GreyHorace
Member
In case you missed it, noted comedic actor and director Terry Jones of Monty Python fame died recently.
In his honor, let's talk about his greatest film, the 2nd film feature of the Monty Python troupe, Life of Brian.
Released 40 years ago, it was at the time one of most controversial movies ever made. Many people (primarily the Moral Guardians) assumed it was a film made by the Pythons to mock Jesus Christ. It was banned in countries such as Ireland and Norway over supposed 'blasphemous' content.
If any of moral busybodies had taken time to watch the movie, they'd see that Christ does appear in the film, but he's treated with complete respect. The Pythons claimed there was nothing they could make funny with regards to Jesus, as his message was something they agreed with. Instead, Life of Brian satirizes organized religion and how it twists the mind of regular people to embrace fanaticism. It also made fun of Hollywood's reverent depiction of Judea during the time of Christ and showed it for what it really was. There's also jabs at Latin grammar, the disabled, Jews predilection for torture, etc, etc. Hell, they even made fun of transgender people 40 years ahead of the game.
Terry Jones was the director as he was with all the Python films. What's hilarious though is that he was able to insert some jokes that were actually true to history, as he was a legitimate historical scholar and knew his stuff. Things like::
- The stoning scene at the beginning is pretty accurate, as blasphemy was a legitimate reason to sentence someone to death at the time. And yes, women weren't allowed to watch stonings. No word whether they actually snuck in wearing fake beards.
- Brian's parentage being the result of his mother being raped by a Roman soldier. This is a reference to one theory by historians regarding Jesus' birth, that the early Christians used the myth of Immaculate Conception to cover up Mary's dalliance with a Roman soldier.
- The infighting between the various Jewish resistance groups is also true to history. They spent more time fighting each other rather than fighting the Romans.
- Roman leaders like Pontius Pilate and his friend Biggus Dickus having speech impediments. This wasn't just included for laughs, the Romans actually thought people with speech problems were of a higher class than most.
Let's not forget though, Jones also acted in the film and like his fellow Pythons played several parts. People of course, will forever remember him in the role of Mandy, Brian's mother, uttering the funniest line in the film:
Life of Brian has a deserved reputation of being one of the funniest films of all time. It's smart, crude, absurd and politically incorrect in the most delightful way. I love this film, and it's probably my favorite work of the Pythons. And even though we grieve at the loss of Terry Jones, let's not forget the film's final scene with it's universal message:
In his honor, let's talk about his greatest film, the 2nd film feature of the Monty Python troupe, Life of Brian.
Released 40 years ago, it was at the time one of most controversial movies ever made. Many people (primarily the Moral Guardians) assumed it was a film made by the Pythons to mock Jesus Christ. It was banned in countries such as Ireland and Norway over supposed 'blasphemous' content.
If any of moral busybodies had taken time to watch the movie, they'd see that Christ does appear in the film, but he's treated with complete respect. The Pythons claimed there was nothing they could make funny with regards to Jesus, as his message was something they agreed with. Instead, Life of Brian satirizes organized religion and how it twists the mind of regular people to embrace fanaticism. It also made fun of Hollywood's reverent depiction of Judea during the time of Christ and showed it for what it really was. There's also jabs at Latin grammar, the disabled, Jews predilection for torture, etc, etc. Hell, they even made fun of transgender people 40 years ahead of the game.
Terry Jones was the director as he was with all the Python films. What's hilarious though is that he was able to insert some jokes that were actually true to history, as he was a legitimate historical scholar and knew his stuff. Things like::
- The stoning scene at the beginning is pretty accurate, as blasphemy was a legitimate reason to sentence someone to death at the time. And yes, women weren't allowed to watch stonings. No word whether they actually snuck in wearing fake beards.
- Brian's parentage being the result of his mother being raped by a Roman soldier. This is a reference to one theory by historians regarding Jesus' birth, that the early Christians used the myth of Immaculate Conception to cover up Mary's dalliance with a Roman soldier.
- The infighting between the various Jewish resistance groups is also true to history. They spent more time fighting each other rather than fighting the Romans.
- Roman leaders like Pontius Pilate and his friend Biggus Dickus having speech impediments. This wasn't just included for laughs, the Romans actually thought people with speech problems were of a higher class than most.
Let's not forget though, Jones also acted in the film and like his fellow Pythons played several parts. People of course, will forever remember him in the role of Mandy, Brian's mother, uttering the funniest line in the film:
Life of Brian has a deserved reputation of being one of the funniest films of all time. It's smart, crude, absurd and politically incorrect in the most delightful way. I love this film, and it's probably my favorite work of the Pythons. And even though we grieve at the loss of Terry Jones, let's not forget the film's final scene with it's universal message:
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