Written by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, & Michael Palin
Directed by Terry Jones

There are two types of people in the world – those that love Monty Python and those that don’t.  There’s really no in-between on this – it’s one of the few things that’s pretty black and white.

One true test of whether or not someone is going to like Monty Python is to view Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.  It’s a movie that takes shots at just about everyone and is a good gauge of whether you’re going to be able to laugh at the less politically correct aspects of their comedy.

The film is made up of a variety of skits such as the overworked and long-suffering workers committing a mutiny of sorts and taking over the workplace, tossing out the evil and demanding boss.  They then proceed to move their old building like a ship to the city where the shiny new building of The Very Big Corporation is and attack it.

This opens the film.  Next, we are shown a perspective of life, from birth to the life of two very different families in Yorkshire.  One is a Catholic family that is overpopulated by about 50 kids and living in abject poverty.  The kids are all shipped off to be used for scientific research when the mill is closed, while the father laments that he couldn’t wear a condom.  As the kids are being marched out, the fantastic song Every Sperm is Sacred is sung.  Across the way is a Protestant family.  They have two kids because they have only had sex twice in their marriage.

Moving on to schools, they take aim at the (then) current state of education in Britain and how ridiculously boring sitting in a lecture hall is, especially in religious schools.  There are a couple of really gross sketches that will challenge your stomach, but they are still all in fun. One is the world’s biggest glutton and the other is having to do with organ harvesting.  The main part of the film ends with death, giving it the feeling of having told a story, but it really hasn’t.  It’s just been a very funny look at life.  Even the Grim Reaper is pretty funny.  There is a closing sketch dealing with the same subject as the opening. Oh, and don’t forget the fish…

Monty Python Flying Circus was something I watched for years with my parents before I first saw this movie in theaters back in 1983.  For people who haven’t been familiar with their brand of comedy before seeing this, they might be quite shocked.  It’s irreverent and totally over the top and I laughed watching this again as much as I laughed back in 1983.

The comedy troupe of John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones are fantastic and work off each other so well.  There are musical numbers in this as well which fit in and are funny on their own as well.  Isn’t It Awfully Nice to Have a Penis? is another song that will make you laugh and leave you wanting to sing the lyrics.

The DVD is fantastic. In addition to the theatrical release of the film, there’s a Director’s Cut of the film which includes a few skits that didn’t make the cut and some that are longer than in the original version.  There’s also commentary with Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam which is fun to listen to as I got an idea of what they were up against with this film. They even seem surprised at times that they got away with some things.  A second disc contains even more features and makes the set well worth having.  Even the DVD menus are funny.

I don’t know that I’d show Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life to someone who’s never experienced any of their material before, although you’ll know pretty quickly whether or not they’ll be offended by this brand of comedy.  I think it’s one of the funniest movies ever made and I enjoy it as well as my teens.



FEATURES:

· Prologue
· Director’s Cut
· Commentary with Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam

BONUS DISC:

· Snipped Bits (Deleted Scenes)
· The School of Life
— The Meaning of Making The Meaning of Life
— Education Tips
— Un Film de John Cleese
— Remastering a Masterpiece
· Show Biz
· Fish
• Foreigners