A Classic Religious Satire Comedy

Rating: 10/10 (25 October 2012)

Life of Brian, is a British comedy film written, directed and largely performed by the Monty Python comedy team that includes Graham Chapman,John Cleese,Terry Gilliam,Eric Idle,Terry Jones and Michael Palin. It tells the story of Brian Cohen,played by Graham Chapman, a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as, and next door to, Jesus Christ, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah.The film contains themes of religious satire that were controversial at the time of its release.
On a midnight clear 2,000 years ago, three wise men enter a manger where a babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is an infant called Brian...and the three wise men are in the wrong manger. For the rest of his life, Brian finds himself regarded as something of a messiah and yet he's always in the shadow of this other guy from Galilee. Brian is witness to the Sermon of the Mount, but his seat is in such a bad location that he can't hear any of it. Ultimately, he is brought before Pontius Pilate and sentenced to crucifixion, which takes place at that crowded, nonexclusive execution site a few blocks shy of Calvary. Rather than utter the Last Six Words, Brian leads his fellow crucifixees in a spirited rendition of a British music-hall cheer-up song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
The movie looked back 2000 years for its comic content, but was a decade ahead in provoking Christian controversy during its time of release.The historical lampoon of religious fanaticism may not be quite as hilarious as The Holy Grail but it's even more ambitious as it is far ahead of its time for it is a religious satire that does not target specific religions or religious leaders like, say, Jesus of Nazareth. Instead, it pokes fun at the mindless and fanatical among their followers which is an attack on religious zealotry and hypocrisy,which are things that that fellow from Nazareth didn't particularly care for either.Overall,it is one of the more cutting edge films of the 1970's for this religious farce from the classic comedy troupe is as poignant as it is funny and satirical.