The Meaning of Life (1983)

Directors:

Terry Jones
Terry Gilliam

Writers:

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

Release Date:

31 March 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Fantasy

Tagline:

What it is, Where it is, and how to avoid treading in it [Video Australia]

Plot:

The comedy team takes a look at life in all its stages in their own uniquely silly way.

Plot Keywords:

Monty Python | Musical Number | Comedy Team | Death | Exploding Body

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Graham Chapman	...	Fish #1 / Doctor / Harry Blackitt / Wymer / Hordern / General / Coles / Narrator #2 / Dr. Livingstone / Transvestite / Eric / Chairman / Guest #1 / Arthur Jarrett / Geoffrey / Tony Bennett
John Cleese	...	Fish #2 / Dr. Spencer / Humphrey Williams / Sturridge / Ainsworth / Waiter / Eric's Assistant / Maître D' / Grim Reaper
Terry Gilliam	...	Window Washer / Fish #4 / Walters / Middle of the Film Announcer / M'Lady Joeline / Mr. Brown / Howard Katzenberg
Eric Idle	...	Fish #3 / 'Meaning of Life' Singer / Mr. Moore / Mrs. Blackitt / Watson / Blackitt / Atkinson / Perkins / Victim #3 / Front End / Mrs. Hendy / Man in Pink / Gunther / Noël Coward / Gaston / Angela
Terry Jones	...	Fish #6 / Mum / Priest / Biggs / Sergeant / Man with Bendy Arms / Mrs. Brown / Bert / Mr. Creosote / Maria / Leaf Father / Fiona Portland-Smyth
Michael Palin	...	Window Washer / Fish #5 / Mr. Pycroft / Dad / Narrator #1 / Chaplain / Carter / Spadger / Regimental Sergeant Major / Pakenham-Walsh / Rear End / Lady TV Presenter / Mr. Marvin Hendy / Harry / Padre / Debbie Katzenberg
Carol Cleveland	...	Wife of Guest #1 / Heaven Receptionist
Simon Jones	...	Chadwick / Jeremy Portland-Smyth
Patricia Quinn	...	Mrs. Williams
Judy Loe	...	Nurse #1
Andrew MacLachlan	...	Groom / Wycliff / Victim #1 / Guest #3
Mark Holmes	...	Victim #2 / Guest #2 / Elephant Waiter
Valerie Whittington	...	Mrs. Moore
Jennifer Franks	...	Bride
Imogen Bickford-Smith	...	Nurse #2 (as Imogen Bickford Smith)

Also Known As:

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (UK) (complete title)
El sentido de la vida (Argentina) (DVD title) (Spain) [es]
Der Sinn des Lebens (West Germany) [de]
Estamos todos locos (Argentina) [es]
Monty Python - Elämän tarkoitus (Finland) [fi]
Monty Python - O Sentido da Vida (Brazil) [pt]
Monty Python's Der Sinn des Lebens (West Germany) (complete title) [de]
Monty Python, le sens de la vie (France) [fr]
Monty Python: il senso della vita (Italy) [it]
Monty Pythons meningen med livet (Sweden) [sv]
Monty Pythons, to noima tis zois (Greece) [el]
O Sentido da Vida (Portugal) [pt]
Sens zycia wedlug Monty Pythona (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

107 min | Germany:112 min (2003 restored director's cut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2003) | Iceland:12 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/18 | Canada:18A (re-rating) | Canada:R (original rating) | Ireland:(Banned) (original rating) (1983-1990) | Brazil:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:15 (re-rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:M18 (cut) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2000) | UK:18 (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Celandine Films

Trivia:

The names of companies owned by the Very Big Corporation of America (listed on the wall in the board room and being added to by the sign painter) are a repeating list, some of which are puns or in-jokes having to do with events in the rest of the movie. They are: - Acme Construction Company - Payne, Bickers and Dogood Ltd. - Stn. Pendons Ltd. - V. Rich and Son - Doneys (Florence) - Mirage Land Co. - Arctic Geo. Lab. Co. - Liver Donors Inc. - World Wide Wine Corp. - Universal Amalgamations Ltd. - Consolidated Steel Co. - Micro Computer Inc. - Moonscape Products Ltd. - Rubber Goods Incorporated - D.Odgey Enterprises Ltd. - Money Factor Printers Ltd. - Better Plastics Corps. - D. Crepid Holdings - Super Big Ltd. - Space Propulsion Lab - Interstellar Travel Corp. - Dawking's Mining Co. - Lange and Sons (International) - Cooper's (Purveyors) - Dickinson Kincain Association - The All Enveloping Co. Ltd. - O. Verpaid Associates Ltd. - E. Normons and Sons - A. Maze and Lee - Huge Horace Mann and Yure Ltd. - R. Devious Inc. - Wakefeld and Daughter - Vast Holdings (Europe) Ltd. - Phil Thevich Consortium - Fastness and Vast Co. Ltd - Star Bright Merchandise Org. - X. Tortion World Wide Ltd. - Cartwright Tutorials - Black and White Picture Co. Ltd. - R. J. McArthur Parks Ltd. - Walker, Walker and Jones Bros. - Data Travel and Experiments (list repeats)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Terry Gilliam unzips the Zulu costume to introduce The Middle Of The Film, using the nose-ring as a zipper, the suit separates when it is half-way unzipped, and the zipper continues down the right side of the suit, as the two pieces fall apart.

Quotes:

Ainsworth: I'm afraid we've got a bit of a problem... you see one of our officers has
[sotto voice]
Ainsworth: Lost a leg. We think it's a tiger...
Soldier: In Africa?
Pakenham: Sh, sh sh...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Directors: The Films of Terry Gilliam (#1.2)" (????)

Soundtrack:

The Meaning of Life

Monty Python's final film adventure

The famous British comedy troupe, Monthy Python, crafted this bizarre collections of their special brand of humor as their last film together; loosely tied by the common theme of the everlasting search for the Meaning of Life, this series of sketches make a very good closure for their film adventures, as it seems as a return to their roots in the TV show "Flying Circus" and dedicated to long time fans. Nevertheless, this may also be a turn off for fans expecting something akin to "Holy Grial" or "Life of Brian".

Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones direct the segments that form "The Meaning of Life", divided in the diverse stages of human development (from birth to death), the action flows with ease; although due to the nature of the film, some sketches are definitely better than other. It's safe to say that this movie contains some of the best and the worst the troupe has done; however, their most mediocre work is still better than most modern comedy out there.

The movie also foresees the future careers of both Gilliam and Jones as directors; their film style (particularly Gilliam's) is now mature and almost fully developed. Gilliam's short "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" is an outstanding segment that could even stand alone on its own, and that presents Gilliam fully in form as a wild fantasy director.

While this was their last film, the group seems to be at its peak when talking about acting; from John Cleese's Dr. Spenser to Graham Chapman's near perfect impersonation of Tony Bennet, the acting never lets down, and even when some scripts are dull even for their time, the Pythons as actors never disappoint.

Something worth to notice are the great quality of the songs performed in the film. they are not only written with their high quality witty humor, musically they work very well and rank among the best the group has written in their history together.

Still, the movie may be overlong and at times tedious to people not used to the team's brand of humor. Specially considering that "The Meaning of Life" has more in common with their early roots than with what made them famous. Also, probably some of the jokes are definitely outdated now; however, "The Meaning of Life" is a very good display of the gang's different sides.

While maybe not as ingenious as "Holy Grail" and definitely nowhere near the masterpiece "Life of Brian", the Pythons last movie is still a very good comedy to watch. However, this certain brand of humor may be appealing only to fans of the Python's TV work, as it has more of those early roots than of their past film adventures. 8/10. An acquired taste indeed.