The Neon Bible - Flashback: Life Of Brian
It was the simple story of a very naughty boy who's mistaken for the Messiah. Somewhere along the line, Life Of Brain was mistaken for a blasphemous parody of the Gospels. Hmmm, wonder why...?
The Monty Python team were facing something of a crossroads in 1977. No longer a television outfit, they had to decide whether to work exclusively as a stage act or to try and build on the unexpected success of their second feature film, Monty Python And The Holy Grail. On a weekend jaunt to Paris they decided that their immediate future lay in film. Having successfully taken the rise of out of Mallory's Morte D'Arthur they turned their attentions to the most famous written work in history: The Bible.
Life Of Brian began with a throwaway suggestion from Eric Idle that they should make a biopic of Jesus Christ - but the subsequent arguments about the script and the subject matter were just a prelude to the major financial, bureaucratic and theocratic problems that would dog the film's production and release. The picture almost stalled during pre-production when executive producer Bernard Delfont withdrew his support. A last minute rescue by George Harrison's HandMade company freed the Pythons to prepare for the rigors of a lengthy shoot in Tunisia, a Muslim nation not noted for its sense of humour or top quality hotels.
But it was when Life Of Brian reached cinemas in 1979 that the real problems began. During its opening week in America the film was savaged by Jewish organisations, Muslim groups and every Christian denomination imaginable, from the Lutheran Council to the Catholic Conference. In Britain it was denounced by clergymen and crusaders such as Mary Whitehouse and Malcolm Muggeridge. Local authorities followed Swansea Council's example and promptly banned screenings. Worldwide, Life Of Brian faced a level of hostility that wouldn't be witnessed again until the release of Martin Scorsese' The Last Temptation Of Christ eight years later.
Amid the furore, few people were prepared to acknowledge that Life Of Brain was not a blasphemous monstrosity. It tells the story not of Christ but of Brian Cohen, a coliseum usher whose attempts to free Judea from Roman rule lead to his being mistaken for the Messiah. While Jesus does appear at the start of the film, delivering the Sermon on the Mount, his presence is tangential - the absurdities of organised religion are the film's real target. As Terry Jones said at the time, "We have no quarrel with Mr Christ."
Although it is perhaps best enjoyed as a series of sketches rather than a coherent narrative, Life Of Brian provides more brilliant moments and more laughs per minute than any film this side of This Is Spinal Tap. But more pertinently the film is funniest when at its most biting. The sequence in which Brian's newfound followers debate the significance of his lost sandal and discarded gourd is not only brilliantly written but, as John Cleese remarked, allows you to witness "the entire history of religion in two and a half minutes"
With its inspired mixture of sophisticated comedy and low humour, Life Of Brain regularly appears alongside Annie Hall and Duck Soup on critics' lists of classic comedies. And all these years on, the religious fervour that greeted the film's opening have slowly begun to wane. Even the normally straitlaced Swansea Council eventually saw the funny side. In 1998.
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