Aug. 8, 2024

A Film at 45: Life of Brian

"He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy! Now, piss off!" Our limited series, "A Film at 45" is back to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the films of 1979. We're dusting off the end of a decade that changed cinema forever, with a fresh look at...

"He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy! Now, piss off!"

Our limited series, "A Film at 45" is back to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the films of 1979. We're dusting off the end of a decade that changed cinema forever, with a fresh look at modern classics and hidden gems that we can't stop watching! On this episode, David and Scott head just south of the B.C. era to talk about the Jesus adjacent comedy, Monty Python's "Life of Brian!"

For exclusive episodes and content, check out A Film By... Podcast on our Patreon with a FREE 7-day trial. You can also sign up as a free member!

Check out www.afilmbypodcast.com/ for more information.
Email us at afilmbypodcast@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.
Find us on X Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @afilmbypodcast.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.200
Hello everyone, and welcome back to nineteen seventy nine. In

2
00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.440
a Film Buys limited series, A Film at forty five.

3
00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:07.839
I am David Burns.

4
00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.359
And I'm Scott Hoffman, And as usual, we're dusting off

5
00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:12.640
the end of a decade that changed cinema forever with

6
00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:15.000
a fresh look at monarch classics, at hidden gems that

7
00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:18.519
we can't stop watching. In this episode, we're growing further

8
00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:21.280
back in time than ever with one of the most

9
00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:25.199
iconic and controversial comedies of all time, Money Python's Life

10
00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:25.600
for Bride.

11
00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:27.559
You've got it all wrong.

12
00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:31.399
You don't need to follow me, You don't need to

13
00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:33.679
follow anybody, got it?

14
00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:45.439
Think yourself, you're all indistinual. Yeah, unlea, the true Messiahs,

15
00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:51.320
the nicest divinity. What just goes agive me more right?

16
00:00:51.479 --> 00:01:05.239
I am far up, a motion picture destined to offend

17
00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:10.040
nearly two thirds of the civilized world and severely annoy

18
00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:15.000
the other third. Brian, the babe they called Brian. He

19
00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:19.599
had arms and legs, and hands and feet. This boy

20
00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:21.879
whose name was Brian, he grew and grew. Oh you

21
00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:24.359
get the idea. If these lyrics ring a bell, then

22
00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.000
you certainly know we are talking about Muney. Python's Life

23
00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.719
of Brian voted by many in the fifty Greatest Comedy

24
00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:33.359
Films of All Time and included in the one thousand

25
00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:37.159
and one Movies You Must See Before You Die Money.

26
00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:40.519
Python Scott has brought us many treats, the Holy Grail

27
00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:43.120
being one of them. But I am sure there are

28
00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.239
many authors who have never seen this film, So how

29
00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:47.280
would you describe this to them?

30
00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:52.359
So the year is what zero? Ad? Yeah, just south

31
00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:55.920
of the BC era, this Jesus adjacent movie begins next

32
00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:58.519
door to the Birth of Christ, pronicling the life of

33
00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:02.239
a reluctant messiah Bordon next door Brian Cohen? Is that

34
00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:06.239
a play on BC? Anyway? Was Brian born just minutes

35
00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:11.080
before h Anyway? After an animated retelling of Brian's plummet

36
00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.840
through adolescence to adulthood, we catch up with Brian in

37
00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:16.960
first century Judea. He lives with his mother, making a

38
00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.000
meager living selling stadium snacks as he falls in love

39
00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:22.560
with a rebellious woman and soon gets swept up in

40
00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:25.560
a tale of mistaken identity as people follow him around

41
00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.360
believing that he's the Messiah. But he's really just Brian.

42
00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:30.319
He's just Brian.

43
00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:33.199
So the BC thing didn't even occur to you before?

44
00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.520
Was he born like seconds before? Jesus? I guess.

45
00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:39.879
I didn't think about that until you mentioned it. Wait

46
00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.319
a minute, they had to have tended that, because come on,

47
00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:43.199
it's Monty Python.

48
00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:46.560
While the Wiseman show up and they're kind of like,

49
00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:49.120
here are all these gifts. Then it's like, wait a second,

50
00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:50.759
give those back, we need to go next door.

51
00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.120
You know that whole opening with a three wise man,

52
00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:57.159
because I mean this movie starts off very serious, right, yes,

53
00:02:57.240 --> 00:02:59.800
and you know, with the powerful music. He was like, okay,

54
00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:02.960
here we go, and then it really falls off the

55
00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:04.919
rail and becomes Monty Python quickly.

56
00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:07.960
Yes, yes, absolutely, you know.

57
00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:10.479
Just giving the gifts and then then when they leave

58
00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:12.680
and then they realize, oh, wait a minute, we've gave

59
00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:14.039
that to the wrong person and come back.

60
00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:19.039
Just yeah, a bit of unfortunate makeup in that scene,

61
00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:21.039
and if you've seen it you'll know what I mean.

62
00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:26.560
But it launches us right into uh Terry Jones as

63
00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:31.439
the mother. It's just classic fashion. Every line that Terry

64
00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:33.520
says in that role is just makes me laugh.

65
00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:35.560
Yeah, me too, What is murr?

66
00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:41.039
Anyway, It's all all right, come back, but maybe without

67
00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:41.400
the ball.

68
00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:46.759
It's classic lines throughout this entire film. I mean you

69
00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:49.039
would just laugh almost from beginning to end in this thing.

70
00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:52.319
And then we go to this those wonderful animations that

71
00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:56.199
Monty Python does so well where we get the Brian song,

72
00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:58.080
you know, over the credits and stuff like that. I

73
00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:02.240
love watching those animations they did with Python Holy Grail too, Yeah,

74
00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:04.240
and I think they was a flying circus obviously, the

75
00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:07.719
TV series that they did. I just love those animations and.

76
00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:10.240
It was was it wasn't it Terry Gilliam that did

77
00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.759
all those animations, I believe, So, yeah, that is crazy.

78
00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:18.680
But yeah, it's a very iconic. Uh, I don't know

79
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:23.399
what to call it. It's basically ahousing kind of cutouts, yeah, right,

80
00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:24.600
but in a very clever way.

81
00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:28.160
Yeah. Absolutely, And it's always it's always unique to watch.

82
00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:30.240
You know, once you've seen this movie many times, you

83
00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:31.800
go back and watch it again, you still sit there

84
00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:34.000
and watch those credits because they're done so well.

85
00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:38.360
Yeah, you have to all with the falling Brian kind

86
00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:39.240
of going through, right.

87
00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:43.240
Yeah, this movie was very unique in itself. And I

88
00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:45.959
believe Money, the the the actors who are behind Money

89
00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:47.959
Python They even said that this was when they were

90
00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:51.240
in their prime. They feel Life of Brian was the

91
00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:53.800
definitive movie where they felt like they were hitting on

92
00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:58.040
all cylinders here, and they were in my opinion, because

93
00:04:58.079 --> 00:04:59.800
I mean, I love the Holy Grail, don't get me wrong,

94
00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:03.480
but the Life of Brian is just something else to behold.

95
00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:07.879
Yeah. It's interesting how, you know, when I was growing

96
00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:10.240
up with my python, it was all about Holy Grail.

97
00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:12.560
Right now, Maybe it's because the only one that I

98
00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:17.680
had really seen on rotation, but like you know, pop

99
00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.279
culture references and all this other kind of stuff always

100
00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:24.120
has Holy Grail coming up rarely. Life of Brian, even

101
00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:30.000
though it's lauded as a more iconic comedy movie like

102
00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:33.600
a masterpiece, right, but doesn't seem to get as much

103
00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:37.120
attention as Holy Grail. Maybe Holy Grail is safer. I

104
00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:37.560
don't know.

105
00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:41.759
Maybe I think because the religious overtones and stuff they

106
00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:43.560
were in this and what they're trying to do. I

107
00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:48.000
know this caused some friction with religious groups and stuff

108
00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:51.480
like that when this first came out, But I think

109
00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.319
maybe that might be a part of it. And you're right,

110
00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:57.360
the Holy Girl is safer in that aspect, But still

111
00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:00.480
I Love the Life of Brian. Yeah, I haven't seen

112
00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.720
this in a long time, so watching this again, I

113
00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:07.839
found myself just buzzed out laughing this film. But these

114
00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:10.600
lines that they have, I forgot the biggest dickis was

115
00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:14.480
in this movie. Oh and God, I won't get to that,

116
00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:17.040
but that's that whole seed. I just I just cry

117
00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:20.120
every time because I'm laughing so hard. Well, let's let's

118
00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:21.480
back up little bit, let's talk a little bit. But

119
00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:23.959
I guess that's the sermon on the mount with Jesus

120
00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:28.160
is having and when you're the way in the back

121
00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:29.800
and they can't really hear what he's saying.

122
00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:35.040
Uh, that's that of the cheesemakers, right, Well, that's one

123
00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.120
of the things, like I think that's a good example

124
00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:40.000
of how and I think it was Michael Palin that

125
00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:43.360
made this kind of defense of the movie when they

126
00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:44.639
were being confronted.

127
00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:46.279
I forgot the name of the talk show was, but

128
00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.079
very kind of famous British talk show where they're kind

129
00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:55.720
of almost attacked by I think it's a prominent author

130
00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:01.160
and a a pretty prominent religious figure that are talking

131
00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:03.680
about how they're they're mocking things like the Shiven on

132
00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:07.480
the Mountain which they're not. They're treating everything with complete reference.

133
00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:09.360
They did nothing to kind of poke at it. It's

134
00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.079
just imagine you're there and you're way out in the

135
00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:15.720
back and you can't hear what they're saying, so yeah,

136
00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:19.519
speak up. That's innocent enough, right, it was.

137
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:23.240
And the whole, the whole, big nose. My goodness, he

138
00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:27.920
just kept going on. My gosh, they are just so

139
00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.920
much experts at comedy. I really wish they would have

140
00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:32.959
hung together a little bit longer to give us more

141
00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.519
than what we've got. But it's just going back to

142
00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:40.439
this gold that you have with this comedy just reminds

143
00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:44.199
you of just how incredibly good they were at what

144
00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:44.920
they did.

145
00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:47.759
Well and the dedication they had to it. So yeah.

146
00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:53.360
To say nothing of Graham Chapman in the title role

147
00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:57.720
of Brian was I didn't know he was struggling with alcoholism.

148
00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.920
I didn't either, Yeah, and had gone through a very

149
00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:06.040
intentional process to dry stuff out, so to speak, and

150
00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:08.879
even when so far as to use some of his

151
00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.800
medical skills as a doctor to help with some people

152
00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:17.439
on set and the medical attention. So there. I know,

153
00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.240
we'll get into this a little bit later in the production,

154
00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.240
but the links that they had to go to to

155
00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:26.800
get this made is absolutely reflected in their performances. You

156
00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:28.920
can see the passion they had for this.

157
00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:34.639
Oh yeah, absolutely. One of the scenes, Well, there's so

158
00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:36.320
many scenes in this movie that I just absolutely love.

159
00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:38.440
It's really hard for me to pick my lights because

160
00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:43.720
they're all just so good. The stoning scene, Scott, when

161
00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.440
you have all these females that are there and obviously

162
00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:48.320
you find out that you know, females are not supposed

163
00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:51.360
to be at the stonings, right, and you have so

164
00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.000
many of the wives apparently are there. But then you

165
00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:56.799
have John Please, who is I guess it was he

166
00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:01.799
a priest? I guess, I guess like the officiator, the

167
00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:04.919
officiator or whatever he was of stoning and stuff like that.

168
00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.279
And uh as, yes, he's egging on the crowd, and

169
00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:10.039
the crowd is getting all excited because they want to

170
00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:15.960
stone this guy, and you know, you're the rockets thrown

171
00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:18.960
out of no right? Who did that? Who through that?

172
00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:22.039
Who did? And they're all like female voices, are there

173
00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:23.039
any women here?

174
00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:28.200
Well? And then they kind of leap on that whole like,

175
00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:32.600
you know, just saying the word say name Jehovah. And

176
00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:35.879
then everybody ends up getting stoned, and then at the

177
00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.840
end of what the four of the spectators come up

178
00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.879
with a giant bowlder and just squished jug This character.

179
00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:49.279
To me, John Cleese is absolutely a standout in this crowd,

180
00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:56.039
any any scene that he's in, uh with Finn fantastic.

181
00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.440
The one of the ones that stands to me the

182
00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:02.840
most is the grammatical graffiti lesson.

183
00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:05.799
Yes, so the.

184
00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:08.639
Fact that John Cleace used to be a Latin instructor,

185
00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:13.519
so when he's giving Brian his lesson in Latin, it's

186
00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:18.159
grammatically perfect, and he's just like, no, no, no, this

187
00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.240
is how you have to say it. If you want

188
00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.000
to write it, now write it one hundred times. And

189
00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.279
then he's done, and he climbs down and he sees

190
00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:30.519
two new soldiers that are like, what's all this? Then yeah, so.

191
00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.200
Good, yep, me too. And of course you have the

192
00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:38.159
wonderful the GDA People's Front or the People's Front. It's just.

193
00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:48.159
What have the Romans ever given us? Besides the aqueduct, sanitation, roads, irrigation, medicine, education.

194
00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:50.919
And besides all of that, what are they giving us?

195
00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:52.320
Yeah?

196
00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:56.120
So many, so many good scenes. And I know the

197
00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:59.320
scene towards the end where Brian goes free from the well.

198
00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:02.000
They want to put him free from the crucifixion, and

199
00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:05.960
everyone begins shedding I am Brian. Apparently that was a

200
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.279
parody of Spartacus.

201
00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:12.159
Yeah, I am Spartacus, I am as, I'm Brian, and

202
00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:13.759
so is my wife.

203
00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:16.200
So good. But that's the ending, of course, but you know,

204
00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:18.440
we'll obviously get to that a little bit later. That

205
00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:23.200
brings us to the scene with Pilot, the Biggest Dickas scene.

206
00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.840
So apparently they rehearsed this scene, but then they removed

207
00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:31.200
all the background people who were in it and putting

208
00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:34.080
people who were not. I didn't know what was going

209
00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:36.639
to happen. Yeah, so when they were in there it

210
00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:40.559
they got genuine reactions from people as they were doing

211
00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:41.919
that scene. I think that was brilliant.

212
00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.759
Scott absolutely, yeah. I mean, you know, you would think

213
00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:49.399
like the actual joke in my opinion, like Biggest Dickas.

214
00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.440
Obviously you know there's a you know, initial reaction, but

215
00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:57.159
it's not quite as funny as watching the scene unfold, right,

216
00:11:57.320 --> 00:12:01.679
Like you can see Michael Palin's face starts to kind

217
00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.879
of contort and his timing of how he's trying to

218
00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:09.840
get them to laugh. That's just genius design, it is.

219
00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.600
And yeah, the fact that they went through so many

220
00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:17.799
takes and then, like you said, changing the extras to

221
00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:21.000
make sure you got that genuine reaction. I watched it

222
00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:24.000
a second time to see if I could see a

223
00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:27.559
genuine reaction from them. And the there's the one guy

224
00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:30.600
where he gets right up into his face like almost

225
00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:33.799
like he's ready to give him a kiss. The contortions

226
00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:37.679
that actor goes through to try to avoid laughing is

227
00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:39.080
is fantastic.

228
00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:40.679
And you can tell it's genuine. I mean, what's going

229
00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.559
on you to see the muscle, the muscles in his

230
00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:46.200
face and how he's reacting to that. So yeah, it's

231
00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.039
it was brilliant. It was a good move on their

232
00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:53.759
part to actually pull it off that way in my opinion. Yeah, so, okay.

233
00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:56.159
There's one that kind of struck me as odd, the

234
00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:01.080
impromptu salvation by the extraterrestrials. Oh the kind of Hitchhiker's

235
00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:05.840
guide scene. Yeah, that like enough for something completely different,

236
00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:08.600
like that totally came out of left field.

237
00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:11.919
Yeah, I actually have forgotten about that scene when it

238
00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:14.279
happens like oh yeah, this this just happened to this

239
00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:15.159
movie didn't.

240
00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.399
It right, that's your concessions, did.

241
00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:22.840
Exactly, Yeah, which which leads us to the the the

242
00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.840
haggle scene. Where is it you're doing it, You're doing

243
00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:28.279
it wrong. You're doing it wrong.

244
00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:36.360
At least ten insulted. This is good goat's hair, whatever it.

245
00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.879
Was, and it's That's another thing that I love about

246
00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.679
Monty Python is how they just carry on a scene

247
00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.759
so far, but it doesn't get old, you know, you

248
00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:48.399
just continue to laugh and see where they're going with it,

249
00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:50.039
and it just goes on and on and on. But

250
00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:53.919
yet it still is hysterical at watching how they how

251
00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:54.399
they do it.

252
00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:57.360
Yeah. Well, I mean it's it seems like that that

253
00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:01.240
are so far from the story of Christ. Mm hmm

254
00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:04.879
is why to me? I agree with Michael Palin. I

255
00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:09.080
don't necessarily see any thing sacrilegious about it. No, If anything,

256
00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:12.679
it's something that you know, people that pay attention to

257
00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:17.639
the stories can see the angle that they're taking, you know,

258
00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:21.960
the the shots that they're taking over people haggling over beards,

259
00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:24.639
not necessarily having anything to do with Jesus whatsoever.

260
00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:28.720
But yeah, the whole when they when they think that

261
00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.279
he's the Messiah, you know, the argument of the shoe.

262
00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:33.360
Are they going to follow the gourd?

263
00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:34.320
Right?

264
00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:37.519
You know that all that stuff was hysterical man.

265
00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:40.519
Right, Well, you know it's that kind of half baked

266
00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:43.080
sermon where he's kind of watching the guards go away

267
00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:50.559
and he's like and then it's uh, it's uh nothing, okay,

268
00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:53.279
I'll see it later. And that's what captures everybody's attention.

269
00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:55.440
They're like, wait, what else was he going to say? Well,

270
00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:57.879
it must be big and meaningful. What what about this gord?

271
00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:59.639
Oh we have to follow him with the gourd and

272
00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:03.480
the shoe. Here's his shoe, and you know, oh yeah,

273
00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:07.679
I think that's what John Cleese's big points is that

274
00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:12.799
it's lampooting people who aren't necessarily thinking for themselves. Yeah,

275
00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:16.840
just kind of follow me into a big crowd, because

276
00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:19.799
at one point they're you know, yeah, they're they're worshiping

277
00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:22.600
a shoe. They're worshiping a gord and has nothing else

278
00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.440
to do with it whatsoever in it, but you know,

279
00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:27.240
not making fun of Christ himself.

280
00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:29.080
No, And this is one of those scenes that just

281
00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:31.240
builds and builds and builds. You know, the comedy starts

282
00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.519
building on itself more and more and more until you

283
00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:36.519
get to that final point when they eventually follow him

284
00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:39.440
and he falls into that pit and you know, makes

285
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.600
the guy talk who hasn't talked to like forever.

286
00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:48.600
Oh god, oh god. Yeah, Terry Jones with the giant beard.

287
00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:51.519
Yeah, really long beard covering some things that please I'm

288
00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:52.320
glad it was covering.

289
00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:54.799
Yeah, it doesn't. It doesn't seem to take much to

290
00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:57.519
get Terry Jones to you know, run around in the altogether,

291
00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:00.159
you know, chasing people away from his junior proplushes in

292
00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:05.039
the nude. No hats off to the costume department for

293
00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:06.960
wrapping that beard in right.

294
00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:11.519
Away, right, And then the whole thing is that, oh

295
00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:14.759
would you just go away? How should we go away? Oh?

296
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:18.360
Just well, you know f off so exactly.

297
00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.679
Well even before that, I think before that, when the

298
00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:29.399
multitude appears outside Brian's door or outside his window, I

299
00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:35.720
guess after he's just had an amorous night, and uh

300
00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:40.799
Terry Jones, uh yeah, Terry j just is the mom yeah,

301
00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.799
yelling at him. He's a very naughty boy. He's not

302
00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:47.960
a messiah. He's a very nutty boy. Now go away.

303
00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:52.000
They're like no, yeah, no, we're all here, and they're

304
00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:54.960
shouting the lines in unison. I think that's genius design.

305
00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.240
It was, and how they all just kept responding to

306
00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:00.120
the questions and stuff like that, especially when bar And

307
00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:03.399
came out and you know, was addressing the crowd. Yeah,

308
00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:04.720
it was perfect where.

309
00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:09.880
They're reluctantly saying like, oh, okay, we will like all

310
00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:10.920
together like a choir.

311
00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:12.599
Yeah, it was.

312
00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:12.880
It was.

313
00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:17.480
The whole movie was brilliant. So the whole Crucifixion scene,

314
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.160
you know, before that though, when they're they're they're being

315
00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.920
taken out and he's like, crucifixion, good out the door

316
00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.799
line left one a cross each.

317
00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:30.519
Yeah, like an airline attendant.

318
00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:34.480
Yeah, because crucial fixion. No, they said set me free.

319
00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:39.400
What I think I'm allowed to go? Okay, I'm just kidding. Crucifixion.

320
00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:45.119
It's like you almost had them if they're letting me go.

321
00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.640
And then he ends up being taken down from the Crucifixion.

322
00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:50.839
He's the one that gets allowed to go. Yeah, and

323
00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:52.920
he's like wait a second, I'm just kidding. It's gonna

324
00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:58.559
like don't you understand what they're doing, like get out? Uh?

325
00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.839
But yeah, that the whole crucifix is where we get

326
00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:05.039
that main earworm. Oh we always look at the bright

327
00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:08.519
side of life, Like, it's very hard not to whistle

328
00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:09.839
along to that. It is.

329
00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:12.759
Yeah, And my understanding too is Eric Idol, who did

330
00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.920
that on scene, wasn't happy with it, so he redid

331
00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:20.039
the actual you know, singing to it somewhere else. I

332
00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.079
guess they just dubbed it over because he just wasn't

333
00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:26.319
happy with it. Yeah, I mean it's it's so You're right,

334
00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:29.000
it is an earworm that just doesn't go away. I

335
00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:33.160
found myself even singing that song well after watching this movie.

336
00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.319
Yeah, yeah, there's definitely certain situations in life where you're

337
00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.880
singing that song is kind of an anthem.

338
00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:44.000
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. All right, Well, let's look through the lens, Scott,

339
00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:46.279
let's talk about some behind the scenes, anything interesting that

340
00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:46.920
you might have found.

341
00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.480
Well, the the big one that jumped out to me,

342
00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:56.759
and I hadn't made this association, which is surprising considering

343
00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:00.680
how much I'm a fan of handmade films, and for

344
00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:03.960
me specifically, it's Time Bandits that sticks out among all

345
00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:09.559
those productions. But knowing that one of the Beatles, George Harrison,

346
00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:16.160
helped to make this possible because their original production company EMI,

347
00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:20.759
or an original financier of this saw the script after

348
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:24.119
they had already started funding of it and bothered to

349
00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.079
read it, which is, I guess probably a good idea

350
00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:31.079
to read the script that you're supporting, because they considered

351
00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:38.079
it blasphemous. And it was George Harrison who pawned his

352
00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:41.799
home in London and his office building to raise the

353
00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:46.279
four million pounds they needed to finish making the movie.

354
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:49.200
So when somebody asked him why, he said, because I

355
00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:52.440
wanted to go see it. So Eric Idol had joked later,

356
00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:55.559
that's the highest price anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket.

357
00:19:57.440 --> 00:19:59.359
Well, it would have been made without him, So thank

358
00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:00.960
you George for that exactly.

359
00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.559
And from that we get a lot of classics. I mean,

360
00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:10.079
there's Time Bandits, Ohna, Lisa Lockstock in Two Smoking Barrels.

361
00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.480
The interesting discussion that Jeff and I had around nineteen

362
00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:17.839
eighty six is Shanghai Surprise one of George Harrison's regrets.

363
00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:23.359
But a lot of greatness came out of this. And

364
00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:26.720
to know that it started with such a big classics,

365
00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.519
such a big success, I think is a great story

366
00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:31.440
for Hyden mad Films.

367
00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:34.240
Oh yeah, absolutely, I mean this is a huge follow

368
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:37.359
up to The Holy grail Hu. Yes, you know so,

369
00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:39.400
and they knocked it out of the park again with

370
00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:44.559
this I believe what six cast members played forty characters.

371
00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:45.960
Yeah in this film.

372
00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:49.880
Yeah. They didn't even bother to give them credits, right,

373
00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:51.960
It's just they were in it because why bother.

374
00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:54.279
You'll be here for days, Yeah, you would be. And

375
00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:57.160
you realize what's going on here. It's money. Python They're

376
00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.960
going to be playing tons of different characters throughout the film,

377
00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:01.200
so it makes perfect sense.

378
00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:04.200
Yeah. So I mean this, this film, you know, despite

379
00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.519
the controversy, which we can talk about a little bit more,

380
00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:12.079
it played continuously for seventy five weeks in London's West

381
00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:19.240
End from November seventy nine to March of eighty one.

382
00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:25.759
I think it was it in the North. In the US,

383
00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:30.799
it grossed one hundred and forty thousand opening weekend total

384
00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:34.680
gross is more than nineteen million, the highest grossing British

385
00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:40.559
film that year, and the fourth highest grossing film in

386
00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:45.200
nineteen seventy nine in the UK. So considering, I mean,

387
00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:47.599
you know, I was going to say, considering how controversial

388
00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:50.880
it was, that's kind of a surprise. But maybe not,

389
00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:55.519
because everybody who recognizes it's a comedy. Word of mouth

390
00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:58.160
is going to get people into the seat, into the seats,

391
00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:03.400
into the theater. Likewise, was a controversial, right, they're gonna say, oh,

392
00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:05.759
we've got to see what we're so outraged about, and

393
00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:07.160
rendo the theaters to see it.

394
00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:11.920
Exactly. It's that that easy free publicity is what you're doing,

395
00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:15.759
you know, exactly exactly. It makes sense. It works to

396
00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:20.200