We're all individuals, we all need to think for ourselves... and I think the Greeks may be blessed, too! Perhaps one of the earliest accounts of extraterrestrial intervention, too! Total python silliness... and even wisdom here and there :-)

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Product Description

The Gospel according to Monty Python: In Judea, a boy is born in a manger a short distance from and about the same time, as Jesus Christ. Three wise men from the East are for a time deceived by this proximity into believing that he is the promised Messiah, but it soon becomes apparent that he is, in fact, only a hapless peasant named Brian. However, the "Life of Brian" causes plenty of commotion for the Roman Empire and leaves him desperate to escape his burgeoning popularity.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5379 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-01-27
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
"Blessed are the cheesemakers," a wise man once said. Or maybe not. But the point is Monty Python's Life of Brian is a religious satire that does not target specific religions or religious leaders (like, say, Jesus of Nazareth). Instead, it pokes fun at the mindless and fanatical among their followers--it's an attack on religious zealotry and hypocrisy--things that that fellow from Nazareth didn't particularly care for either. Nevertheless, at the time of its release in 1979, those who hadn't seen it considered it to be quite "controversial."

Life of Brian, you see, is about a chap named Brian (Graham Chapman) born December 25 in a hovel not far from a soon-to-be-famous Bethlehem manger. Brian is mistaken for the messiah and, therefore, manipulated, abused, and exploited by various religious and political factions. And it's really, really funny. Particularly memorable bits include the brassy Shirley Bassey/James Bond-like title song; the bitter rivalry between the anti-Roman resistance groups, the Judean People's Front and the People's Front of Judea; Michael Palin's turn as a lisping, risible Pontius Pilate; Brian urging a throng of false-idol worshippers to think for themselves--to which they reply en masse "Yes, we must think for ourselves!"; the fact that everything Brian does, including losing his sandal in an attempt to flee these wackos, is interpreted as "a sign." Life of Brian is not only one of Monty Python's funniest achievements, it's also the group's sharpest and smartest sustained satire. Blessed are the Pythons. --Jim Emerson

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Customer Reviews

Satirizes Everything in the Gospels Except Christ, to Unexpected Effect.
Monty Python's "Life of Brian" lampoons romanticized interpretations of the Gospels by bringing us the tragicomic story of Brian (Graham Chapman), a man born in the same time and place as Jesus Christ, who lived and died under similar circumstances, though a touch more ironic and a lot funnier. When the wise men come from the East, bearing gifts for their infant Savior, they mistakenly enter the wrong stable, where they are berated by Brian's mother (Terry Jones), before they realize their error. Thus begins the life of Brian, who eventually joins the revolutionary People's Front of Judea to resist Roman rule and accidentally acquires a following who believe he is the Messiah.

Though clearly inspired by stories about the life of Jesus, "Life of Brian" is not making fun of Jesus or the words or actions attributed to him. Jesus is only present in one scene in this film and referred to in one other. "Life of Brian" pokes fun at those who look to others to determine their values and follow their leaders blindly. The ineffectual People's Front of Judea, with its idle leader Reg (John Cleese) and feminist activist Judith (Sue Jones-Davies), satirizes the leftist revolutionary groups of the 1960s and 1970s. The Romans are mocked as sybarites and bureaucrats, the Jews as primitives, and they are all viewed as barbaric.

Though its chief purpose is to amuse, "Life of Brian" is an equal opportunity offender that offhandedly focuses the audience's attention on what the authors consider the important part of the Christian message by persistently knocking everything else off its pedestal. Maybe this film is serious after all. I don't expect orthodox Christians will like it, because it doesn't treat the Gospels reverentially or take them literally. But liberal Christians may appreciate the laughs and even the lesson. I found Brian, himself, too whiney to be likable, but, otherwise, "Life of Brian" is a clever parody of human ideologies and idiocies, ancient and modern.

Hilarious Social Satire
Nothing is sacred to the Monty Python gang. Proving this point is the hilariously irreverent Life of Brian, about a hapless Judean born on Christmas in the stall next to Jesus. He joins the People's Front of Judea, who hate the Romans (but not quite as much as they hate the splitters in the Judean People's Front!), and tries to fend off the multitudes who insist he's the messiah.

Life of Brian is an extremely funny and quotable satire. It's not so much a parody of Christianity or the Jesus story, though, as a satire poking fun at the universally human tendency to join religious or social movements and miss the point entirely. It's funny precisely because it's so true. In one scene, as Brian flees his zealous followers, he leaves behind a shoe, which becomes the center of a heated argument over whether to revere the shoe or the gourd Brian got rid of earlier. Later in the movie, Brian addresses the multitudes:

Brian: Please, please, please listen! I've got one or two things to say.
The Crowd: Tell us! Tell us both of them!
Brian: 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: Yes! We're all individuals!
Brian: You're all different!
The Crowd: Yes, we ARE all different!

The People's Front of Judea couldn't be a more appropriate parody of the sillier aspects of radical movements, including the factions of the modern-day Middle East. The time they spend squabbling amongst themselves and drafting resolutions, rather than fighting the external foe, quite comically hits the nail on the head.

This is a great movie for anyone who loves British comedy, particularly the random zaniness that is trademark Monty Python.

it is funny-that's all
i don't think monty python wanted to "Offend" anyone.they just wanted to make some jokes. i think they made it "R" for a reason. if young people saw that then it might be worse than it is today, but i say it is funny. i am catholic and i don't find this offensive because i know its a joke