goodness, Monty Python asking the REAL questions: “What is myrrh anyway?”
03:57: OK the facepalm shove made me laugh out loud.
11:00: Poor Eeyore!
11:10: Man, people sure were entrepreneurial. Selling stones for the stoning, with sacks of gravel! Brilliant!
14:07: Those guards are over this shit. I laughed though. People sure do love a good stoning.
16:04: I’m going to be honest … there are going to be large swaths of this movie I just don’t understand. I watch a lot of British TV but their accents are so hard for me to decipher. The former leper, with the sing-songy and the high pitch and the speed, I didn’t get hardly any of. Thank goodness for Brian saying “Why don’t you tell him you want to be a leper again?” I think the ex-leper then said something about wanting something just during the week or something. No clue, honestly.
20:06: The whole “Call me Loretta, I want to have babies, DON’T OPPRESS ME” thing hits a little close to home nowadays. Stating facts, if it’s against someone’s desires, means you’re oppressing them. Monty Python was made up of visionaries!
25:47: OOH THERE’S A COPY EDITOR IN THIS MOVIE. Bless you, Python.
29:00: This debate about their demands is EXACTLY how I imagine the Republican National Convention coming up with their platform. “Oh, peace? SHUT UP.”
37:54: They also hit on infighting among groups with the same goal, and how it distracts from the larger purpose, as well as torture. This is gold.
40:00: I love John Cleese so much.
42:19: I wouldn’t trust anyone who DIDN’T laugh at Biggus Dickus.
43:21: Wait a second, there’s a freaking spaceship? With hands holding eyeballs coming out of the aliens’ heads? OK, this just went from satire to drug trip REAL quickly. I’m willing to suspend the point where he fell into an open-air spaceship and then went into space and had no trouble breathing, got shot down and crashed exactly where he left … because, Python.
53:46: This whole thing is frightening in its prescience. People twisting the words of someone to obfuscate the point … yeah, that never happens.
56:50: The whole thing with the sandal is also gold. This movie is perfection.
1:01:30: “I say you are [the Messiah] and I should know as I’ve followed a few.”
1:03:30: Did NOT know there was nudity. Good on you, Graham Chapman, and whoever plays the girlfriend.
1:29:57: I had no idea this was where the “Bright Side of Life” song came from. And now it’s in my head.
So, full disclosure, I didn’t love “Holy Grail” as much as most. I found it toooooo slapsticky (which I know is kind of their thing) but this movie was a good mix of weirdness with actual satire and parody. I really enjoyed this movie, no matter how jarring it was to watch it nearly 40 years after it came out and see where we are in the world. People are so desperate to look for answers and leadership from others that they bestow power to those who don’t deserve it. There is no quick fix, there is no person walking around who has all the answers. We all have to do the best we can.