A very naughty boy! (But an absolutely fantastic film)

Rating: 10/10 (11 December 2005)

I can watch The Life Of Brian again and again and again and I never get tired of the Pythons' very original take on the story of the Nativity, the crucifixion and everything in between. Some may say it's blasphemous (or even, as one of the Pythons said themselves, "It's not blasphemous, it's heretical") but that doesn't bother me in the slightest. As with the fantastic Irish comedy Father Ted, I think you have to be Catholic (or at least a Christian) to fully appreciate things like this.
I especially liked that they kept Brian as the straight character amongst all the insanely funny people creating something like madness around him. I think my favourite character in the entire film is Brian's mother, the Virgin Mandy. Right from the very first scene she (or, should I say, he? - Mandy is, of course, played by Terry Jones) is in, she has me in stitches. I still can't work out what animal she's doing an impression of when she says it's got horns during the visit by the three wise men, but that just adds to the comedy of the film for me. A special mention has to go - as well - to Michael Palin's Pilate. The "Thwow him to the floor" scene looks like it must have been a lot of fun to film.
It's completely insane, but very refreshing, and I certainly try to watch it on a very regular basis.