The Meaning of Life (1983)

Directors:

Terry Jones
Terry Gilliam

Writers:

Graham Chapman (written by) &
John Cleese (written by) ...

Release Date:

31 March 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Fantasy

Tagline:

What it is, Where it is, and how to avoid treading in it [Video Australia]

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Death | Monty Python | Restaurant | Christmas | Sex Education

Awards:

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

Cast

Graham Chapman	...	Fish #1 / Doctor / Harry Blackitt / Wymer / Hordern / General / Coles / Narrator #2 / Dr. Livingstone / Transvestite / Eric / Chairman / 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	...	Fish #3 / 'Meaning of Life' Singer / Mr. Moore / Mrs. Blackitt / Watson / Blackitt / Atkinson / Perkins / Victim #3 / Front End / Mrs. Hendy / Man in Pink / Gunther / Noël Coward / Gaston / Angela
Terry Jones	...	Fish #6 / Mum / Priest / Biggs / Sergeant / Man with Bendy Arms / Mrs. Brown / Bert / Mr. Creosote / Maria / Leaf Father / Fiona Portland-Smyth
Michael Palin	...	Window Washer / Fish #5 / Mr. Pycroft / Dad / Narrator #1 / Chaplain / Carter / Spadger / Regimental Sergeant Major / Pakenham-Walsh / Rear End / Lady TV Presenter / Mr. Marvin Hendy / Harry / Padre / Debbie Katzenberg
Carol Cleveland	...	Wife of Guest #1 / Heaven Receptionist
Simon Jones	...	Chadwick / Jeremy Portland-Smyth
Patricia Quinn	...	Mrs. Williams
Judy Loe	...	Nurse #1
Andrew MacLachlan	...	Groom / Wycliff / Victim #1 / Guest #3
Mark Holmes	...	Victim #2 / Guest #2 / Elephant Waiter
Valerie Whittington	...	Mrs. Moore
Jennifer Franks	...	Bride
Imogen Bickford-Smith	...	Nurse #2 (as Imogen Bickford Smith)

Also Known As:

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

107 min | Germany:112 min (2003 restored director's cut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2003) | Iceland:12 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/18 | Canada:18A (re-rating) | Canada:R (original rating) | Ireland:(Banned) (original rating) (1983-1990) | Brazil:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:15 (re-rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:M18 (cut) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2000) | UK:18 (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Celandine Films

Trivia:

As Terry Gilliam was filming The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983) with his own crew and sound stage, he enlarged the project and went way over budget, and what was supposed to be a 5 minute scene became a short movie between 20 and 30 minutes long. The group later decided that they couldn't use the sequence in chronological order as featured in the script, right after the staff meeting of the Very Big Corporation of America, because it would make the movie go slower. So they came up with the idea of using it at the beginning as a special presentation, and the scene as we see at the proper movie works sort of an alternative ending for that sequence. Even though they introduced the sequence as a special presentation, they edited it to be only 16 minutes long.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Terry Gilliam unzips the Zulu costume to introduce The Middle Of The Film, using the nose-ring as a zipper, the suit separates when it is half-way unzipped, and the zipper continues down the right side of the suit, as the two pieces fall apart.

Quotes:

[the Middle Of The Film]
Lady Presenter: Hello, and welcome to 'The Middle of the Film', the moment where we take a break to invite you, the audience, to join us, the film-makers, in 'Find the Fish'. We're going to show you a scene from another film and ask you to guess where the fish is, but, if you think you know, don't keep it to yourselves. Yell out so that all the cinema can hear you. So, here we are with... 'Find the Fish'.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Directors: The Films of Terry Gilliam (#1.2)" (????)

Soundtrack:

Accountancy Shanty

Monty Python's final film adventure

The famous British comedy troupe, Monthy Python, crafted this bizarre collections of their special brand of humor as their last film together; loosely tied by the common theme of the everlasting search for the Meaning of Life, this series of sketches make a very good closure for their film adventures, as it seems as a return to their roots in the TV show "Flying Circus" and dedicated to long time fans. Nevertheless, this may also be a turn off for fans expecting something akin to "Holy Grial" or "Life of Brian".

Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones direct the segments that form "The Meaning of Life", divided in the diverse stages of human development (from birth to death), the action flows with ease; although due to the nature of the film, some sketches are definitely better than other. It's safe to say that this movie contains some of the best and the worst the troupe has done; however, their most mediocre work is still better than most modern comedy out there.

The movie also foresees the future careers of both Gilliam and Jones as directors; their film style (particularly Gilliam's) is now mature and almost fully developed. Gilliam's short "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" is an outstanding segment that could even stand alone on its own, and that presents Gilliam fully in form as a wild fantasy director.

While this was their last film, the group seems to be at its peak when talking about acting; from John Cleese's Dr. Spenser to Graham Chapman's near perfect impersonation of Tony Bennet, the acting never lets down, and even when some scripts are dull even for their time, the Pythons as actors never disappoint.

Something worth to notice are the great quality of the songs performed in the film. they are not only written with their high quality witty humor, musically they work very well and rank among the best the group has written in their history together.

Still, the movie may be overlong and at times tedious to people not used to the team's brand of humor. Specially considering that "The Meaning of Life" has more in common with their early roots than with what made them famous. Also, probably some of the jokes are definitely outdated now; however, "The Meaning of Life" is a very good display of the gang's different sides.

While maybe not as ingenious as "Holy Grail" and definitely nowhere near the masterpiece "Life of Brian", the Pythons last movie is still a very good comedy to watch. However, this certain brand of humor may be appealing only to fans of the Python's TV work, as it has more of those early roots than of their past film adventures. 8/10. An acquired taste indeed.