This is followed by the 'Third World' equivalent, in which babies are delivered by the stork to an enormous Catholic family in the North of England, and everybody sings 'Every Sperm is Sacred'. Indeed, the mother is informed that she is 'not qualified' to do anything during the procedure. That is, the idea that control of birth is taken away from the most important person - the mother - and given entirely to medical professionals. The 'meaning of life' concept does, however, give the film a loose connecting thread nowhere near as coherent as the story in Brian, but there is the feeling that the film is going somewhere, as a group of six fish guide the audience through the seven Pythonesque ages of man:īirth - A brilliant satire on what medical sociologists call 'the medicalisation of birth'. The Meaning of Life is often referred to as a 'sketch film' - a collection of unrelated items - in a similar vein to their first film, And Now For Something Completely Different. Once the theme of the film had been established, the Pythons started writing again, filling out the film to the necessary length. Eric Idle is the one credited with the leap from that idea to the concept of a film about the meaning of life, and the film was saved. One morning, Terry Jones came down to breakfast and told the others that they had almost enough material for a film, and restated his idea that the film should be a life story. Even a group retreat to Jamaica didn't seem to help things much, and they were on the point of going home and giving up. Unfortunately, it took them a long time to agree on exactly what the film should be about. Birth 'What's that for?'Īfter the success of Life of Brian, the Python team intended to produce another film quite quickly. As such, it represents the end of a significant era in British television and film comedy. The Meaning of Life was the last of the Monty Python films and, indeed, the last ever Python project featuring all six of the team 1. It is good for a chuckle, but unquestionably funnier to those fed up with many aspects of culture which seem to defy logic.Monty Python - a Brief History | Graham Chapman - Comedy Writer and Actor | John Cleese - Comedy Writer and Actor | Terry Gilliam - Writer, Animator and Director | Eric Idle - Comedian, Writer and Actor | Terry Jones - Writer, Director and Actor | Michael Palin - Writer, Actor and Traveller | 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - the Television Series | Monty Python's 'Dead Parrot Sketch' | 'And Now For Something Completely Different' - the Film | 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' - the Film | 'Monty Python's Life of Brian' - the Film | 'Monty Python's The Meaning of Life' - the Film | Monty Python - The Books | Monty Python - The Records | Monty Python - The Stage Shows | Monty Python - The Best Bits | Almost Pythons - Important 'Monty Python' Contributors In fact, whether intentional or not, The Meaning of Life is the Monty Python film that contains their most bold-faced critical social commentary. The strong cultural criticism comes in scenes like the mutiny of bookkeepers against their corporate masters or the explosion of the supremely gluttonous Michael Palin. And, for the most part, they are successful at this.Ī good example of the silly: the questioning of two men dressed as a tiger in the African jungle during the height of the Zulu Wars. (such as "The Office" or the hopelessly postmodern "Spaced"), Python mixes dire social critique amongst the fart and penis jokes. Unlike many contemporary British comedies popular in the U.S. Python is more agreeable to the tireless social critic with a penchant for irreverent British humor. But The Meaning of Life still remains pure Python, replete with their disdain for organized religion and constant mocking of what they must surely see as hypocritical human morals. This silly satire is certainly not among the favorites of Python fans ("The Life of Brian" and "The Holy Grail" are the undisputed Python classics).
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