Marketed in Sweden as ‘the film so funny that it was banned in Norway’, there’s no denying that the Pythons offend as many people as possible in this tall tale, from Christians to Jews, which will undoubtedly cause an uproar. All are made to look nonsensical through the continuous misconceptions, misinterpretations and all-out fallacy that outline the plot.
But let’s take a step back from the inevitable bedlam Life of Brian will cause, and adjust the focus of our metaphorical film camera on the outstanding performances once again provided by the comical Monty Python troupe. In total, the six members played over 40 various characters, including Chapman as Brian; Cleese as Reg, the leader of The People’s Front of Judea (not to be confused with The Popular People’s Front, or even The Judean People’s Front); Gilliam as Frank, a member of The People’s Front of Judea; Idle as Stan, another member of The People’s Front of Judea – who just wants to fight for his right to have babies; Jones as Brian’s cantankerous mother, Mandy, and Michael Palin as Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, who suffers from a lisp – causing him to pronounce ‘r’ as ‘w’ (‘he wanks higher than anyone in Wome!’), much to the hilarity of his guards: and the hilarity of the audience.
But there’s no questioning that the film - and perhaps they way we should view life in general – is summed up in the final scene, when Mr Cheeky (Idle) turns to Brian and exclaims ‘Cheer up, Brian. You know what they say!’ before breaking into a rendition of the now-famous ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’. Sung at football matches and funerals, this song has become almost as popular as Life of Brian itself! Almost being the key word, of course. The song fits perfectly, and is even a little ironic considering the predicament Brian finds himself in as the screen fades to black. But of course, you’d have to watch the film and judge for yourself, wouldn’t you?
