Satire, light comedy, dark comedy, slapstick ... you name it!

Rating: 8/10 (4 November 2015)

I love British humor, and Monty Python in particular. I can take 10 episodes of "Are you being served" in a row. Even MP's lesser works, like "Holy Grail" still tickle my fancy. So take that 8/10 with the corresponding grain of salt.
Treating the life and times of Christ with a touch of comedy is not an easy task. MP came up with the perfect solution by chronicling instead the inglourious basterd born next door, Brian. Brian's life in many ways parallel's Jesus - and in some others, not.
MP is known for short sketches, and really this movie is just a concatenation of brilliant sketches, but so well fused together, that it stands as a full-length feature comedy chronicling the life of a mistaken prophet on his way to crucifixion. It is populated by the most funny characters, like a lisping Pontius Pilate, who revels in telling his soldiers about his friend "Biggus Dickus" and his wife "Incontinentia Buttox," throwing them to the lions if they dare laugh. In this inimitable scene, as in many others, it is not the relative lame joke that brings down the house, but the way it is relentlessly built up even more, just when you think it's had its 15 seconds of fame. Sometimes more is ...more!
The film is a not-so-hidden diatribe against religious zealotry, feeble politicians, and that most dangerous thing, mass opinion, which is all too easily manipulated as Alex de Tocqueville has taught us.
The sets are surprisingly good for such a comedy production, as many were left over from another biblical film and reused. This works extremely well in the film's favor, as it juxtaposes the slyness and buffoonery of its characters against a very believable backdrop. And who can complain about some Mozart sacral music in the background?
Definitely one of the best comedies ever filmed, almost in a league with "Dr. Strangelove," which is high praise from me because I am an even bigger Kubrick fan than MP fan.