Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983)

Directed by: Terry Jones | 107 minutes | comedy, fantasy, musical | Actors: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Carol Cleveland, Simon Jones, Patricia Quinn, Judy Loe, Andrew MacLachlan,Mark Holmes, Valerie Whittington, Jennifer Franks, Imogen Bickford-Smith, Angela Mann, Peter Lovstrom, George Silver, Chris Grant

After ‘The Life of Brian’ and ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’, ‘Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life’ is the third film from the illustrious sixsome Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Although, a real movie cannot really be called ‘The Meaning of Life’. It’s more of a collection of loose sketches in the tradition of the TV series “Monthy Python’s Flying Circus”, but with the running time of an average movie. Each sketch deals with a certain phase of life that every person basically goes through (eg birth, adolescence, adulthood, death) or answers an important life question. Despite the fact that there is no real storyline or the presence of fixed characters, life as a theme is the common thread of the story. ‘Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life’ opens with two entertaining sketches on the theme of birth and ends with a piece in which death visits a remote farm.

Logically, not all skits are equally successful, but most of the jokes are very original and well developed. We meet a teacher who gives an extremely original twist to the concept of sex education, two doctors who explain the concept of organ donation in a very unorthodox way, a moving building that functions as a pirate ship and a man who is blessed with a more than healthy appetite. The jokes are, in keeping with the Monty Python tradition, extremely cynical, at times brutal and therefore quite controversial. ‘The Life of Brian’ and the series ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’, for example, caused quite a stir in Scotland and have even been banned there in the past. The great strength of the film is that apparently everyday subjects and situations are transformed into absurd sketches that hold up a mirror to the viewers and society.

‘Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life’ is a comedy that is slightly less than its two predecessors, but can nevertheless be regarded as extremely successful. It’s just not a film that will appeal to everyone, because most of the jokes, entirely according to tried and tested British recipes, are very cynical, hard and well thought out. Lovers of this type of humor will, however, be able to enjoy this movie.