Blessed are the cheesemakers.

. . . Okay, all makers of dairy products.

JdB

The Holy Grail has a single consistent plotline throughout. I would say that's my favourite, followed closely by The Meaning of Life. The restaurant scene near the end of The Meaning of Life is probably the closest I've ever come to laughing myself to death.

I have only read the transcript of the Jehovah scene and I found THAT hilarious; I'll be catching this movie the first chance I get.

Gotta agree with Chris on this one.

Although Palin's performance in the "Bigus Dikus" scene is a classic! Had me crying from laughing so hard.

If you look at Monty Python & The Holy Grail carefully, you'll notice that it's basically a bunch of vignettes with different characters, only loosely tied together. The Pythons more or less admit this. They were just trying to spoof movies about Arthurian legends, and nothing else in particular. Also, that's the reason for the abrupt ending of that film: they literally just ran out of money and ideas and needed a way to wrap it up.

Grail also changes focus constantly; the story isn't "about" anyone in particular. The Life Of Brian is about one man and his singular journey, with a few things about the supporting characters here and then. (Like Loretta, who is a scream.)

All that said, I would have to agree that the Biggus Dickus scene has to be one of the funniest scenes ever put on film. I probably did brain damage to myself, I laughed so hard at that one.

Actually, the first thing I thought was, "This must be the world's answer to The Passion of Christ."

The point is one of the ways to dissipate or even destroy the power of a genre or a work of art is parody. Life of Brian, as funny as it is, is a parody of the Gospels. So from a worldly perspective of course that's the movie to raise up to counter, in the public debate and in folks' private experiences, the Passion. Life of Brian will attempt to dilute the force of the Passion in people's minds and remind people of silly comments in conversations about the crucifixion.

Brian was a very funny movie. The timing of the release is suspicious.

You're not dense. You just don't know how the devil thinks.

I'd been disappointed enough in The Holy Grail that I almost did not go to see Life of Brian. If it hadn't been for the Christians marching outside with signs damning the movie I never would have seen it. They considered themselves 'serious Christians'. I suppose you haven't met any of them. Of course, I strongly suspect none of them ever saw the movie either.

Oh... and I also consider it one of the funniest movies ever made... and I'll probably be humming "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" for the rest of the day.

PILATE:
Whom would you have me welease?
GUY IN CROWD:
Welease Woger!
CROWD:
Yes! Welease Woger! Welease Woger! [laughing]
PILATE:
Vewy well. I shall welease Woger!
CROWD:
[cheering]
CENTURION:
Sir, uh, we don't have a 'Woger', sir.
PILATE:
What?
CENTURION:
Uh, we don't have anyone of that name, sir.
PILATE:
Ah. We have no 'Woger'!
CROWD:
Ohhhhh!
BOB:
Well, what about Wodewick, then?
CROWD:
Yes! Welease Wodewick! Welease Wodewick!
PILATE:
Centuwion, why do they titter so?
CENTURION:
Just some, uh, Jewish joke, sir.
PILATE:
Are they... wagging me?
CENTURION:
Oh, no, sir!
GUARD #3:
[chuckling]
PILATE:
Vewy well. I shall welease... Wodewick!
CROWD:
[laughing]
CENTURION:
Sir, we don't have a 'Roderick' either.
PILATE:
No 'Woger'? No 'Wodewick'?
CENTURION:
Sorry, sir.
PILATE:
Who is this 'Wod'--
GUARD #1:
[chuckle]
PILATE:
Who is the 'Wodewick' to whom you wefer?
BOB:
He's a wobber!
CROWD:
[laughing]
MAN:
And a wapist!
CROWD:
[laughing]
WOMAN:
And a pickpocket!
PILATE:
He sounds a notowious cwiminal.
CENTURION:
We haven't got him, sir. Mm hm.
PILATE:
Do we have anyone in our pwisons at all?
CENTURION:
Oh, yes, sir. We've got, uh, 'Samson', sir.
PILATE:
Samson?
CENTURION:
Samson the Sadducee Strangler, sir. Uh, Silus the Syrian Assassin. Uh, several seditious scribes from Caesarea. Uhhh, sixty-seven seers from--
BIGGUS:
Let me thpeak to them, Pontiuth!
CENTURION:
Oh, no. Oh.
PILATE:
Ah. Good idea, Biggus.
BIGGUS:
Thitizens! We have Thamthon the Thadduthee Thtrangler, Thilus...

Kathy: Yeah I should have been clearer and said "serious Christians who've actually seen it..."

Life of Brian is perfect, in every scene. My favourite:

STAN:
I want to be a woman. From now on, I want you all to call me 'Loretta'.
REG:
What?!
LORETTA:
It's my right as a man.
JUDITH:
Well, why do you want to be Loretta, Stan?
LORETTA:
I want to have babies.
REG:
You want to have babies?!
LORETTA:
It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them.
REG:
But... you can't have babies.
LORETTA:
Don't you oppress me.
REG:
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?!
LORETTA:
[crying]
JUDITH:
Here! I-- I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to have babies.
FRANCIS:
Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister. Sorry.

Yeah, I know, I'm a Python fanboy. So sue me...or feed me to the blancmanges.

Serious Christian here. I got a lot out of The Passion (although I can't say I "enjoyed" it in the same way I can't say I "enjoyed" Schindler's List) I still think Life of Brian is the best of the Python bunch, followed closely by Holy Grail. Both are absolutely hilarious.

Nowhere in the bible does it say "Thou shalt not laugh." I checked.

It's more the juxtaposition of the two events.

Still, yes, Life of Brian is a very funny movie.

i have waited lo these many years to see "life of brian" in a theater. I can't wait. I'm 34, and dammit, it's about time. I was too young when it was first released.

The best part is near the end. The work of the committee and how they declared that Brian would be a martyr for the cause. And the suicide squad! How can one not laugh at that!

Of course, Kathy K is correct. "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" is definitely a tune that sticks with one. After all, they were out there with all that fresh air. There really is nothing that even the most devout person would have a problem with. I still prefer the Quest for the Holy Grail.

Brian to the crowd: "YOU ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS!"

Lone voice: "I'm not!"

Brian: You are all individuals!
Crowd: We are all individuals!
Brian: You have to be different!
Crowd: Yes, we are all different!
Small lonely voice: Well, uhm, I'm not!

I love Life of Brian. Going completely from memory, my favorite scene is:

Brian: I'm *not* the Messiah!

Woman: Only the true Messiah denies his divinity.

Brian: What? Well what sort of chance does that give me then? Alright, I am the Messiah!

Crowd: The Messiah! The Messiah!

Brian: Right. Now f*ck off!

*silence for a moment*

Man in crowd: How shall we f*ck off, oh Lord?

I'm also a serious Christian.
I see the movie as a serious skewering of human institutions, not of God or the Gospels. It makes fun of people stupid enough to look for a worldly Messiah, to anoint a Savior on the basis of acclaim rather than actually evaluating the message.
The only scene that came even close to making me uncomfortable was the Sermon on the Mount, which calls into question the acoustical reality of actually speaking to 5000 people at one time.
I think my response shows that I'm probably overly serious. However, I love the movie. It and Grail are both my favorite, depending on which one I haven't seen in the longest time.

The Meaning of Life RULES THEM ALL. (said in the voice of Death)

Nathan: Well, acoustically, it's pretty much impossible.

Of course, one imagines that God would be quite capable of working around that, as needed. Being, well, God.

"He's not the Messiah, he's just a dirty little boy!"

Man, that must have been real mood-killer. Imagine displaying your equipment to a cheering crowd... Heh.

I think Python did a better job summarizing the history of Christian schisms (via the sandal, etc.) than just about any other work of history.

A recommendation for those of you who enjoyed Life Of Brian. Read Christopher Moore's "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal." You'll love it.

Much as I adore Life of Brian, there's one deleted scene on the DVD that I'd never known about: the one where Brian, fleeing from the mob, runs into Eric Idle leading a troop of Jewish soldiers.

They're all wearing really weird, outlandish armor/uniforms, replete with a huge Star of David on the front of the helmets. but if you look closely, you see that each point of the star has a line leading off to the side.

Turn on the audio commentary. Idle says, "We thought it would be cute to sort of combine the Star of David and the swastika, see? As a sort of parody of how the Jews can be just as Nazi-like as the Nazis..." --or words to that effect.

I don't know how the Pythons feel about Israel, or if their opinions differ from man to man, or if that had anything to do with why the scene was cut. But I found it to be in *extremely* poor taste, and I find I can't help but enjoy the movie just a tiny bit less, knowing that that's lurking under the surface.

Brian,
Never heard about that, although I did see the scene. I guess we never listened to the commentary...
But that doesn't strike me as being excessivly ridiculous or even bad taste.
Here's why: Nothing the Nazis did was outside the normal human limits for cruelty. Their atrocities were the result of how twisted people can get when dissent is truly eliminated through pain of death.
In this specific historical case, the Jews were the victims. Reading the Bible, Jews have also been capable of genocide. So have the Chinese, various tribes in Africa, Europeans, Amerinds, etc, etc. I don't think there's a tribe, race, or ethnicity that doesn't have something horrible in their past.
Satire and parody include the technique of the juxtaposition of the ridiculous, and exaggeration to ridiculous proportions, for the purpose of shaming horrible behavior. I would not say that modern-day Israelis are acting like Nazis. On the other hand, I don't think it ever hurts to remind people that excessive zeal can lead to atrocity when left unchecked by introspection. As such, I find it an entirely appropriate parody, in that while I do not think the modern-day Israelis have anything in common with the Nazis, parody like that will help make sure they never do.
I also don't think it is ever good to elevate any group to a level beyond accountability because of past persecution.

Best scene by far is where Brian is writing "Romans Go Home" on the wall at night and gets caught by John Cleese as the centurion schoolmaster. "And WHAT case is that in?"

"Uh..uh...dative?"

[sword to throat]

I've spent a lot of my time taking language classes, so I thought it was funny :).

Maybe I'm just a bit sensitive these days to the subject, having spent the weekend watching people march down Market Street with signs equating the Star of David to the swastika. Yeah, LoB was in 1973 (I think)... but still. Y'know.

I can't link to a specific reference, but i know i've seen an interview in print where one of the Pythons--i believe it was John Cleese--said that when they began the "Brian" project, they originally intended it to be a piss-take on Christianity, but that when they researched the material (i.e. read the New Teatament) they (paraphrased) "realized we didn't have any problem with what Jesus said," and thus "Brian" became more of a broad satire of the foolishness of fanatics.

erm, that's supposed to read "Testament."

Yes, but it's funnier with the 'a'.

It seemed awfully good satire on the schismatic Palestinian terrorist groups (also "What have the Romans done for us?"). This surprises me, as I assumed Jewish swastikas more accurately reflect their views on the Mideast.