Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)

Monty Python's Life of Brian is a 1979 British surreal Biblical black comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin). It was directed by Jones. The film tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Chapman), a young Judaean man who is born on the same day as—and next door to—Jesus, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah.

Following the withdrawal of funding by EMI Films just days before production was scheduled to begin, musician and former Beatle George Harrison and his business partner Denis O'Brien arranged financing for Life of Brian through the formation of their HandMade Films company.

The film's themes of religious satire were controversial at the time of its release, drawing accusations of blasphemy and protests from some religious groups. In the United Kingdom, the film was given an AA (14) rating by the British Board of Film Classification, though 11 local councils outright banned the film, while a further 28 raised the rating from AA to X across their jurisdictions. (This certificate would later be amended, from AA to 15 in 1988, and from 15 to 12A in 2019.) Some countries, including Ireland and Norway, banned its showing; and, in a few of these, such as Italy, bans lasted over a decade. The filmmakers used the notoriety to promote the film, with posters in Sweden reading, "So funny it was banned in Norway!"

The film was a box office success. It was the fourth highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom in 1979 and the highest-grossing of any British film in the United States that year. It has remained popular and has been named as the greatest comedy film of all time by several magazines and television networks. In a 2006 Channel 4 poll, Life of Brian was ranked first on their list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films.