Life of Brian (1979)

Director:

Terry Jones

Writers:

Graham Chapman (written by) &
John Cleese (written by) ...

Release Date:

17 August 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A motion picture destined to offend nearly two thirds of the civilized world. And severely annoy the other third.

Plot:

Brian is born on the original Christmas, in the stable next door. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Judea | Revolutionary | Satire | Black Comedy

Cast

Graham Chapman	...	Wise Man #2 / Brian Cohen / Biggus Dickus
John Cleese	...	Wise Man #1 / Reg / Jewish Official / Centurion / Deadly Dirk / Arthur
Terry Gilliam	...	Man Even Further Forward / Revolutionary / Jailer / Blood & Thunder Prophet / Frank / Audience Member / Crucifee
Eric Idle	...	Mr. Cheeky / Stan (Loretta) / Harry the Haggler / Culprit Woman / Warris / Intensely Dull Youth / Jailer's Assistant / Otto / Lead Singer Crucifee
Terry Jones	...	Mandy Cohen / Colin / Simon the Holy Man / Bob Hoskins / Saintly Passer-by / Alarmed Crucifixion Assistant
Michael Palin	...	Wise Man #3 / Mr. Big Nose / Francis / Mrs. A / Ex-Leper / Announcer / Ben / Pontius Pilate / Boring Prophet / Eddie / Shoe Follower / Nisus Wettus
Terence Bayler	...	Gregory
Carol Cleveland	...	Mrs. Gregory
Kenneth Colley	...	Jesus
Neil Innes	...	A weedy Samaritan
Charles McKeown	...	False Prophet / Blind Man / Giggling Guard / Stig
John Young	...	Matthias, Son of Deuteronomy of Gath
Gwen Taylor	...	Mrs. Big Nose
Sue Jones-Davies	...	Judith
Peter Brett

Also Known As:

Brian of Nazareth (UK) (working title)
Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory (UK) (working title)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (UK) (complete title)
The Gospel According to St. Brian (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Norway:(Banned) (1979 - 1980) | Finland:K-16 (1988) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1980) | Netherlands:MG6 (DVD rating) | Iceland:L | Spain:T | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:(Banned) | Norway:18 (1980) | Sweden:15 | Australia:MA (Special Edition DVD) | France:U | Australia:M | Brazil:18 | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:18 (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Ireland:(Banned) (1979-1987) | Ireland:15 (re-rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:11 (re-rating) (2004) | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Amphitheater, Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia

Company:

HandMade Films

Trivia:

Cameo: [George Harrison]Mr. Papadopolous, owner of "The Mount", who shakes hands with Brian and gives a very Liverpudlian "'ullo". However, this is the voice of Michael Palin who had to imitate Harrison in post-dubbing when the original recording proved unusable.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene where a nude Brian speaks with his followers and his mother comes storming into the room, a Star of David is visible on the wall of the room. The Star of David didn't become a symbol of Judaism until the Middle Ages.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Wise Man #1: Ahem!
Brian?s mother: Oh!
[falls over in chair]
Brian?s mother: Who are you?
Wise Man #2: We are three wise men.
Brian?s mother: What?
Wise Man #1: We are three wise men.
Brian?s mother: Well, what are you doing creeping around a cow shed at two o'clock in the morning? That doesn't sound very wise to me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Passion: Films, Faith & Fury (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Brian Song

Still funny, after 25 years

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