Other Titles • The Meaning of Life (1983) • Monty Python's The Meaning of Life • Monty Pythons Vom Sinn des Lebens (1983) • Der Sinn des Lebens (1983)
Synopses for The Meaning of Life (1983)
1.
Perhaps only the collective brilliant minds of the Monty Python film and television troupe are up to the task of tackling a subject as weighty as the Meaning of Life. Sure, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and their ilk have tried their hands at this puzzler, but only Python has attempted to do so within the commercial motion picture medium. Happily for us all, Monty Python's the Meaning of Life truly explains everything one conceivably needs to know about the perplexities of human existence, from the mysteries of Catholic doctrine to the miracle of reproduction to why one should avoid the salmon mousse to the critical importance of the machine that goes ping! Using fish as a linking device (and what marvelous links those aquatic creatures make), The Meaning of Life is presented as a series of sketches: a musical production number about why seed is sacred; a look at dining in the afterlife; the quest for a missing fish (there they are again); a visit from Mr. Death; the cautionary tale of Mr. Creosote and his rather gluttonous appetite; an unflinching examination of the harsh realities of organ donation, and so on. Sadly, this was the last original Python film, but it's a beaut. You'll laugh. You'll cry (probably because you're laughing so hard). You may even learn something about the Meaning of Life. Or at least about how fish fit into the grand scheme of things. --Jim Emerson
(18 votes)
2.
2 Disc Special Edition!
2 Discs containing hours of all-new outrageous bonus features created exclusively for this DVD by the Monty Python team and remastered with 5.1 high definition sound!
(18 votes)
3.
Returning to the sketch-show format of their earlier days, Monty Python' s The Meaning of Life was always going to feel less ambitious and less coherent than their cinematic masterpiece, The Life of Brian. And inevitably given the format, some sketches are better than others. But, for a movie that has been much-maligned, The Meaning of Life actually features some of the Pythons' most memorable set-pieces: the exploding Mr Creosote has to be the most wonderfully grotesque creation of a team whose speciality was the grotesque; while the sublime "Sperm Song" mixes satire and lavish visual humour in a musical skit of breathtaking audacity. Elsewhere, Eric Idle produces another musical gem with "The Universe Song" ("Pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space / 'Cause there's bugger all down here on earth!"), while the Grim Reaper's appearance at an achingly tedious dinner party is the Pythons doing what they do best: mocking their own middle-class origins. Best of all, perhaps, is Terry Gilliam's modest introductory feature, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", a 20-minute epic tale of the little men rebelling against the corporate system, a theme and a visual style that foreshadows his own masterwork, Brazil. Admittedly too many sketches sacrifice subtlety for shock tactics (the organ donation scene in particular requires a strong stomach), but when this film works it's nothing less than vintage Python. --Mark Walker
(17 votes)
4.
Monty Python explains it all in this episodic comedy that dares to take on the most "sacred" aspects of life -- sex, food, politics and religion -- and bring them hilariously down to earth.
A highlight: the "Every Sperm is Sacred" episode that starts off the film.
(17 votes)
5.
It took God six days to create the Heavens and the Earth ... and Monty Python ninety minutes to screw it up.
Those six pandemonium-mad Pythons are back with their craziest adventure ever! John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin have returned to explain The Meaning of Life. These naughty Britons offer the usual tasteful sketches involving favorite bodily parts and functions, the wonders of war, the miracle of birth and a special preview of what's waiting for us in Heaven. Nothing is too sacred for the Python crew. After seeing them in action, you'll never look at life in quite the same way again. It's far-out, frank, and jolly good fun. Winner of the 1983 Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize..
This title is TEMPORARILY DELAYED from the vendor. Orders may still be placed and will ship when product arrives.
(16 votes)
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