Life of Brian (1979)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Terry Jones

Writers:

Graham Chapman (written by) &
John Cleese (written by) ...

Release Date:

17 August 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A motion picture destined to offend nearly two thirds of the civilized world. And severely annoy the other third.

Plot:

Brian is born on the original Christmas, in the stable next door. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.

Plot Keywords:

Judea | Christmas | Satire | Revolutionary | Roman Empire

Cast

Graham Chapman	...	Wise Man #2 / Brian Cohen / Biggus Dickus
John Cleese	...	Wise Man #1 / Reg / Jewish Official / Centurion / Deadly Dirk / Arthur
Terry Gilliam	...	Man Even Further Forward / Revolutionary / Jailer / Blood & Thunder Prophet / Frank / Audience Member / Crucifee
Eric Idle	...	Mr. Cheeky / Stan (Loretta) / Harry the Haggler / Culprit Woman / Warris / Intensely Dull Youth / Jailer's Assistant / Otto / Lead Singer Crucifee
Terry Jones	...	Mandy Cohen / Colin / Simon the Holy Man / Bob Hoskins / Saintly Passer-by / Alarmed Crucifixion Assistant
Michael Palin	...	Wise Man #3 / Mr. Big Nose / Francis / Mrs. A / Ex-Leper / Announcer / Ben / Pontius Pilate / Boring Prophet / Eddie / Shoe Follower / Nisus Wettus
Terence Bayler	...	Gregory
Carol Cleveland	...	Mrs. Gregory
Kenneth Colley	...	Jesus
Neil Innes	...	A weedy Samaritan
Charles McKeown	...	False Prophet / Blind Man / Giggling Guard / Stig
John Young	...	Matthias, Son of Deuteronomy of Gath
Gwen Taylor	...	Mrs. Big Nose
Sue Jones-Davies	...	Judith
Peter Brett

Also Known As:

Brian of Nazareth (UK) (working title)
Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory (UK) (working title)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (UK) (complete title)
The Gospel According to St. Brian (UK) (working title)
A Vida de Brian (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
La vida de Brian (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Brian élete (Hungary) [hu]
Brian di Nazareth (Italy) [it]
Brianin elämä (Finland) [fi]
Brians liv (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Das Leben des Brian (West Germany) [de]
Enas profitis... ma ti profitis! (Greece) [el]
Ett herrans liv (Sweden) [sv]
La vie de Brian (France) [fr]
Monty Python - brianin elämä (Finland) (DVD box title) [fi]
Monty Python's Life of Brian - ett herrans liv (Sweden) [sv]
Monty Pythonuv zivot Briana (Czech Republic) (long title) [cs]
Profeten Brians liv og historie (Norway) [no]
Zivot Briana (Czech Republic) [cs]
Zywot Briana (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Norway:(Banned) (1979 - 1980) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1980) | Finland:K-16 (1988) | Netherlands:MG6 (DVD rating) | Iceland:L | Spain:T | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:(Banned) | Norway:18 (1980) | Sweden:15 | Australia:MA (Special Edition DVD) | France:U | Australia:M | Brazil:18 | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:18 (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Ireland:(Banned) (1979-1987) | Ireland:15 (re-rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:11 (re-rating) (2004) | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Amphitheater, El Djem, Tunisia

Company:

HandMade Films

Trivia:

Some of the snack items that Brian sells at the games: Wolf Nipple Chips, Dromedary Pretzels, Jaguar Ear Lobes, Tuscany Fried Bat and Otter Noses.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During the crucifixion scene at the end, the first line delivered by Otto (of the suicide squad) appears to have been over-dubbed and does not match the line spoken at the time of filming. This is because an earlier scene featuring Otto and the suicide squad was cut, and thus a different line was required to introduce them (spoken by Michael Palin).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Wise Man #1: Ahem!
Brian?s mother: Oh!
[falls over in chair]
Brian?s mother: Who are you?
Wise Man #2: We are three wise men.
Brian?s mother: What?
Wise Man #1: We are three wise men.
Brian?s mother: Well, what are you doing creeping around a cow shed at two o'clock in the morning? That doesn't sound very wise to me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Eddie Izzard: Circle (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Always Look on the Bright Side Of Life

One of my all-time favourites

While Quest for the Holy Grail was funny because it was so low-budgetty and silly, Life of Brian is more advanced and with a greater variation of humour. It also has a bigger budget, which is great to see. Every scene looks realistic, and the sets (someone said they were formerly used by "The Last Temptation of Christ?) are great.

Almost every line in this movie is a classic, and all of them very quotable. The characters are hilarious, and out-of-this world zany.The plot is good, and contrary to the Holy Grail, it actually comes to a satisfying conclusion.

The movie also dares to joke about religion. No, they don't joke about Jesus or God, but about the believers in them. The line "I say you are Messiah, and I should know. I've followed a few" is so spot-on it hurts(when I laugh).

All in all, watch this. This is possibly the funniest movie ever created. You can't afford to miss it.