This year, why not start a new holiday tradition? Around my house, there’s nothing we like better for Easter and Passover (yes, the entire Judeo-Christian spectrum is represented) than gathering around the TV after supper for a timely holiday classic: Monty Python’s “The Life of Brian.”
This year will certainly be special, as, for the first time, this beloved pseudo-biblical epic is available on DVD.
It is the story of a simple man from Nazareth whose life strangely parallels that of Christ. Graham Chapman — who died in 1989, and has not yet been resurrected — stars in the title role.
He and the other Pythons — John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin — each perform multiple characters in the film, from Roman guards to Jewish revolutionaries and religious zealots.
Upon its release in 1979, religious groups worldwide lambasted “Brian” as blasphemous.
As the surviving members of the Python troupe explain in the DVD commentary, the film is quite reverent to the principles of Christianity. It is irreverent to the hypocrisy of many religious groups. This, they explain, is properly described as “heresy,” not “blasphemy.”
In addition to two insightful commentary tracks, the DVD contains some additional goodies. The original theatrical trailer and BBC radio ads are rare examples of creative promotion, and the documentary of the making of the film offers an informative look into the process of collaboration among the six-man group.
The five deleted scenes included on the DVD admittedly add little to the film, except to demonstrate the good decision-making that went into their removal.
The beauty of the film is that it makes a strong moral argument without sacrificing the comedy. While satirizing the absurd (and ongoing) conflict between religious groups, the film upholds the strength of the individual and the need to look beyond our differences.
And it ends with the most upbeat melancholia ever put on film, as Brian and a number of other crucifixees sing and whistle “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” a song penned by Eric Idle.
The multi-faceted members of Monty Python all have made significant contributions beyond their work with the group, from “A Fish Called Wanda” (starring Cleese and Palin) to Terry Jones’ children’s books and historical works to the films of Terry Gilliam.
Nonetheless, it is for their work as a group that they will best be remembered — and for their breadth of comedy, as represented in “The Life of Brian.”
Great satire is rarely seen anymore outside “The Simpsons” and “South Park.” Like them, “Brian” clearly presents a sense of morality appropriately contrasted by the groups that criticize them.
So for this holiday season and in these times of conflict, gather with your loved ones, put the troubles of the world out of your collective mind, and laugh your collective ass off.
