{"id":39663,"date":"2017-11-15T01:00:55","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T08:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39663"},"modified":"2020-12-04T12:02:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T19:02:44","slug":"39663","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39663","title":{"rendered":"Life of Brian (1979) \/ Monty Python&#8217;s Life of Brian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Hello, CMBA members! I\u2019m happy to be participating in the <a href=\"http:\/\/clamba.blogspot.com\/2017\/11\/banned-and-blacklisted-2017-cmba-fall.html\">Classic Movie Blog Association\u2019s &#8220;Banned and Blacklisted&#8221; blogathon<\/a>. If you\u2019re new to my site, please click <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=120\">here<\/a> to read more. Welcome!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>&#8220;Only the true Messiah denies his divinity!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Poster-190x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"190\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-39669\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Poster-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Poster-81x128.jpg 81w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Poster.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 190px) 100vw, 190px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA man (Graham Chapman) named Brian &#8212; born in the Roman Empire on the same day as Jesus Christ &#8212; becomes involved with the revolutionary People&#8217;s Front of Judea, and is mistaken as a messiah by eager crowds of would-be followers. Will his mother (Terry Jones) or his new girlfriend (Sue Jones-Davies) be able to save him from certain crucifixion?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt<\/li>\n<li>Biblical Stories<\/li>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Monty Python Films<\/li>\n<li>Revolutionaries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nComedy troupe Monty Python&#8217;s follow-up after the success of <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=8990\"><em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail<\/em> (1975)<\/a> was this irreverent cult classic, beloved by many and infamous for the controversy it generated both before and after its release (and into recent years). To name just a few of its credentials as a &#8220;banned and blacklisted&#8221; film, its funding was pulled a few days before production was set to begin (George Harrison stepped in to help); several countries (including Ireland and Norway) banned or limited its screening upon release; rabbis and nuns picketed its opening in New York; and <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.usccb.org\/movies\/l\/lifeofbrian1979.shtml\">the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops<\/a> gave the film an &#8220;O&#8221; for Offensive rating, offering the following summation:  <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Monty Python movie about a hapless fellow named Brian, a contemporary of Jesus, who is mistaken for the Messiah and eventually crucified by the Romans. The nihilistic, anything-for-laughs thrust of director Terry Jones&#8217;s comedy deliberately exploits much that is sacred to Christian and Jewish religious tradition. Especially offensive is the mocking parody of the crucifixion scene. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yes, there is much to be offended by in <em>Life of Brian<\/em>: it&#8217;s a satire which truly leaves nothing sacred, and that&#8217;s the point. Its sharpest attacks are made on the mobs of worshipers who insist Brian is their messiah, and who turn his every word and action into a literal sign from God; and on left-leaning revolutionary groups which end up competing against each other for the ability to break free from Rome, while conceding that Roman imperialism actually brought quite a few positive elements to their lives. (&#8220;All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?&#8221;) Not all the humor here will work for all viewers, naturally; I&#8217;m not a fan of the running gag about Pilate&#8217;s lisping, for instance, or amused by the Roman names such as &#8220;Biggus Dickus&#8221; and &#8220;Incontinentia Buttocks&#8221;. However, there&#8217;s plenty here to enjoy on repeat viewings &#8212; including but not limited to the classic closing ditty (&#8220;Always Look on the Bright Side of Life&#8221;). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Be sure to check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0079470\/trivia\">IMDb&#8217;s Trivia page<\/a> for plenty of interesting facts about the making of this film, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Monty_Python's_Life_of_Brian\">Wikipedia&#8217;s in-depth overview and analysis<\/a>; I&#8217;m sure the DVD commentary is worthy, too (though I haven&#8217;t listened to it yet myself).  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Many classic, laugh-out-loud scenes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Shoe.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Shoe.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"336\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39666\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Shoe.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Shoe-128x67.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Shoe-300x158.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Final-Song.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Final-Song.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"336\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Final-Song.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Final-Song-128x67.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Final-Song-300x158.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"336\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Cinematography.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Cinematography-128x67.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Life-of-Brian-Cinematography-300x158.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a cult favorite. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary&#8217;s <em>GFTFF<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0079470\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/fantasy\/montypythonsthelifeofbrian.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2004\/05\/28\/AR2005033113001.html\">Washington Post Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1979\/08\/17\/archives\/film-monty-pythons-life-of-briangospel-of-lunacy.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello, CMBA members! I\u2019m happy to be participating in the Classic Movie Blog Association\u2019s &#8220;Banned and Blacklisted&#8221; blogathon. If you\u2019re new to my site, please click here to read more. Welcome! &#8220;Only the true Messiah denies his divinity!&#8221; Synopsis: A man (Graham Chapman) named Brian &#8212; born in the Roman Empire on the same day as Jesus Christ &#8212; becomes involved with the revolutionary People&#8217;s Front of Judea, and is mistaken as a messiah by eager crowds of would-be followers&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39663\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39663"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56189,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39663\/revisions\/56189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}