Life Of Brian

The Python team’s best-known comedy tells the story of Brian, born on the same day as Jesus Christ but in the next stable and forever doomed to be mistaken for him as the real Saviour goes about his work. Not surprisingly it was condemned as blasphemous by the established Christian churches helping to make it a huge commercial hit.  Although the Christ story provides the narrative skeleton the film is more of an absurdist send-up of Hollywood's The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) style of Biblical epic so popular in the '50s and '60s than an attack on Christianity. 

As always with the Python sketch-based approach to comedy not everything comes off but certain moments and lines including ”Blessed are the cheesemakers", Michael Palin’s lisping Pontius Pilate and Eric Idle’s song finale, "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life", have deservedly attained comedic immortality.

 

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