Composer:
John Du PrezCast:
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Carol Cleveland, Matt Frewer, Jane Leeves, Patricia Quinn, Andrew Bicknell (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
The Monty Python cast act out a series of sketches tracing the key stages of human existence. The film covers subjects such as organ transplants, sex, death and the results of overeating. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (1)
Reviews (7)
And after the Circus gave us an insight into the dawn of modern civilization and its difficult knighthood beginnings, they inevitably had to explain to us why we were here. Short stories from different stages of human life, nicely edited and sharply spiced. Undoubtedly the most perverse stuff from Monty Python. Some scenes are a little weaker, but others are engraved in memory so that they cannot be removed even by applying solvents and thinners. Bring me a bucket, I'm going to throw up. Bravo, bravo three times!
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Before Life of Brian, the Monty Python crew had a lot of plans and little money - after it, they had a lot of money and few shared plans. The group members went their separate ways and worked on their respective projects, while producers competed to finance their next joint film. The group gathered in Jamaica and tried to put together a new script, but it was very difficult because the ideas for the project were very different. John Cleese initially did not cooperate on the project at all. The group originally came up with the idea of Monty Python's Third World War as a parody of the commercialization of warfare, or the idea of a court trial where the group would be accused of the entire project of the new film being a grand tax fraud. All these ideas were lost and the film is actually a loose combination of a series of separate scenes lacking a solid story. As a result, the film is very fragmented and uneven. It contains excellent sketches and jokes alongside weaker moments where the point was simply lost. The Monty Python group away a considerable amount of material when working on the script and engaged in heated debates over the final form of the film. Terry Gilliam was the most criticized for his film The Crimson Permanent Assurance, which seemed too megalomaniacal and unnecessarily expensive to the other group members, simply not fitting into the overall concept of the film. The reception of The Meaning of Life both by critics and audiences was not very enthusiastic (everyone was simply satiated after Life of Brian), and the group members themselves felt dissatisfied. The Meaning of Life effectively meant the end of their collaboration, and all the members decided to go down their separate artistic paths. Most of them were successful, except for Graham Chapman who, in the few years he had left, didn't have time to do much. Overall impression: 80%.
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The most daring, brutal, bloodiest, and above all, ultra-sexual film endeavor of this unforgettable troupe. And yet, undoubtedly the weakest of the golden trio. While The Life of Brian and Monty Python and the Holy Grail are consistently brilliant, The Meaning of Life is only occasionally so, and scenes like the one with the repeated vomiting felt awkward to me. But can anyone else come up with something as amazing as graphic sex education, gratitude in the trenches, or snippets from the Zulu War?
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When I first watched The Meaning of Life, I just didn't understand it, so I didn't find it funny at all. True, I enjoyed the vomiting scene, and it's actually the only one I remember. Along with the character of Death, who somehow continually fascinates me. Today, I understand the film more and find it funnier because I've come to appreciate absurd drama, but unfortunately, Monty Python has never quite resonated with me enough to adore them endlessly. The scenes have ideas, but I'm just not able to call this an absolutely brilliant film.
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Narratively fragmented, with weaker moments interspersed with absolutely brilliant ones. But the brilliant ones prevail, as usual with Monty Python. The vomiting scene is absolutely unforgettable, you just don't see something so perversely funny every day.
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