Monty Python’s Life of Brian: The Greatest Movie about Ancient Rome?

Emily and Cam chat about whether Monty Python's Life of Brian is truly the greatest movie about ancient Rome (as Cam claimed in the last episode). They also explore what "truths" the movie might expose about life under Roman occupation, and contemplate the Pythons’ love for Aristophanes.

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Cover photo adapted from an image by Grufo (Wikimedia Commons).

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00:11 - Introduction

01:54 - Monty Python: A Primer

1. 02:25 - Five Brits and an American: Monty Python comes together (probably at a bar)
2. 04:00 - The Pythons venture into feature-length films

06:56 - Production, Release, Reception

1. 06:58 - On location in Tunisia
2. 08:00 - The man they call Brian: the basic plot of the movie
3. 09:52 - George Harrison to the rescue!
4. 11:13 - Brian banned!
5. 12:08 - The peculiar case of Aberystwyth, Wales

13:38 - Some cringey bits: viewer beware!

1. 13:53 - Blackface and ethnic slurs
2. 15:20 - Stan / Loretta: mildly transphobic, or surprisingly progressive?
3. 16:56 - Some ableist-seeming jokes

19:02 - The Pythons do history hilariously

1. 20:45 - Women and agency
2. 22:59 - Businesspeople and professional pride
3. 24:36 - Gladiator games, Python-style
4. 28:10 - British and Roman imperialism, or what have the Romans ever done for us?
5. 32:54 - Ridiculous resistance groups (Splitters!)
6. 37:33 - Everyday acts of genuine resistance
7. 41:21 - Prophets, saviors, and messiahs—in Roman Judea and elsewhere

45:08 - The Pythons as PhDs of Comedy

1. 45:42 - Learned spoofs of literature and film: The Iliad and Spartacus
2. 48:15 - Silly costumes, silly names, silly plots: the Pythons pay homage to Plautus and Aristophanes
3. 54:39 - Romanes eunt domus!
4. 56:55 - The art of nudity: the Pythons spoof Zeffirelli

59:14 - Wrap-up