Monty Python's Life of Brian
- Jun 11
- 2 min read
When Monty Python’s Life of Brian was released in 1979, it was advertised as “a motion picture destined to offend nearly two thirds of the civilized world. And severely annoy the other third.” Boy, did it offend and annoy. Many organized religions attacked the movie with a blowtorch of outrage. They condemned it for mocking the life of Christ. But there are only two scenes where Christ appears, and he is only on the periphery.
“Blessed are the cheesemakers.”
The real target of mockery in this classic comedy is Brian, a poor soul who has the misfortune to being born at the same time as Christ, in the stable right next door. For the rest of his life, he has to deal with the headache of being constantly mistaken for the Messiah. If that juicy concept isn’t enough for Monty Python to have fun with, the comedians also take aim at other familiar scenes that have populated Biblical movies ever since Cecil B. DeMille crawled into a director’s chair. Like the Sermon on the Mount, for example. In Life of Brian, the Python members bicker, confused, because they can’t clearly hear what Christ is saying. To them, “blessed are the peacemakers” sounds more like “blessed are the cheesemakers,” and “blessed are the meek” comes across as “blessed are the Greek.”
Meanwhile, as hard as Brian tries to not be mistaken for the Savior, crowds of followers won’t stop believing that he’s The One. Everything he says to get rid of them backfires.
Finally, things spiral so out of control that Brian finds himself joining a rebellion to kick the Romans out of power. But the rebels are so dysfunctional that their revolution fails, and Brian is arrested and brought before Pontius Pilate for justice. But instead of a Pilate to be feared, the one that we get here is an absurd dolt who speaks with a lisp that turns much of what he says into gibberish. Of course, Pilate is such a boob that he’s oblivious to why his Centurion guards laugh whenever he speaks or when he mentions his good friend named “Biggus Dickus.”
Finally, Pilate finds Brian guilty and sentences him to death by crucifixion. But in the hands of the Pythons, you know this crucifixion is going to be a far cry from anything that Hollywood ever dreamed. As Brian and the others who’ve been condemned to death hang on their crosses, one of them rallies the others to join him in a jaunty, sing-along musical number called “(Always look on) the bright side of life.” Is it offensive? To some, perhaps. Is it funny? Absolutely. The song is so silly and fun that you won’t be able to keep from singing along yourself.
I give Life of Brian four Biggus Dickus stars out of four.
