STORY OF THE SHOT
Monty Python’s Life Of Brian
HOW ERIC IDLE LOOKED ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE
WORDS CHRIS HEWITT
Main: Some things in life are bad, but Mr Cheeky (Eric Idle) cheers up Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman) with his catchy little song. Bottom right: Directors Daniel Scheinert and Jeff Nichols.
THE ORIGIN
The story of the shot might actually be, for once, the story of a song. Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, the legendary comedy troupe’s third film (if you count And Now For Something Completely Different), ends on the most uplifting downer you’ll ever see/ hear. Having been mistaken for a Messiah throughout much of the movie, the hapless Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman) has been captured by the Romans and condemned to death by crucifixion. Up there on the cross, in the depths of despair, he hears a chirpy Cockney voice behind him. “Cheer up, Brian,” says Mr Cheeky (Eric Idle), “you know what they say…” before he launches into the song that has become Idle’s signature: the breezily infectious ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’. The movie ends with a shot of dozens (well, 24 is how many the Pythons’ George Harrison-backed budget could allow) of crucifees, all about to draw their terminal breath, singing along to a dainty little ditty.