Monty Python's Life of Brian "You're father was a Woman!"

Right, guess what?  Yep, you are getting two NEW posts in a row with NEW content!

So, what is this new post??? Well, I decided to review a film that I have seen recently on Netflix (but is by means a recent film!) and that is Monty Python's Life of Brian. So, rather surprisingly, this is a film that I have not yet reviewed on this blog and well its time I put that to rights and take a look at this comedy classic.

So, after nearly 40 years, how does Life of Brian fair???  Well, let's take a look...

And yep the usual warning is coming up....

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
  
STORY

So, the film begins with the Three Wise Men making their way into Behtlehem, on the night of the birth of Jesus Christ.  However, they happen to come along the wrong house as they give some gifts over to Mandy Cohen, who has given birth to her son, Brian. On realising their mistake, the three wise men come back in and take their gifts back from Mandy.

The film then jumps forward 33 years (to the year 33AD) where Brian (Graham Chapman) is now a young man, and while Brian and his mother observe Jesus give his sermon from the mount, Brian notices an attractive young rebel named Judith (Susan Jones-Davies) who he soon becomes infatuated with.  Brian in an effort to get to know Judith, he uses his hatred and mistrust of the Romans to join the resistance group of which she is a member, the Peoples Front of Judea (or PJF for short) lead by Reg (John Cleese).

Reg then sends Brian on a mission to paint grafitti on the grounds of Pontios Pilate's palace but he is stopped by a Roman centurion (Cleese again) who corrects Brian on the grammar of what he has written and demands that he write out the proper saying a hundred times.  By the next morning, Brian has painted the saying all over the palace and has the guards chase him but Judith soon takes him back to PFJ's hideout.

After this, Reg has his team mount an attack on Pilate's palace in order to kidnap his wife for a ransom and Brian goes along on the assault.  However, the PFJ on arriving at the palace find another rival rebel group already there, so rather than work together, they fight each other with most of them killed in the process, except Brian and one or two others.  Brian is captured and later dragged in front of Pilate (Michael Palin) who pronounces all his r's as w's! As Brian reveals he had a Roman father with the name "Naughtius Maximums" it prompts Pilate to reveal that he has a great friend with a similar name, "Biggus Dickus". When all the guards break up with laughter at the name, Brian seizes his chance to escape the palace and bizzarely also fall into a passing alien spaceship, which engages another ship in a space battle, which causes the spaceship to crash back down to Earth at the very spot where Brian was picked up!

Brian later makes his way back to the PFJ headquarters where he is forced to hide from the Romans out the back balcony, as the Centurion and his men inspects the HQ but find nothing, except a spoon.  As the balcony gives way, Brian falls below and knocks a boring prophet into a well, and Brian discovers that he is standing among a number of prophets and he is forced to pretend to be one. At first, the people standing around that listen to him are not impressed, until Brian starts to spout out something similar to what he heard of Jesus's sermon earlier, which prompts the disinterested crowd to suddenly becoming intrigued by Brian's words.

However, as Brian tries to leave, the crowd begins to follow him as they want to know what he was going to say and Brian begins to run away but the crowd then chases after him.  Brian runs toward a naked, long bearded man (Terry Jones) who has not spoken in 18 years but Brian, in order to get away from the crowd, leaps into the man's pit onto his foot, causing the man to speak for the first time in 18 years.  After the crowd arrive by the pit, Brian tries to convince them he is not the "Messiah" as they all praise him to be and that everything he says is a "miracle".  However, as the naked man attacks Brian, the crowd pick him and take him away to be killed as a "heretic" and Brian is soon left alone, but then Judith turns up....

The following morning, we see that Brian and Judith have slept together and Brian awakens, naked, he goes over to this window and opens it to see a large crowd outside, call him "the chosen one" and the "Messiah".  Mandy, soon returns home and is furious when she sees the crowd and also on seeing Judith with Brian but the crowd insist that they see Brian to which Mandy gives in to.  Brian addresses the crowd and tells them that they don't need to follow him or let anyone tell them what to do as they are all individuals.  However the crowd refuse to change their minds and Mandy pulls Brian away from the window and tells the crowd to "piss off!".

Not long after this though, Brian is captured by the Centurion and his soldiers and take to Pilate where he is to be crucified.  And its from here Brian awaits his fate by crucifixion but can Judith and the PFJ make a last ditch attempt to save him in time????

THOUGHTS

There is little doubt that Life of Brian is the Monty Python team's best film and it features so many classic, funny moments that it would impossible to try and mention them all in this review.  Not only that it would be difficult for me to try and narrow down a number of scenes for each of the Python team, as they all play multple parts!

As, for the actual film, it is of course a wonderful comical treat, aswell as a visual one as it looks quite stunning as it was shot in Tunisia and its modest budget of 4 million dollars actually looks very well spent as a film, its visuals and production on that money, punch well above their weight.  The cast are all on great form and the writing is hilarious and also typically very intelligent from the Python's aswell.

Not surprisingly the film courted much controversy for its satirical take on religion as many groups deemed the film to be blasphemous.  The outcry of the film was so strong that the Pythons themselves had to defend the film in numerous debates on television around that time and even in later years.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section might be pretty big and also contain some strong language!).

As for the performances, the Python cast are all on great form as they all do a wonderful job in performing multiple roles (as they did in The Holy Grail).

Starting with Graham Chapman, who is excellent in the lead role as Brian Cohen, a young Jewish man, who ends up getting involved with a revolutionary group, the Peoples Front of Judea, in an effort to get closer to one of the group, Judith, who he is attracted to.

And Graham has his share of good scenes in the film such as the one where Brian learns from his mother, Many, that his real father was a Roman.  So, in the scene Mandy tells Brian "Your father isn't Mr Cohen" and Brian says "I never though he was!" and Mandy shouts "None of your cheek! He was a Roman, Brian. He was a soldier in the Roman empire!".  Brian, shocked by this revelation asks "You mean you were raped?!!" and Mandy tells him "Well, at first, yeah!".  So, after Mandy tells Brian "So, the next time you go about the bloody Romans, don't forget you're one of them!" to which Brian angrily protests "I'm not a Roman, Mum and I never will be! I'm a kike, a yid, a heebie, a hook-nose, I'm kosher mum, I'm a Red Sea pedestrian, and PROUD OF IT!!!" and he goes into his room and slams the door.

Another good scene is when Brian is followed by the crowd, who believe him to be the Messiah after he pretends to be a prophet and the crowd are taken in by what he says.  So, as the crowd follow Brian out into the desert where he lands on the foot of a naked bearded man and thereby ends the man's vow of silence, they address with him more praise but Brian furiously tries to convice them he isn't the Messiah.

So, Brian shouts at the crowd "I'm not the Messiah!!" and one of the followers (John Cleese) tells him "I say you are, Lord and I should know, I've followed a few!".  Brian then shouts back "I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? HONESTLY!". However one of the woman followers says "Only the true Messiah denies his divinity!" and Brian looks exasperated and shouts "What?!! Well, what sort of chance does that give me?! All right! I AM the Messiah!!".  So, as the crowd praise him and say "He is the Messiah!" Brian furiously shouts back "Now, FUCK OFF!!" which prompts an awkward silence from the crowd and for the follower to ask "How shall we fuck off, oh Lord?!".

Another good scene is when Brian addresses his crowd of followers as they await him outside his home, as he has spent the night with Judith, he get's up, starkers, he goes over and opens the small window doors to see the crowd infront of him.  Brian is later then accosted by his mother, who forces him to address the crowd.

So, Brian tells the crowd "Good morning" and the crowd chant wildly "A blessing!  A blessing!!" but Brian tells to them "Please, please please listen! I've got one or two things to say!" and the the crowd chant back "Tell us! Tell us both of them!".  So, Brian says to them "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 your selves! You're ALL individuals!".  The crowd then repeat what he says and Brian then continues "You are all different!" and the crowd repeats him and Brian says "Exactly!" but the crowd then say "Tell us more!" which frustrates Brian, who says "No, that's point! Don't let anyone tell you what to do, otherwise..." and then Mandy comes back pulls Brian away from the window.

And then in Graham's other role (apart from one of the wise men) as Biggus Dickus, a prominent Roman, who has a bad speech impediment and he also has one or two funny moments, which I will combine together into this paragraph.  Starting with the one where, Pilate goes to address the crowd and Biggus with his speech impdiment says "Let me come with you, Pontiuth!  I may be of thome atthithance if there ith a certain crithith!".  And later, Biggus addresses a rowdy crowd when Pilate tells them he will release one of the prisoners but they keep mocking his own impediment, however Biggus's accent makes them laugh even more. So, Biggus turns to Pilate and asks "Is it something I said?!".

John Cleese next up is also great in the variety of the roles he plays in the film with the main two being Reg, the leader of the Peoples Front of Judea and the Roman Centurion. 

And I will of course mention a few of John's scenes here such as the one where in one of his other roles, as the High Priest at a stoning, brings forth, Matthias (John Young) who is to be stoned to death for saying "Jehovah".

So, in the scene, the High Priest says to Matthias "Matthias, son of Deuteronomy of Gath...you have been found guilty by the elders of the town of uttering the name of our Lord, and so, as a BLASPHEMER you are to be stoned to death!".  Then as Matthias says "Look, I don't think it should be blasphemy. Just saying Jehovah". and the High priest warns him "You're only making it worse for yourself!" and Matthias shouts "Worse?! How could it be worse?! Jehova! Jehova! Jehova!".  So, the High Priest angrily warns Matthias "Right! I'm warning you...if you say "Jehova" once more..." but then one of the crowd, throws a stone at the High Priest, who turns around and shous "RIGHT! Who threw that?!".  And one of the crowd, a woman with a beard, trying pose as a man says "Well you did say Jehova!" and then the crowd throw their stones at her.

So, the High Priest, literally hopping mad shouts at them to stop "Stop! Stop, will you?! Stop that! Stop it! Now, look! No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle! Do you understand?! Even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do say 'Jehovah'!". And with that, the crowd starting mercilessly pelt their rocks at him and two of the crowd crush the High Priest with a large stone, to the delight of the crowd who applaud and say "Good shot!".

Then there is the scene where Brian approaches the PFJ as he is selling good at the Roman colliseum and Brian asks them "Are you the Judean Peoples Front?" and Reg angrily says "Fuck off!! We're the Peoples Front of JUDEA!". And Reg tells Brian "If you want to join the People's Front of Judea, you have to really hate the Romans..." and Brian says "I do!" and Reg asks him "Oh, yeah?! How much?" and Brian says "A lot!" and after a pause, Reg says "Right, you're in!".  Reg then tells Brian "The only people we hate more than the Romans are the fucking Judean People's Front!" and the other PFJ members pitch in and shout "Splitters!".  And one of the other members, Francis (Michael Palin) also joins in and says "And the Judean Popular Peoples Front!" and the PFJ again shout "Splitters!" and another member, Stan (Eric Idle) says "And the Peoples Front of Judea!" and the group again join in and say "Splitters!".  However, Reg corrects Stan angrily and says "WE'RE the Peoples Front of Judea!" and after he asks Brian his name and Brian tells him "Brian, Brian Cohen" and Reg says to Brian "We may have a little job for you, Brian...".

Then there is the scene where the Roman Centurion catches Brian painting graffiti on Pilate's palace walls and the Centurion grabs Brian and asks him "What's this then?! 'Romanes Eunt Domus'? 'People called Romanes they go the house'?!".  And the two of them then get into a Latin grammar lesson and at the end and the Centurion tells Brian "Now, write it out a hundred times! And if its not done by sunrise, I'll cut your balls off!".

Then we have the scene where Reg asks his fellow PFJ members "What have the Romans ever done for us??!" and he means it morely as a rhetorical question, however one by one, the members keep giving Reg suggestions such as "education" "irrugation" and also "the wine!".  So, Reg re-phrases his question and asks again "All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?!".  And one of the members, Xerxes raises his hand and suggests "Brought peace?" and Reg sighs and angrily says "Oh, peace!! Shut up!!".   

Another funny scene from John is when the Roman Centurion and his men turn up at the PFJ's headquarters to search for Brian.  And as the Centurions men run into the PFJ's hideout one after the other, the Centurion asks Matthias "You know what the penalty is for harbouring a known criminal?" and Matthias says "No" and Centurion answers "Crucifixion!".  So, Matthias says "Oh.." and the Centurion trying to scare Matthias says "Nasty, eh?!" and Matthias says "Could be worse" and the Centurion asks "What do you mean? "It could be worse!".  So, Matthias says "You could be stabbed" and the Centurion says "Stabbed?! Takes a second.  Crucifixion lasts hours!  Its a slow, horrible death!" and Matthias, not phased says "At least it get's you out in the open air" and the Centurion gives him a look and says "You're weird!".

And then after the Centurion and his men leave, Brian apologises to Reg and says "I'm sorry, Reg" and Reg feigns a smile and says "Ohhh, it's all right, siblings. He's sorry. He's sorry he led the Fifth Legion straight to our official headquarters. Well, that's all right, then, Brian. Sit down. Have a scone. Make yourself at home. You klutz! You stupid, bird-brained, flat-headed...!".  However the Centurion and his men return again and the Centurion says to Matthias "There's one place we didn't look!" and and he sends his men back in, one by one.  So, the Centurion asks Matthias "Have you ever seen anyone crucified?" and Matthias says "Crucifixion's a doddle!" and the Centurion almost hurt says "Don't keep saying that!".

Then there is the scene where the Centurion captures Brian just after he has made his speech to the crowd outside his home and he is about to tell Judith how he feels about her.  So, as Judith delightfully tells Brian "We're all with you, Brian!  The revolution is in your hands!" we see a big hand clamp down on Brian's shoulder and the Centurion says to Brian "You're fucking nicked, me old beauty!" and he motions his men to take Brian away. So, as Brian is lead off, Judith desparately tries to do something and she smacks the back of the Centurion's helmet, who simply turns around and tells her "Stop it!" and moves off.

And lastly there is the scene where Reg and the members of the PFJ finally decide to move into action as they go to see Brian once he has been nailed up to the cross.  So, as they arrive, Reg tells Brian "Well, I think I should point out first, Brian, in all fairness, we are not, in fact, the rescue committee. However, I have been asked to read the following prepare statement on behalf of the movement. "We the People's Front of Judea, brackets, officials, end brackets, do hereby convey our sincere fraternal and sisterly greetings to you, Brian, on this, the occasion of your martyrdom.". Brian the looks at Reg in disbelief and asks "My what???!".

Reg then continues "Your death will stand as a landmark in the continuing struggle to liberate the parent land from the hands of the Roman imperialist aggressors, excluding those concerned with drainage, medicine, roads, housing, education, viniculture and any other Romans contributing to the welfare of Jews of both sexes and hermaphrodites. Signed, on behalf of the P. F. J. , etc. " And I'd just like to add, on a personal note, my own admiration, for what you're doing for us, Brian, on what must be, after all, for you a very difficult time!". So, Reg finishes by saying "Goodbye, Brian and thanks!" and they do their PFJ salute and then sing "For he's a jolly good fellow!" before they go.

Michael Palin next is also great here and he has his share of funny scenes in his various roles but his main ones as Pontius Pilate, who has a bad speech impediment as he pronounces all his "r's" as "w's" and also the PFJ resistance member, Francis.

So, Michael has of course his fair share of good scenes such as the one where he plays an ex-leper, who pesters Brian and his mother for some money.  And in the scene, Brian asks him "Did you say ex-leper?" and the ex-leper says "That's right, sir. Sixteen years behind the bell, and proud of it, sir!" and Brian asks him "Well, what happened?" and the ex-leper says "I was cured, sir".  Brian then asks "Well, who cured you?" and the ex-leper tells him "Jesus did, sir! I was hopping along, minding my own business. All of a sudden, up he comes. Cures me. One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by your leave. 'You're cured mate.' Bloody do-gooder!".  So, Brian then gives the ex-leper a coin for his story but the ex-leper complains "A half a denary for my bloody life story?!" and Brian says to him "There's no pleasing some people" and he walks off and the ex-leper shouts back "That's just what Jesus said, sir!".

Another good scene from Michael is when Brian has been captured by the Romans and placed into a cell next to a crazy bearded man, Ben (played by Michael) who has been hung up on the wall.  So, after Brian is thrown into the cell by the jailor (Terry Gilliam) we then hear a voice say "You lucky bastard!" and Brian asks "Who's that?!" and Ben says "You lucky, lucky bastard!  Proper little jailor's pet! You must have slipped him a few shekels, eh?!".  Brian then angrily replies "Slipped him a few shekels?!  You saw him spit in my face!" and Ben wistfully says "Ohh! What wouldn't I give to be spat at in the face! I sometimes hang awake at night dreaming of being spat at in the face!  They must think the son shines out of your arse, sonny!".

And at the end of the scene, the Centurion comes to take Brian to see Pilate and Brian asks "What does he want to see me for?" and the Centurion says "I think he wants to know what way up you want to be crucified!".  Ben then laughs out loud at this and says "Nice one, Ceturion!  Like it, like it!" and the Centurion annoyed, says to Ben "Shut up!" and after they go Ben says to himself "Terrific race, the Romans. Terrific!".

Then there is the great scene where Brian is taken to Pilate, who of course has his speech impediment and pronounces his "r's" as "w's" and when Brian says he is a Roman, Pilate says "So, your father was a woman! What was his name?" and Brian tells him "Nortius Maximus" which prompts laughter from the Centurion.  So, Pilate looks at the Centurion, puzzled and asks if they have anyone of that name in the garrison but the Centurion explains "No, but I think it's a joke name, sir.  Like Sillius Sodus and Biggus Dickus, sir".

So, this prompts laughter from the other soldiers and Pilate asks "What is so funny about Biggus Dickus?" and the Centurion says "Well, its a joke name, sir" and Pilate says "I vewy gweat fwiend in Wome named Biggus Dickus" and this prompts more laughter from the guards.  So, Pilate angrily goes up to one of them and says "Silence! What is all this insolence? You will find yourself in gladiator school vewy quickly with wotten behavior like that!".  However as Pilate carries on mentioning Biggus's name, they guard cracks up and is taken away on orders of Pilate.

Pilate then decides to test the other guards resolve in not making them laugh as he furiously says to them "I will not have my fwiends widiculed by the common soldiewy. Anybody else feel like a little... giggle..." and he approaches a guard, who is desparately trying to keep a straight face "when I mention my fwiend... Biggus...Dickus...".  As the guards continue to suppress their laughter, Pilate then says of Biggus "He has a wife, you know. You know what she's called? She's called... 'Incontinentia'... and the guards relax a little, until Pilate says her second name "Incontinentia Buttocks!" and the guards all crack up with laughter, which let's Brian escape.  So, Pilate on seeing that Brian has escaped, he shouts at his men "Seize him!  Blow your noses and seize him!".

And last of all is the hilarious scene where Pilate addresses the crowd as he says he will release one of the prisoners they hold as a gesture of friendship, however his speech impediment has the crowd crack up with laughter, as does the one of his good friend, Biggus Dickus (Graham Chapman). So, in the scene as the crowd roll around in hysterical laughter, Pilate shouts "Silence!" and he says to them of Biggus "This man commands a cwack legion!" and this prompts more laughter, which makes Pilate even more agitated and he shous "He wanks as high as any in Wome!" and this has the crowd laughing even more!

Terry Jones next is also very good in his various roles aswell although his main ones are Mandy, Brian's mother and also later on the naked bearded man, Simon.

And Terry's best scenes include his first one where the three wise men pay a visit to her home on the night of Jesus's birth but they get the wrong place of course.  So, in the scene the three wise men tell an irate Mandy "We wish to praise the infant" and "We must pay homage to him" but Mandy, disgusted says "Homage?!  You're drunk!  Its disgusting!  Get out, the lot of you!".  However the three wise men tell her "We brought presents!" and one of them says "Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh!" and Mandy suddenly changes her tune and says "Well, why did you say so? He's over there!".

Then there is the scene where Mandy tells Brian the truth about his father being a Roman, so she says to him "Well, Brian...you're father isn't Mr Cowan" and Brian, not surprised says "I never though he was" and Mandy angrily says "Now, none of your cheek! He was a Roman, Brian.  He was a Centurion in the Roman empire".  Brian, stunned by this revelation asks Mandy "You mean...you were raped?!" and Mandy casually says "Well, at first, yes".  Brian angrily then asks "Who was it?!" and Many tells him "Heh. Nortius Maximus his name was. Hmm. Promised me the known world he did. I was to be taken to Rome, House by the Forum. Slaves. Asses' milk. As much gold as I could eat. Then, he, having his way with me had... voom! Like a rat out of an aqueduct!" and Brian furiously responds "The bastard!".

So, Mandy hushedly tells Brian (as another Roman officer is in the room looking for sexual favours from Mandy!) "Yeah. So, next time you go on about the 'bloody Romans', don't forget you're one of them!".  Brian angrily tells her that he will never be a Roman and that he is a "Red sea pedestrian and PROUD OF IT!" and he runs into his room and slams the door shut.  So, Mandy sighs to herself and turns to the officer and says to him "Sex, sex, sex!  That's all they think about, huh? Well how are you then, officer?" and he pats him on the groin area and bends down to give him a you-know-what!

Another good scene from Terry is when Brian desparate to evade the following he has unintentionally gathered as a result of pretending to be a prophet, which they all believe to be the Messiah, comes by a naked man with a very long beard, Simon, who sits in a pit and has a vow of silence.  However, Brian ends the silence by leaping into the pit and accidentally onto Simon's foot, which causes him to yell "Oww my foot!".  Simon then realises in horror what he has done and says "Oh, damn, damn and blast it!" and Brian quietly says "I'm sorry! Sshhh!" but Simon annoyed says "Don't you 'shhhh' me. Eighteen years of total silence, and you 'shhhh' me! I've kept my vow for eighteen years. Not a single, recognisable, articulate sound has passed my lips!".

Simon then dementedly shouts out "Oh, it doesn't matter now. I might as well enjoy myself. The times in the last eighteen years I've wanted to shout and sing and... Hava Nagila! Hava Nagila, ha ha ha! Look out. Oh, I'm alive! I'm alive! Hello birds! Hello trees! I'm alive! Get off. I'm alive! Hava Nagila!".  However, the crowd see Simon jump up and down in his pit and they see Brian also with him, who is trying to restrain Simon, so they run toward them both.  And as the crowd praise Brian some more and he fails to convince them that isn't the Messiah, they also eat off Simon's juniper bushes, much to his annoyance as he tells Brian "They're all I've got to bloody eat!" and he jumps up and pushes some of the followers away from the bushes.

And at the end of the scene, Simon complains furiously to Brian "You told these people to eat my juniper berries. You break my bloody foot. You break my vow of silence, and then you try and clean up on my juniper bushes!".  Simon then tries to throttle Brian but then one of the followers, Arthur (John Cleese) tries to convince Simon that Brian is their saviour "This is the Messiah!  The Chosen one!" and Simon looks at him for a moment and says "No, he's not!" and continues to try and throttle Brian.  However, Arthur shouts to the others "An unbeliever!  Persecute!  Kill the heretic!" and the followers all pick up Simon and cart him away.

And last of all is the scene where Mandy arrives back home to find Brian and Judith together but also a big crowd of followers outside.  So, Mandy angrily confronts the crowd and says to them "Well, they can stop following you right now. Now, stop following my son! You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!".  The crowd then shout "The Messiah!  Show us the Messiah!" and Mandy asks "The who?!" and they shout again "The Messiah!" so Mandy angrily shuts the windows and asks Brian "Right, my lad, what have you been up to?!".  Brian, terrified tells her "They think I'm the Messiah, mum" and she slaps him roughly on the face but at this point, Judith comes out of Brian's bedroom, completely naked and she explains what is going on and Mandy, speechless for a moment, then asks Brian "WHO'S THAT?!" and Brian nervously does the introductions but Mandy slaps him again.

So, in the next moment, Mandy goes off to confront the crowd outside and she tells them "Now, you listen here! He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy! Now, go away!" and the crowd ask "Who are you?!" and Mandy says "I'm his mother, that's who!" and they begin to praise her.  So, Mandy, cannot help but be a little flattered, however she remains adamant and says "Now, don't think you can get around me like that. He's not coming out, and that's my final word. Now, shove off!".  The crowd however don't give in and Mandy finally relents and says "Ohh. Oh, all right, then. You can see him for one minute, but not one second more. Do you understand?" and the crowd reluctantly agree in unison!

And after Brian has addressed the crowd for a minute or so, Mandy comes back and she pulls him by the ear away from the window and the crowd all says "Oohhh, that wasn't a minute!" and Mandy defiantly says "Oh, yes it was!" and the crowd says "Ohhh, no it wasn't!".  Mandy then quickly becomes annoyed and says "Stop that!  Now, go away!" and then one of the followers (Eric Idle) asks her "Excuse me, are you a virgin?" and Mandy looks shocked and asks "I beg your pardon?!".  So, the follower asks "Well, if its not too personal a question, are you a virgin?" and Mandy, outraged, shouts "'If it's not a personal question'? How much more personal can you get? Now, piss off!!" and she slams the windows shut.

Eric Idle next up is also excellent in his various roles such as the PFJ resistance group member, Stan, who wants to be a woman and re-names himself "Loretta", Mr Cheeky and of course the jailor's assistant, who has a bad stammer aswell as one of the people being crucified, who breaks into the famous "Always look on the bright side of life".   

And Eric of couse has his share of good scenes also that include his first one as Mr Cheeky, who teases a samaritan, Mr Big-Nose (Michael Palin) for having a "big nose" as they all try to listen to Jesus give his sermon from the mount.  So, Mr Cheeky tells Mrs Big-Nose "Do, you mind?  I can't hear a word he's saying!" and Mrs Big Nose angrily tells him "Do you mind?! I was talking to my husband!" and Mr Cheeky says to her "Well, go talk to him somewhere, I can't hear a bloody thing!".  Mr Big-Nose then warns Mr Cheeky "Don't you swear at my wife!" and Mr Cheeky says to him "I was only asking her to shut up, so I can hear what he was saying, Big Nose!".

So, the two of them then get into a heated argument over Mr Big Nose's nose and Mr Cheeky says to him "Listen. I'm only telling the truth.  You really have a very big nose" and Mr Big Nose, riled, threatens Mr Cheeky "Hey. Your nose is going to be three foot wide across your face by the time I've finished with you!".  Mr Cheeky then retorts "Well, who hit yours then?  Goliath's big brother?!" and this ends with Mr Big Noise swinging for Mr Cheeky but instead missing and hitting Mrs Gregory (Carol Cleeveland) and a fight ensues between Mr Gregory and Mr Big Nose. 

Then there is the scene where the PFJ member, Stan, keeps going on about women during one of their meetings at the colliseum.  So, one of the other members, Francis asks Stan "Why are you always on about women, Stan?" and Stan admits "I want to be one" and Reg asks "What??" and Stan says "I want to be a woman!  From now on, I all want you to call me 'Loretta'".  Judith then asks Stan "Why do you want to be Loretta, Stan?" and Stan tells her "I want to have babies" and Reg asks in total disbelief "You want to have babies??!!!" and Stan says "Its a man's right to have babies if he wants them!".  Reg however tells Stan "But you can't have babies!" and Stan, offended says "Don't you oppress me!" and Reg continues "I'm not oppressing you, Stan. You haven't got a womb! Where's the foetus going to gestate?! You going to keep it in a box?!".

Another good scene from Eric is when Mr Cheeky has been sent for crucifixion and the Roman officer, Nisus, who asks each crucifixion victim if they are there for crucifixion, asks Mr Cheeky the question "Crucifixion?" and Mr Cheeky says "Ah, no. Freedom".  And Nisus asks "What?" and Mr Cheeky tells him "Eh, freedom for me. They said I hadn't done anything, so I could go free and live on an island somewhere".  Nisus, surprised, smiles and says "Oh, well, off you go then" but Mr Cheeky then says "Naa, I'm only pulling your leg. It's crucifixion, really!".

Then we have the scene where the jailor's assistant, who has a bad stammer speaks to Nisus, who laments over the amount of crucifixions that are being carried out.  So, Nisus say to the jailer's assistant "Its such a seneseless waste of life, isn't it?" but the jailor's assistant stammeringly says "N-- n-- n-- n-- n-- n-- n-- no, sir. N-- not-- not with these b-- bastards, sir. C-- cr-- rrrr-- c-- c-- crrr-- c-- c-- c-- crrrrucifixion's too good for 'em, sir!".  Nisus then says "Well, I don't think you can say its good for them. Its very nasty" but the jailor's assistant then says "Well, it's not as n-- n-- n-- n-- n-- n-- n-- n-- no-- no-- no-- not as n-- nasty as something I just thought up, sir!".

And last of all is the scene where Brian is nailed up on a cross and Mr Cheeky is next to him on another cross and he cheerily says to Brian "See?! Its not so bad once your up! You being rescued then, are you?".  Brian, dispairfully says "Its a bit late for that now, isn't it?" and Mr Cheeky cheerily says "Oh, now, now. We've got a couple of days up here. Plenty of time. Lots of people get rescued" and Brian intrigued says "Oh?" and Mr Cheeky says "Oh, yeah. My brother usually rescues me, if he can keep off the tail for more than twenty minutes. Randy little bugger. Up and down like the Assyrian Empire. Heh heh heh heh!".

And then as the Centurion arrives with his order to release Brian and asks "Where is Brian of Nazareth?! I have a warrant for his release!" and Mr Cheeky then decides to take his chance and says "I'm Brian of Nazareth!" but Brian then turns and protests "I'm Brian of Nazareth!" and then everyone else joins in saying they are too.  And this includes Mr Gregory (Terence Bayler) who shouts the great line "I'm Brian and so's my wife!".  So, as the Centurion has Mr Cheeky taken down and carted away he says to them "No, I'm only joking. I'm not really Brian. No, I'm not Brian. I was only-- It was a joke. I'm only pulling your leg! It's a joke! I'm not him! I'm just having you on! Put me back! Bloody Romans! Can't take a joke!".

Terry Gilliam, is also pretty good in the limited roles that he plays that include the crazy jailor, a demented blood and thunder prophet and also a person attending Jesus's sermon at the start.

And I will quickly mention one or two scenes from Terry G, such as the one where at the start the man listening to Jesus's sermon turns to the others and says "Did you hear that? Blessed are the Greek".  Mr Gregory then asks "The Greek?" and the man says "Well, apparently he's going to inherit the Earth!".

Then of course there is the scene with the blood and thunder prophet who yells at the top of his voice "And the bezan shall be huge and black, and the eyes thereof red with the blood of living creatures, and the whore of Babylon shall ride forth on a three-headed serpent, and throughout the lands, there'll be a great rubbing of parts!!!!".

And lastly of course there is his role as the jailor, who Terry G plays as a somewhat demented and crazed fella but in actuality (SPOILER!) its just pretend as he can speak normally when no one else is there except his assistant.  And the jailor has one or two bizarre lines such as when he winks furtively at Nisus and says to him "I know where to get it, if you want it!" and later when the Centurion asks if they crucifixion party have left, he replies "We've got lumps of it around the back!".

As for the other cast members other than the Pythons, they also do well in their roles such as Carol Cleveland, the Pythons regular lady, who appeared in the TV series aswell and she appears here in one role as Mrs Gregory and its a pity she's underused here given that she has been excellent in her previous roles in the Pythons work.  And as Mrs Gregory, she has a funny line where her husband, Mr Gregory protests that a samaritan is being crucified in a Jewish area.  So, Mr Gregory says "It may not matter to you, Roman, but it certainly matters to us. Doesn't it, darling?!" and she says "Oh, rather!".   

Terence Bayler next up is also great in his brief role as Mr Gregory and he has two scenes, starting with the one as Mr and Mrs Gregory listen to Jesus's sermon.  And as the crowd struggle to hear Jesus, they keept misintepreting what he is saying, so one of the crowd seems to think at one point, Jesus is saying "Blessed all the cheesemakers".  So, Mrs Gregory asks her husband "Well, what so special about the cheesemakers?" and Mr Gregory tells her "Well, obviously, this is not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturers of dairy products".

And lastly of course there is the scene where Mr and Mrs Gregory have been hung up for crucifixion aswelll as Mr Big Nose, who argues with the sadistic Roman officer, Parvus. So, as Mr Big Nose threatens Parvus "I'm going to punch you so hard, you Roman git!" and Parvus shouts back "Shut up, you Jewish turd!" and Mr Big Nose says "I'm not Jewish!  I'm a samaritan!".  So, Mr Gregory, shocked says "A Samaritan?! This is supposed to be a Jewish section!" but Parvus says it doesn't matter as they will all die soon anyway.  Mr Gregory however remains adamant and says "It may not matter to you, Roman, but it certainly matters to us. Doesn't it, darling?!" and his wife agree and he continues "Under the terms of the Roman occupancy, we're entitled to be crucified in a purely Jewish area!".

John Young is also excellent as Matthias, who early on in the film is set to be stoned to death but he manages to evade it after the High Priest in charge, accidentally says Jehovah and get's stoned instead. 

And John has two main scenes to mention, starting with the one where Matthias is about to be stoned to death but he manages to avoid it at the last minute after the crowd stone the high priest instead, who said "Jehovah" aswell as Matthias.

And in the scene, Matthias says to the high priest "Look. I-- I'd had a lovely supper, and all I said to my wife was, 'That piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah!".  And little later, Matthias in the scene says to the high priest "Look. I don't think it ought to be blasphemy, just saying 'Jehovah'." and the high priest warns him "You're only making it worse for yourself!" to which Matthias mockingly replies "Making it worse?! How could it be worse?! Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!".


And lastly there is the scene where the Centurion and his men come after Brian, as they are lead back to the PFJ's headquarters.  So, in the scene, Matthias opens the door to the Centurion and he puts on an act as he pretends to be frail.  So, when the Centurion asks if Matthias knows of Brian's whereabouts, Matthias says "I'm just a poor old man. I have no time for law-breakers. My legs are grey. My ears are gnarled. My eyes are old and bent!" and the Centurion shouts "Quiet!" and says to the his men "Silly person!".

Then the Centurion a little later in the scene asks Matthias if he knows the penalty for harbouring a known criminal and he tells its crucifixion, to which Matthias says "It could be worse. You could be stabbed!". And as the Centurion objects and says "Stabbed? Takes a second!  Crucifixion is nasty horrible death!" Mattias replies "Well, at least it get's you out in the open air!".  And later after the Centurion knocks on the door again, Matthias says through the door "You haven't given us time to hide!".

And last of all is Sue Jones-Davies as Judith, the female PFJ resistance member, who Brian fancies and he basically joins the PFJ to get closer to her.

And Sue has a few notable scenes, the most notable one of course is where the morning after, Brian and Judith sleep together, Mandy comes home and angrily confronts Brian as his crowd of followers are outside their home. So, as Mandy slaps, Judith, stark naked, defends Brian and she delivers an impassioned speech "Let me explain, Mrs Cohen!  Your son is a born leader. Those people out there are following him because they believe in him, Mrs. Cohen. They believe he can give them hope-- hope of a new life, a new world, a better future!!!".  And as a speechless Mandy stares at the naked Judith, she finally asks Brian "Who's that???!!" and Brian introduces them both to her and she slaps Brian again but the Judith runs infront of Brian protectively, which stops Mandy, who goes off to deal with the crowd outside.

Then there is the scene where after Brian addresses the crowd outside his home, he later is swamped by more people thinking he is the saviour and he takes a moment to sit out back by himself.  However, Judith then runs up to him and says "Brian?!  You were fantastic!" and Brian thinking she is referring to their night together says "You weren't so bad yourself". Judith however says "No! What you were saying just now... it was quite extraordinary!" and Brian, puzzled asks "Oh? What that?" and Judith continues "We don't need any leaders. You're so right. Reg has been dominating us for too long. It needed saying, and you said it, Brian!".  Brian however is too smitten by Judith to pay attention to her and he says "I think you're very attractive..." and Judith then excitedly says "Its our revolution! We can all do it together!".  And as Brian is about to tell Judith how he feels about her, she finished with an impassioned line "We're all behind you, Brian!  The revolution is in your hands!".  Brian however annoyed says to Judith "What?!  No, that's not what I meant at all!!" just before the Centurion nicks him.

And last of all is the scene where Judith runs and tells Reg and the other PFJ members that Brian has been captured and taken off to be crucified, however Reg is not interested in taking action and in said says "Right! This calls for immediate discussion!".  However, as all Reg is prepared to do is discuss things, Judith grows more exasperated and shouts "Reg, for God's sake, it's perfectly simple. All you've got to do is to go out of that door now, and try to stop the Romans' nailing him up! It's happening, Reg! Something's actually happening, Reg! CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND??!!" and as the PFJ members saying nothing, Judith sighs and shouts "OOHHHHH!!" and storms out.

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the direction, Terry Jones does a great job here with the film and he earns sole directing credit after he worked with Terry Gilliam as co-directors on Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  It was also agreed that Jones's directorial style was better suited to the cast and general performances of the Pythons.

However the two still did have one or two disagreements while working on the Life of Brian, particularly as Gilliam had contributed alot to the set design of the film aswell as his usual animations that feature and he felt that Jones didn't show them up well enough in the film's cinemaphotography.  Gilliam also directed the sequence where Brian falls into a passing spaceship, which is locked in an interstellar battle and he later recieved praise from George Lucas for the sequence.     

As for the music score, Geoffrey Burgon, who had previously worked on Doctor Who for a couple stories during the Tom Baker era (Terror of the Zygons and The Seeds of Doom) as well as other TV serials such as Brideshead Revisited and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, produces a very fine score here.

The score itself is largely very dramatic and entirely orchestral and it actually works very well for the film for the most part even if there aren't really any light hearted cues in it as such.  Regardless of this though, its still a very fine score and also the film's theme song is also pretty good too and it was sung by Sonia Jones, who at that time was only 16 years old.  So overall, its a very fine score from Burgon.

FLAWS

As for the flaws....well....its hard to quantify Life of Brian's flaws as such because the film is very clever in the way it pokes fun at religion and politics.

However perhaps the only things I could nitpick at are maybe there are just one or two members of the cast that are really sidelined, especially Carol Cleveland, who was so good in the Python TV show and also had a funny role in the Holy Grail as the randy nun.  Here however, she is relegated to just playing a very small bit part as the wife of Mr Gregory and its a bit of a shame that the Python team couldn't have written her a slightly bigger role. This probably does highlight the team's weakness when it comes to writing roles for women in their films and shows, as Carol Cleveland herself once said that they told her that they just weren't great at writing parts for women. 

I also thought that the false nails they used for the crucifixion scenes frankly look pretty silly (even though it is of course a comedy!) i.e. the ones they use to drive through the crucifixion victims hands as they are nailed to the cross.  Also in the film, they use rope to wrap around the victim's hands to keep them propped up, however of course in historical pictures of crucifixion, you usually only see the crucifixionee being propped up by the nails that have nailed into their palms. But yeah of course, there is no way that Pythons were going to do that to themselves (unless of course, Mel Gibson was directing at the time!).

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Monty Python's Life of Brian for me remains their best film, as it is intelligent, well written and above all, also very funny with plenty of memorable lines and gags.  The Pythons themselves are all naturally on great form here and they show their comic talents once again for playing multiple roles at once!  The film is also more than ably backed up by its supporting cast and also its solid direction by Terry Jones, great set design and animation by Terry Gilliam and a very fine score by Geoffrey Burgon. 

And for me the film still after almost 40 years still remains a modern comedy classic, which has stood and continues to stand the test of time.

Right, that's it for now and I'll be back again soon with another post of sorts.

Till then its bye for now!