Life of Brian

Composite Score: 82.03

Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Sue Jones-Davies

Director: Terry Jones

Writers: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin

Genres: Comedy, Religion, Satire, History

MPAA Rating: R

Box Office: $20.75 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Life of Brian is the religious satire about a man mistaken for the Messiah from the Monty Python comedy troupe. This film is a no-holds-barred satire poking fun at religion, revolutionaries, government, “the masses”, and just about everything else in between. It is a shining example of what makes the Monty Python brand of humor so great, blending wit, crude humor, and visual gags together brilliantly to produce a product that is equal parts offensive and endearing. Though it might not be their most well-known film, it remains a great example of their product and a solid satirical comedy even in the modern age.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Being a satirical comedy, Life of Brian does not hold back on the ways in which it pokes fun at people, and though it is easy to laugh at most of the time, some of the jokes will inevitably offend people looking to be offended. If you do not enjoy some satirical, typically well-researched ribbing of your religion or political stances, then most Monty Python bits probably are not for you. Life of Brian, in particular, makes certain that you know what is being made fun of in the cases of religion and politics and society and all that. For me, I feel secure enough in my faith to laugh about the more ridiculous aspects of it without feeling like I am making fun of the religion or God or anything else. For others, this might not be the case, and Life of Brian probably will rub them the wrong way, and I totally understand that.

                There is also a comparatively unnecessary scene toward the back half of the film in which the one named female character who is actually played by a woman appears fully naked on screen for an extended period of time. I don’t put this so much as a content warning as much as a critique of the film itself. In a film where basically every other woman’s role is played by a man, what makes it necessary for the one actress to do a nude scene? It feels unnecessary and, for me, serves very little purpose in moving the story along and feels more like objectification than anything else.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                For the most part, Life of Brian is classic satire, levelling punches at religion and politics and society equally, with nothing pulled and done in a mostly tasteful manner. Obviously, the main story line is a satirical look at the life of Christ, but that storyline feels like the least important in terms of satire. The filmmakers even went so far as to ensure that the audience knew that the character was not supposed to be a Christ figure as much as it was a commentary on this concept of the cult of personality, which often unintentionally pops up when the people see something that they want and project it onto the wrong person at the right time. The more interesting satire in my opinion comes in the form of the People’s Front of Judea, the resistance group that Brian joins and their interactions with the Romans and other Judean liberation groups. This commentary on groups that want to appear resistant to the government simply to say that they are without actually accomplishing any of their goals (if they have any) remains highly relevant, and because of that, the storyline is laugh-out-loud funny, if a bit on the nose.

                Quality satire is a trademark of the Monty Python group, and Life of Brian is no exception to this rule; delivering quality satire on both religious and political movements couched in a parody of the life of a religious figure, the film certainly makes sense among the Greatest Films of All Time. Though its humor will inevitably rub certain audiences the wrong way, and its treatment of its one female character is less than chivalrous, the film holds up remarkably well in its other aspects. Check it out streaming now on Netflix, if this sounds up your alley.