Every Monty Python Movie Ranked

Monty Python’s most controversial film still feels daring today, sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes for the wrong ones. “Life of Brian” tells the story of Brian (Graham Chapman), who was coincidentally born the same night as Jesus Christ, in the manger next door. His life story also happens to parallel Christ’s in many ways, from his ascension to a religious leader, to his eventual — and in Brian’s case, completely unintentional — martyrdom.

The argument that “Life of Brian” is offensive to Christians is a bit odd, because the film is very kind to Jesus Christ, only depicting him once, reverently giving the Sermon on the Mount. The joke is his words aren’t misinterpreted centuries later, but misinterpreted immediately by audience members standing in the back who think he’s saying “blessed are the cheesemakers” and “the Greek will inherit the Earth.”

The irony, of course, is that “Life of Brian” — which, despite its classic sequences, has its flaws, and sometimes picks on cruel targets — is itself often misinterpreted. A scene where a character reveals themselves to be a trans woman, only to be berated by an ignorant a-hole who doesn’t get it, has recently been cited by transphobes as a justification for their hatred. But the film’s point is that, again, the guy who doesn’t get it is an ignorant a-hole, and even he comes around by the end because it’s none of his damn business how anyone else lives their life.

“Life of Brian” concludes with one of cinema’s great set pieces: A joyfully ironic scene where Brian is crucified, and everyone strapped to a cross sings Eric Idle’s most iconic song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” It’s a perfect encapsulation of the simultaneous miseries and wonders of human existence, and while the film may be aging awkwardly, that ending is Monty Python at its best.