Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)

There are some things that, for whatever reason, just go together. Eggs and bacon, tea and biscuits, chips and mayonnaise (much better than ketchup). It’s especially impressive when this extraordinary degree of chemistry occurs between people, and this is undoubtedly the case with the six members of the legendary comedy troupe Monty Python. With a ground-breaking TV show (Monty Python’s Flying Circus) and two wonderful feature films (Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Monty Python’s Life of Brian) already under their belts, in 1983 Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin turned their attention to their most ambitious project yet: The Meaning of Life.

In keeping with the Python tradition of doing things the unconventional way, The Meaning of Life does not have a plot. Instead, the film is broken up into segments dealing with the different stages of life: The Miracle of Birth, Growth and Learning, Fighting Each Other, Middle Age, Live Organ Transplants (of course), The Autumn Years, and Death. It could be argued that the film suffers from the absence of a story or a central character (the straight leading parts played by Graham Chapman in Holy Grail and Life of Brian played a crucial role in anchoring the craziness), but the sketches are woven together so skilfully the that the lack of a narrative becomes a non-issue.

The sketch-based format is reminiscent of the original TV show, and, like on that show, some work better than others. However, that’s actually part of the appeal. One of the great aspects of Flying Circus was that the sketches tended to either work perfectly or fall spectacularly flat; mediocrity was not an option. Fortunately the highs vastly outnumber the lows; there are the doctors who are too busy showing off their expensive hospital equipment to pay any attention to their patient; a vicar who leads his congregation through an excessively grovelling prayer (“Forgive us for this our dreadful toadying” Congregation: “And barefaced flattery”); a one-sided boys vs schoolmasters rugby match at a terrifying boarding school; a platoon of soldiers who decide to throw their captain a surprise party in the middle of a battle; and memorable musical numbers like "The Galaxy Song" and "Every Sperm is Sacred". The Python brand of humour is sometimes taken to extremes (see the morbidly obese Mr Creosote, who vomits all over a posh restaurant before eating so much that he explodes; or a humourless schoolmaster’s alarmingly frank sex education lesson; not to mention the aforementioned Live Organ Transplants, which is exactly what it sounds like and twice as gory), but there is something liberating about the way in which the film refuses to shy away from taboo subjects like death and sex. England is famous for Not Really Talking About That Sort Of Thing, so it’s nice to get it all out in the open.

Monty’ Python’s The Meaning of Life is a glorious mess, and a last hurrah of sorts for the venerable comedy troupe. While its extremely irreverent brand of humour won’t be for everyone, you get the sense that the Pythons had a strange fondness for the various institutions that they poked fun at, and this prevents the comedy from ever seeming cruel. This underlying warmth is best displayed when the meaning of life is revealed at the end of the film:

“Well, it’s nothing special really. Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”

And that just about sums it up!

Mini-Review: The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983)

Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life is supported by this short feature directed by Terry Gilliam, about the ageing members of a small company who decide overthrow their new owners, The Very Big Corporation of America. It’s a wonderfully imaginative swashbuckling adventure, and the special effects are still impressive more than three decades later.