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Monty Python's Life of Brian 40th Anniversary

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Videos & Photos

  • Trailer for Monty Pythons Life of Brian: The Immaculate Edition
  • Event Trailer

Movie Info & Cast

Synopsis

Returning to cinemas for it’s 40th Anniversary, in glorious standard definition and mono-sound, Monty Python delivers a scathing, anarchic satire of both religion and Hollywood's depiction of all things biblical with their 1979 feature film Life of Brian. Highly controversial upon its original release and banned in several countries, the film is now frequently ranked as the greatest comedy feature of all time by magazines and media outlets around the world. As Monty Python member Terry Gilliam says, “It rips bare and makes you laugh at the world we’ve created for ourselves.” Audiences will be able to join in the celebrations with a commemorative pack, available at cinema screenings on Thursday 18 April. Set in 33 A.D. Judea, where exasperated Romans are trying to impose some order, it is a time of chaos and change with no shortage of messiahs and followers willing to believe in them. At its centre is Brian Cohen, a reluctant would-be messiah who rises to prominence as a result of a series of absurd circumstances providing ample opportunity for the entire Monty Python ensemble (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin) to shine in multiple roles as they question everyone and everything from ex-lepers, Pontius Pilate and the art of haggling, to revolutionaries, crazy prophets, religious fanaticism, Roman centurions and crucifixion.

Cast

  • Graham Chapman
  • Terry Jones
  • John Cleese
  • Terry Gilliam
  • Michael Palin
  • Ken Colley
  • Gwen Taylor
  • Eric Idle
  • Terence Bayler
  • Carol Cleveland

Atom User Reviews

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Metacritic

100

But what a triumph this film was for Chapman, who gave a convincing, touching performance as the bewildered everyman who decides to make a stand, and in his battle with the evil empire makes a Luke Skywalker-style discovery about his lineage. Life of Brian is an unexpectedly earnest, sweet-natured hymn to the idea of tolerance.

Metacritic review by Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
The Guardian
30

Sluggish, repetitive, and strangely timorous, with little of the zap and imagination of the Pythons' television work.

Metacritic review by Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
70

For all its scruffiness, the lurching strike-rate of its gags, and the unmistakable smell of amateur dramatics given off by its repertory of rotating players with their stick-on Ted Nugent beards, Life of Brian jitters with good will. [3 May 2004, p. 110]

Anthony Lane
The New Yorker