The story of Brian of Nazareth (Graham Chapman), born on the same day as Jesus of Nazareth, who takes a different path in life that leads to the same conclusion. Brian joins a political resistance movement aiming to get the Romans out of Judea. Brian scores a victory of sorts when he manages to paint political slogans on an entire wall in the city of Jerusalem. The movement is not very effective but somehow Brian becomes a prophet and gathers his own following. His fate is sealed however and he lives a very short life.Written by
garykmcd
The famous 'Biggus Dickus' scene required a fair bit of planning. Michael Palin, John Cleese and Graham Chapman rehearsed it many times the day before the shoot, with other extras playing the Roman centurion guards, so as to get their timing and movement right and to allow director Terry Jones to ensure the lighting, camera blocking and positioning were all correct. On the day of shooting the extras were changed at the last minute as Jones knew that the only way the scene would work was if the extra's did not know in advance what was going to be said to them so as to capture their reactions to the dialogue and Palin's delivery of it. The resulting comedy gold from this scene is mostly down to he unrehearsed reaction of the new extras (one of whom was comedian Chris Langham), who were told that under no circumstances were they to react to what Palin would say to them. The new extras really did break down laughing on set and the ones who were ordered to take the laughing guards away were the ones who had been present at the rehearsals the day before, so were less likely to crack up laughing. In order to keep these reaction shots as fresh and natural as possible ,Terry Jones made sure that the whole scene was shot in just two takes. It is believed the second take for most of the set ups were the ones used in the film. See more »
Goofs
According to the caption text, Brian meets the People's Front of Judea for the first time in the Colosseum in Jerusalem. In fact, the only amphitheater known as the Colosseum is the big one in Rome, officially called the Amfitheatrum Flavium. See more »
The opening credits are presented as an elaborate Terry Gilliam animated sequence of Roman temples being destroyed. See more »
Alternate Versions
The Criterion LD/DVD features the following deleted scenes:
A scene with three shepherds in the beginning of the film.
A scene featuring the Peoples Front of Judea breaking into Pilate's wife's bedroom, only to be defeated by her strength.
A scene introducing us and Brian to the suicide squad, led by King Otto (Idle).
A scene showing Judith releasing doves that fly out over Nazareth, and that are spotted by Otto and interpreted as "the sign that is the sign". He sends his troops into town.
A very brief scene showing Judith watching Brian carrying his cross through the streets; she is attacked by a salesman who wants her to haggle, resulting in her leaving.
One of my fave films of all time, this film has so many laugh-out-loud jokes and ridiculous thought processes that it would probably be unfair to pick out just a few. Tough - I'm going to: John Cleese as the legionnary Latin teacher rebuking Brian not for daring to use graffiti on the Roman fort but for using the wrong tense, Michael Palin trying to find his place in life as an ex-leper, Terry Jones as Brian's mother trying to protect him from myrrh - let's face it, we've all wondered what myrrh is ! The bit that always makes me laugh without fail is something that isn't always noticed - when Michael Palin is having a go at the guards; "Do you find it risible when I say the name of my friend Biggus Diccus ?" if you look carefully you'll see that Palin is trying really hard not to laugh.
Puerile, silly but also very very clever. This film doesn't criticise religion or Jesus in any way ( what was wrong with the people who tried to ban it ? ) - it's just asking what it could have been like in a society that was expecting the Messiah to show up at any moment, and covering it in a massive coating of comedy.
This film is an absolute classic - 10 out of 10.
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One of my fave films of all time, this film has so many laugh-out-loud jokes and ridiculous thought processes that it would probably be unfair to pick out just a few. Tough - I'm going to: John Cleese as the legionnary Latin teacher rebuking Brian not for daring to use graffiti on the Roman fort but for using the wrong tense, Michael Palin trying to find his place in life as an ex-leper, Terry Jones as Brian's mother trying to protect him from myrrh - let's face it, we've all wondered what myrrh is ! The bit that always makes me laugh without fail is something that isn't always noticed - when Michael Palin is having a go at the guards; "Do you find it risible when I say the name of my friend Biggus Diccus ?" if you look carefully you'll see that Palin is trying really hard not to laugh.
Puerile, silly but also very very clever. This film doesn't criticise religion or Jesus in any way ( what was wrong with the people who tried to ban it ? ) - it's just asking what it could have been like in a society that was expecting the Messiah to show up at any moment, and covering it in a massive coating of comedy.
This film is an absolute classic - 10 out of 10.