Review of Monty Python`s The Meaning Of Life (Special Edition Two Disc set)

Introduction

I`m almost embarrassed to admit it, but I`m not a Monty Python fan. It`s a failing that has dogged me for many years now, made me a pariah amongst polite company. I once made the mistake of admitting my ignorance to a workplace full of Python fans, the next week I was updating my CV. Of course, like all character failings I blame it on my parents. When all of my peers were exploring a brave surreal world of comedy, I was subjected to a childhood of Bless This House, Mind Your Language, Terry & June, George & Mildred and Last Of The Summer Wine. By the time I got my hands on the remote control, comedy had become alternative, and the moment had passed. As the years passed, I often enjoyed shows that were described as Pythonesque, while being unaware of what the term meant, and my few flirtations with Python repeats were curiously unsatisfying, taken out of context. But, getting this chance to review Monty Python`s Meaning Of Life, means I can finally sit down and watch a Python movie for the first time with intent.

From what I`ve read, Monty Python`s Meaning Of Life was one of the first DVDs released, and it`s quality left much to be desired. This 2 disc special edition certainly remedies that, with a whole host of extra features as well as a remastered picture. Unlike Life Of Brian or Holy Grail (films I haven`t seen incidentally) The Meaning of Life follows the sketch format with several vignettes based around the search for the meaning, through the seven stages of life. The film begins with a Terry Gilliam short, The Crimson Permanent Assurance that escaped from the main film to make a life for itself. Then the six Pythons, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones take us on a journey from birth to death, as seen from the viewpoint of fish.

Video

The picture is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, and it is a remarkably clean print. There is a hint of grain, but by and large the film is sharp and colourful throughout, with hardly any print damage visible. However the scenes that are restored for the director`s cut aren`t in as half as good condition.

Audio

You get the choice of DD 5.1 or DTS sound. The sound has been remixed from the original stereo track and is put to excellent use, especially for the Crimson Permanent Assurance short. It is a little front-focused certainly but the sound is quite vibrant and the dialogue is audible throughout. There are subtitles of course.

Features

This release certainly treats when it comes to extra features, and care and attention has been paid to everything from the menus up. The menus are quite special really, with wonderful animations playing with characters from the movie popping up from time to time. I found myself reluctant to choose an option.

Disc 1

You can watch the film with a little prologue from Eric Idle if you choose, or you can watch the Director`s Cut, which restores 10 minutes of footage to the main feature. The quality of the footage isn`t as good though. The same footage is available separately on Disc 2.

The Directors` commentary is presented in DD 2.0 Surround sound, with Terry Gilliam talking about the Crimson Permanent Assurance, and then joining Terry Jones to comment on the main feature. The two of them have been recorded separately and the commentary does get a little gappy on occasion, it`s still interesting to listen to though.

Finally there is a Soundtrack for the Lonely (DD5.1), which is a little something you can listen to while watching the film. That`s also the sound of a joke going right over my head.

Disc 2

This has the bulk of the material, as well as more of those nifty menus.

First the Snipped Bits. These are 7 deleted scenes totalling 19 minutes running time. There`s a little commentary for some of them, but there`s no talking over the funny bits. Some of these scenes are restored in the main feature for the Director`s Cut.

The School Of Life contains four featurettes, including most importantly, The Meaning Of Making The Meaning Of Life. This is a 50-minute documentary that is a mix of contemporary and archive footage as the Pythons try to explain themselves. As you would expect from this kind of thing, it`s a mixture of film clips, behind the scenes footage and interviews, but has the benefit of being much more frank and honest than your usual Press Kit material. Everyone has his own perspective on the film, with John Cleese going as far as saying it was a mistake.

I guess Education Tips is a new 6-minute sketch. I won`t go into detail, but I did find it hilarious.

Un Film De John Cleese is the Meaning Of Life re-edited to 1½ minutes to make it Cleese-centric.

Remastering A Masterpiece takes 8½ minutes to explain in great detail how the footage was cleaned for this particular DVD release. It really is a fascinating process that I`m dying to try on my rather faded home movies, as soon as I can scrape enough change for the laundry detergent.

In The Show-Biz section there are three subsections. Song and Dance is a behind the scenes look at two numbers, there is the story behind Every Sperm Is Sacred, with interviews with Terry Jones and the chorographer, as well as Christmas In Heaven, which has an interview with one of the dancers, Jane Leeves of Frasier fame.

Songs Unsung are three of the songs from the film re-recorded anew, with Eric Idle singing Every Sperm Is Sacred and Christmas In Heaven and Terry Jones giving his vocals to It`s The Meaning Of Life.

Finally in this section is Selling The Meaning Of Life, which contains trailers, TV Spots, the US promotion, rejected poster designs, the Radio Spots and Telepathy.

The last section is Fish. As well as Weblinks and the disc Credits, you can watch a virtual reunion of the Pythons. (I laughed when John Cleese`s mobile went off) and a 16 minute delve into What Fish Think. That`s sixteen minutes of watching fish in a tank ruminate. I stopped watching before I got any heh, pearls of wisdom…
Pearls… Oysters… Fish! Oh Forget It!

Everything is subtitled (including the Directors` commentary) and presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and with DD 2.0 sound. That`s all except the Selling The Meaning Of Life section, which is 4:3.

If you have a PC, and can stomach the Interactual software, you can get access to The Screenplay, the scripts to two lost scenes, the song sheets to 7 songs, and Mr Creosote`s Joy Of Fat recipes. All of these are print-out-able.

Conclusion

I wanted so much to come to this point and say, "Hurrah! I`m a convert, I`ve seen the light." But it was not to be. I`m afraid that I still don`t get it. I found Monty Python`s Meaning Of Life to be quite funny, which is how I view what little else I have seen of them. It gets off to a resounding start though, with The Crimson Permanent Assurance, which I found satirical, sublime and hilarious. With production values far outstripping that of the main feature, it`s like watching a cross between Time Bandits and Brazil, as a bunch of aged accountants stage a mutiny, and set sail in their building to effect hostile takeovers. After this, the opening scene of the main feature, the fish greeting each other as if they are arriving for work seems rather a let down.

In fact John Cleese`s main complaint with the film that the sketch format just doesn`t translate beyond thirty minutes seems to have been proved correct. Without a coherent storyline gluing the pieces together, and holding the audience attention, Meaning Of Life just appears too piecemeal and hit-and-miss. There are moments that evoke belly laughs, but they are more often than not followed by sketches that fall flat, resulting in a movie that is amusing rather than hilarious. I loved the "Every Sperm Is Sacred" song (incidentally this film was banned in Ireland), and John Cleese`s sex education headmaster was sidesplitting. The stiff upper-lipped British Officers facing the Zulus were mirthsome, and this film does of course have the iconic Mr Creosote. Even people who have never heard of Monty Python know of Mr Creosote. I`ve never seen this film in full before, but I have seen Mr Creosote. With this nation facing an obesity crisis, the answer is clear, show Mr Creosote before every school dinner. Watching this, I swear that I could smell the vomit. But then there are sketches like the man who chooses the form of his execution. While I cannot deny that it is nice to look at, poetic in a way, yes it possesses a visual lyricism that is absolutely sublime, that just calls for excessive use of the freeze frame facility, it`s all a little pointless really, beyond the women with the large breasts that is.

Monty Python`s Meaning Of Life is an intermittent film that doesn`t quite sustain, raising only the occasional chuckle. But the extras on this disc actually go a long way to make up for it. Some very good documentaries help place the film in context and give an understanding of what the filmmakers were trying to achieve. They are also well worth watching, and would no doubt be greeted with glee by many a Python fan.

On a personal level, I still don`t get it. I guess Python was something that you had to experience, rather than something that works in retrospect. I know that I`m going to be treated as a social leper, but I can`t help thinking that Monty Python are a little quaint.