| Release Date: | Oct 2011 |
|---|---|
| Genre: | Drama |
| Runtime: | 88 min |
| Cast: | Ben Crispin (Jesus) Steve Punt (Eric Idle / Disciple / Rabbi /...) Charles Edwards (Michael Palin) Rufus Jones (Terry Jones / Jones the Wife) Tom Fisher (Graham Chapman / Tramp) Darren Boyd (John Cleese) Phil Nichol (Terry Gilliam) Simon Greenall (Barry Atkins) Robin Sebastian (US News Reporter / BBFC...) Belinda Stewart-Wilson (Nun / Montage Woman) Micah Balfour (Black Panther / Montage Man) Paul Chahidi (Harry Balls / News Vendor) Ian Bonar (Production Person 1 / Sam Lowry) Selina Griffiths (Production Person 2 / Personal...) Jason Thorpe (Alan Dick / Desmond Lovely) Geoffrey McGivern (Dog Walker / Petitioner / Man Whose...) Mark Heap (Andrew Thorogood) Alex MacQueen (BBC Head of Rude Words) David Birrell (Gareth Nice / Angry Viewer) Rupert Vansittart (Bernard Barnard QC) Martin Marquez (Richard Klein) Michael Cochrane (Malcolm Muggeridge) Kim Wall (BBC Head of Firing Malcolm Muggeridge...) Roy Marsden (Mervyn Stockwood) James Laurenson (Archbishop of York) Tom Price (Tim Rice) Stephen Fry (God) Russell Balogh (1957 BBC Executive's Assistant) |
In 1979 the Monty Python comedy team return from making their film 'Monty Python's Life of Brian' in Tunisia. Premiered in America the film is pilloried by ultra-right religious groups for its depiction of Christ. In England the Popular Peoples' Church of St Sophia (whose members include a Tourettes sufferer who shouts out swear words) find a copy of the script in a dustbin and lobby the British censor for its suppression,leading to many local councils banning its screening. Death threats follow and Michael Palin - "the nicest man in Britain" - has his effigy burned on his front lawn. Finally crazed TV programmer Alan Dick persuades Palin and co-star John Cleese to defend the picture on a late night chat show against the Bishop of Southwark and religious commentator Malcolm Muggeridge. Thanks to Cleese's reasoning the Pythons are seen to triumph,winning over the Popular Peoples' Church. A later encounter with God will show how the film's controversy paved the way for other artistic endeavours which prompted protest. Brilliant characterisations are vitiated by a satirical 'treatment' including animated sequences and irritating attempts at surreal wit when a documentary style treatment would have sufficed. Several of the Pythons were hostile to the film,summed up in the floor manager's comment. "Another fantasy sequence...lame".
