The Meaning of Life (1983)

The comedy team takes a look at life in all its stages in their own uniquely silly way.

Directors:

Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam

Writers:

Graham Chapman, John Cleese

Stars:

John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Graham Chapman	...	Chairman / Fish #1 / Doctor / Harry Blackitt / Wymer / Hordern / General / Coles / Narrator #2 / Dr. Livingstone / Transvestite / Eric / Guest #1 / Arthur Jarrett / Geoffrey / Tony Bennett
John Cleese	...	Fish #2 / Dr. Spencer / Humphrey Williams / Sturridge / Ainsworth / Waiter / Eric's Assistant / Maître D' / Grim Reaper
Terry Gilliam	...	Window Washer / Fish #4 / Walters / Middle of the Film Announcer / M'Lady Joeline / Mr. Brown / Howard Katzenberg
Eric Idle	...	Gunther / Fish #3 / 'Meaning of Life' Singer / Mr. Moore / Mrs. Blackitt / Watson / Blackitt / Atkinson / Perkins / Victim #3 / Front End / Mrs. Hendy / Man in Pink / Noël Coward / Gaston / Angela
Terry Jones	...	Bert / Fish #6 / Mum / Priest / Biggs / Sergeant / Man with Bendy Arms / Mrs. Brown / Mr. Creosote / Maria / Leaf Father / Fiona Portland-Smythe
Michael Palin	...	Window Washer / Harry / Fish #5 / Mr. Pycroft / Dad / Narrator #1 / Chaplain / Carter / Spadger / Regimental Sergeant Major / Pakenham-Walsh / Rear End / Female TV Presenter / Mr. Marvin Hendy / Governor / Leaf Son / Debbie Katzenberg
Carol Cleveland	...	Beefeater Waitress / Wife of Guest #1 / Leaf Mother / Leaf Daughter / Heaven Receptionist
Simon Jones	...	Chadwick / Jeremy Portland-Smythe
Patricia Quinn	...	Mrs. Williams
Judy Loe	...	Nurse #1
Andrew MacLachlan	...	Groom / Wycliff / Victim #1 / Guest #3
Mark Holmes	...	Victim #2 / Troll Waiter / Guest #2
Valerie Whittington	...	Mrs. Moore
Jennifer Franks	...	Bride
Imogen Bickford-Smith	...	Nurse #2 (as Imogen Bickford Smith)

Storyline

Why are we here, what's it all about? The Monty Python-team is trying to sort out the most important question on Earth: what is the meaning of life? They do so by exploring the various stages of life, starting with birth. A doctor seems more interested in his equipment than in delivering the baby or caring for the mother, a Roman Catholic couple have quite a lot of children because 'every sperm is sacred'. In the growing and learning part of life, catholic schoolboys attend a rather strange church service and ditto sex education lesson. Onto war, where an officer's plan to attack is thwarted by his underlings wanting to celebrate his birthday and an officer's leg is bitten off by presumably an African tiger. At middle age a couple orders 'philosophy' at a restaurant, after which the film continues with live organ transplants. The autumn years are played in a restaurant, which, after being treated to the song 'Isn't It Awfully Nice to Have a Penis?' by an entertainer, sees the arrival ...

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Plot Keywords:

death | restaurant | monty python | comedy team | church | 

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Taglines:

It took God six days to create the earth, and Monty Python just 90 minutes to screw it up.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 April 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Celandine Films, The Monty Python Partnership, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 112 min (2003 restored director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While writing this film, the Pythons decided to take a break and put on some shows at the Hollywood Bowl. They were filmed and released as Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982).

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Goofs

In the vomiting scene, the end of the hose the liquid comes out of is visible right after the bucket is taken away.

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Quotes

Host: It's a Mr. Death, dear. He's here about the reaping.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, the title is initially written as "MEANING OF LIFF", then a lightning strike corrects that to "LIFE". A book, "The Meaning of Liff", written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd was published in 1983.

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Connections

Referenced in Yes Man (2008)

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Soundtracks

Toccata und Fuge in d-Moll, BWV 565
by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

More hilarity on film from the Monty Python team; this time, in sketch-comedy form

The third and last real film by the Monty Python crew. First, they made fun of the medieval times and its beliefs. Then, they gave the earliest followers of Jesus a whooping'. Now, they... well, they pretty much cover every stage of life in the search for the 'meaning of life'. The film, unlike the two other ones(Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian) is basically a series of sketches(whereas the two aforementioned films had progressive plots), much like the series(Monty Python's Flying Circus). As such, it's pretty much like watching an episode of said series, if the episodes were nearly two hours long. Of course, this means that if you like the series, you'll like the film. To this date, I have yet to meet anyone who likes the group and doesn't like the series, so I guess it was a good idea. Despite the title, it has reasonably little actual philosophy and such, but I doubt any Python-fans will be completely devastated by this. As another new thing for a Python-film, it's also a musical. There have been one or two musical numbers during the previous films and the series, but nothing this major. There are about 8-9 musical scenes in the film, complete with choreographed dancing, lead singers and backup vocals. Of course, it's all done in typical Python-style, so not a single one of them is what you'd normally expect from a musical. The comedy is pretty much the same as usual from the Python troupe, with some misses, but mostly hits. Plot is pretty much nonexistent, but what there is, is good. The pacing is good, but because of the film's all-sketch content, it gets somewhat dull around the middle(as Cleese also points out in the 'making of' featured on the DVD). The acting is all pretty good. The special effects are nice. Not much else to say, since you already pretty much know the Pythons' style of humor from the series and the two earlier films. And if you don't, you should probably check out either of the films first, or, even better, one of the more sober episodes of the series. I recommend this to any fan of the Monty Python group, particularly those who prefer the Flying Circus over the two other films, since it's more sketch-comedy than the others. 8/10