Monty Python's Life of Brian

Life of Brian is a film made in 1979 by Monty Python which deals with the life of Brian, played by Graham Chapman, a young carpenter who coincidentally lived at the same time and place as Jesus Christ. The film is essentially a classic farce and is eloquently summed up by Brian's mother (played by Terry Jones) saying, "He's not the messiah; he's a very naughty boy." This notwithstanding, the film is widely seen as a stunning critique of organised religion as a racket of hypocrisy and religious zealots, or just a very funny movie, or a sacrilegious film deserving censorship.

Protests against the film were organized based on its perceived blasphemy, and indeed the film makes a comical song number of the crucifixion itself ("Always Look on The Bright Side of Life").

On its initial UK release the film was banned by some town councils. This was proved to be rather pointless since people who wanted to see the film just went to the places where it wasn't banned.

Brianism is essentially a doctrine of individual humanism - "You are all individuals, you've just got to work it out for yourselves!"

External link

• http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/brian.htm Whole Script