After positively gushing over The Life of Brian, I wanted to
give my quick thoughts on the other three films they produced.
And now for something completely different.
This was the first Monty Python movie I’ve ever seen and it
must have done its job because after the first sketch (How not to be seen) I
was hooked. Consistently funny and on occasion belly achingly hilarious. As I’ve
said previously the Dead Parrot sketch is classic but there are some gems like, 'Marriage Councillor', 'Nudge Nudge', 'The Flasher', 'Girls in Bikinis' and 'The
Restaurant sketch'.
Made entirely out of re-shot sketches from their television
series, it is because of this film that I have that said series in my Amazon
basket.
The Meaning of Life.
A brilliant film in the same vein as ‘something completely different’. A group of sketches held together by a simple
concept. I would say that this is Python’s Bad rather than their Thriller. They
have their ‘The way you make me feel’, ‘Dirty Diana’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’ in ‘Every
sperm is sacred’, ‘Zulu’ and ‘Sex Education’ scenes. There is also some duff
(aka ‘Just good friends’ to take the Michael Jackson analogy further), the fat man scene is disgusting.
Holy Grail.
And then there is The Holy Grail. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t get it at all. I didn’t think
it was funny. Ironically, I thought it was just... silly.
Yet, I’ve spoken to a lot of people who swear by this film,
who think it is a masterpiece worth mentioning in the same sentence as The Life
of Brian. I personally give these people the side eye.
I believe that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is the
most perfect film. Everything about The Godfather is to my mind exquisite. It is
both personal and epic in scope. It has nothing but brilliant acting
performances throughout, especially that of Al Pacino.
I had a suspicion that The Godfather was special after the
first scene in the Don’s home office. That suspicion was confirmed during
Michael Corleone’s sit down with Sollozzo and McCluskey. This film left me with
a thrill going up my leg (word to Chris Matthews). I get that feeling every
single time I watch this film - it never ever goes away.
I first saw The Godfather when I was 15 years old and for
over a decade I haven’t seen anything like it or anything that has come close
to giving me that thrill, that awe-inspiring feeling that I will unlikely
forget.
That was until I watched The Life of Brian.
...
The Life of Brian is a truly outstanding film and it is a
film that I have been unable to stop thinking about for two months. I compare
it to The Godfather for one simple reason, it is a pure joy to watch and that
feeling that you are watching something pure hasn’t dissolved
in my six views of the movie.
But Brian is a brilliantly funny, thoughtful and surprisingly
epic film. There is also stuff in this film that is just jaw droppingly
genius but difficult to fathom.
...
There is a section in this movie where Graham Chapman’s Brian is being chased
by Centurions after he has escaped from Palin’s Pilot. Brian is chased to the
top of the exceedingly tall building where he has no choice but to jump to his
death. Out of nowhere an alien spaceship cushions his fall, while it is itself being
chased.
There is something mad about this bit and although I didn’t laugh
during the first few showing I noticed that I had a silly grin on my face (I was told in fact). I consider
myself to be a creative person but not in a million years would I think of that
scene and even if I did I wouldn’t have the balls to include it in the film.
I feel that this scene perfectly encapsulates the wonder of
The Life of Brian. Barmy but brilliant.
...
That’s not to say that the alien scene is the crème-de-la-crème
of this film, it is not. It’s not even close in fact.
Life of Brian is jam packed with belly achingly funny moments
and is as quotable as anything movie I have ever seen – including The Godfather.
From the ‘big nose’ scene, to the public stoning – from the confusion about the
name of the rebel movement (People’s front of Judea?), Bigus Dickus and the
crucifixion walk - this film brings the funny. It is actually scary to
think about how many near classic comedy moments there are in this one film.
It is interesting because all of the scenes feel like
improvised sketches yet the film works very well as a coherent story. Each
scene shows the Python at their best, taking a situation to its extreme
silliness without compromising the film (yes, I'm talking about the same film with aliens).
I was also surprised about how quickly I got used to the
Pythons playing multiple characters. Unlike other films I have seen this done,
it doesn’t pull you out of the movie – you rarely notice it. It’s actually
important to state how very well acted this film is. Every single character
from almost every Python is well played (I just didn’t love Jone’s Mother
character). Graham does a fantastic job anchoring the whole film as Brian, the voice of reason.
Idle is underused in my opinion but is wonderful whenever he appears. Cleese would have stolen the show with his numerous character, best of all the Centurion,
if it wasn’t for Palin’s masterful display. And I mean every single one of
Palin’s characters in this film are masterful - including the ex-Leper. Palin
is a genius.
...
I really don’t want to talk about religion because I think
that subject matter is a distraction that takes away a lot of the good about
this film – so let me get back to the comparisons with The Godfather.
Like 1972 classic, I fell head over heels in love with The Life
of Brian from just one sitting. Unlike Inception, The Life of Brian seems to
get better after each watch. I am extremely proud that this is a British film.
It has shown me that you really don’t need an extraordinary amount of money to
make something epic and grand and thoughtful and everlasting – you just need
ambition and imagination. And let’s not kid ourselves, you need a god given
talent because these six men were/are special.
Life of Brian is now my second favourite film of all time. I
still don’t think it is as good as The Godfather but it certainly deserves to
be mentioned in the same breathe and in my life that is a mind blowing achievement.
When I fall in love, I’m all in. That is exactly what I've done with this group of six legends. The term legends and the meaning of the
word seems inadequate when I’m describing Monty Python.
I have only been a fan for two months. I'm 26 years old for crying out loud. Yet for the past two months I have been constantly thinking about their films, judging those films, comparing them to other comedy films and other genres films. Most of them (I'm looking at you Holy Grail) are exceptional. I have become obsessed. I've tried to watch as much Monty Python videos as I can on Youtube, but it is not enough to quench my thirst. I'm trying to work out why I've been so floored. I think it has something to do with me not expecting to be so won over. So completely and utterly won over. Prior to two months ago, I had heard of the Python - Terry Gilliam is one of my favourite directors (Brazil and 12 Monkeys), I grew up on Fawlty Towers, I thought Palin was a fucking travel show presenter and had heard 'Look on the Bright Side of Life' at a number of variety shows. Monty Python were present in my life but never as a unit. As a unit, as a collective, Monty Python are nothing short of Beatle-esc. Genre defining artists. Originators. Masters of the complicated silly sketch. And I haven't even seen their TV show. ...
…
I have felt compelled to do a Python week. They deserve it.
So to kick things off here are my 5 favourite Monty Python moments. Just to be
clear, this was extremely hard to do. This was not easy. I have left out the
Black Knight bit from Holy Grail, 'How not to be seen' sketch and the Child Birth scene.
This was not
easy.
5 - Blasphemy Growing up in a religious household, this moment from 'Life of Brian' spoke to me. It perfectly encapsulates how ultimately silly religion is. A man has been sentenced to death by stoning for saying 'Jehovah' and the stoning is mostly witnessed by a group of women posing as men in beards. It is so simple but I can't think of how I would ever think of something similar. I think this ability to think of simple silly situations is why Python rise above the rest.
4 - Growth and Learning An otherwise strict disciplinarian school master (Cleese) teachers sex education to a class in an all boys school. This sketch, again, shows the genius of Monty Python - they took this sketch a step further than I thought they would. If I am honest, this part of 'The Meaning of Life' started off feeling boring (the school is in an assembly with the school master and Palin's priest) but what I didn't understand until the end of this section was that they were setting you up.
3 - Dead Parrot and Lumberjack It was really hard not to put this sketch at number one. It's bloody genius in every single way. Again, it is... yes, simple. But there is an eloquent beauty to this sketch and all credit has to go to Cleese. Funnily enough, soon after seeing this sketch I saw a dead bird in my in-laws garden and I couldn't help but quote this sketch. Youtube tells me that there is more than one version of this sketch and even after reviewing the alternatives I still prefer the one on 'completely different'. This is down to Palin's Lumberjack bit which had/has me in tears.
2 - Every Sperm This sketch blew me away. It is deceptively smart in the subject matters that it is trying to address but scathingly funny in its content. Religion, class, unemployment, north vs south... Stupidly funny but surprisingly thoughtful. It is also ridiculously ambitious. They go all out for the gag on this one and it pays off. The scale of this sketch makes it even more hilarious. After watching this sketch I thought to myself about how I thought Palin was a travel presenter. He is a genius with comic timing like I have never seen before.
1 - Bigus Dickus
It's Palin again. I can't even comprehend how simple (yes I know) this damn joke is. In fact, I am convinced that there is nothing at all simple about it. Only geniuses make it look simple. Bigus Dickus is funny in whatever context, at whatever age. People might consider it toilet humour but Python make it appear luxury. I mean, they are making a Latin joke about the term big dick. I really don't know why it is this funny - but it is. This is the scene which made me fall in love with Python. After this scene, I was there's forever.
... Ultimately, for me it must have been a race thing. I must have disregarded Python because I thought it was white homour. Too white for me to even consider - but I have seen Head of State and all the Friday sequels (*Kanye Shrug). I beg anyone who hasn't seen a Monty Python product to go to Amazon and order the box-set of their films. It doesn't even cost that much. Less than £12 for crying out loud. It changed my life. I know I say that a lot, but I will never be the same man again now I have the Python in my life (no homo?). Chocolate Cleese
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