Shortly after the release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Eric Idle flippantly floated the title of the next Python feature to the impatient press: Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory. But the idea took root and this offhand joke soon spawned the group’s most ambitious film. Monty Python’s Life of Brian is the story of an ordinary Judean, Brian (Graham Chapman), who goes on to live an extraordinary life, becoming entangled in a plot to overthrow the Roman empire and being mistaken for the Messiah, among other unlikely events.
Shot on location in Monastir, Tunisia, which allowed the scrappy production to reuse sets from Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, the irreverent British comedy legends orchestrated an inspired and sprawling send-up of the blockbuster biblical epic, featuring ribald Roman puns, sharp political commentary, and, of course, an audacious singalong crucifixion-themed musical number. Life of Brian remains the famously anarchic troupe’s most controversial work, a brazen satire of religion where you can read in as much heresy or compassion as you’d like.