万世魔星

This movie was of great fun, and I can't help laughing from the beginning of it to the end. To watch this movie, it's better for one to learn some Christian or at least to read the fist chapters of the Holy Bible in advance before enjoying it. Of course, better not to watch it if you are a devout religious guy. There are full of black humours inside. The story of Jesus Christ's birth was totally rewritten in the tone of black humour: there was nothing saint, a fellow named Brian who was born as Jesus and he was the only regular guy in the movie and thus was taken as Messiah; superstitious public who believe they need a god to rescue them but they don't know why they need to rebel Roman's rule; bureaucratic Jewish officials who did care nothing but their copious democratic procedures; stupid stutter Roman officials, etc. Actually, this is really a mirror of our modern society.

"He's making it up as he goes along!" That might be the funniest and most trenchant line in "Monty Python's Life of Brian," the 1979 comic classic that is being rereleased this summer as a sort of satiric antidote to the sanctimony that has taken over screen religion in recent months. The scene takes place in A.D. 33, when a Judean citizen named Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman) finds himself taken for the Messiah. The more he demurs -- he actually pretended to be a prophet while trying to escape from the Roman guards who were chasing him -- the more his protestations sound to his followers like divine pronouncements. As one disciple says, the surest sign that someone is a Messiah is that he denies being the Messiah. Such are the tautologies, inconsistencies and self-fulfilling prophecies of organized religion that the Pythons poke fun at in "Life of Brian," which in the years since its original release in 1979 has retained nearly every bit of its cheeky good humor. From the opening sequence, in which Brian is born in a manger next door to Joseph and Mary's, to the classic closing musical number of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," sung by a chorus of crucified criminals, "Life of Brian" leaves no piety unscathed. And it's the apotheosis of Pythonesque humor, an absurdist grab bag of the non sequiturs, puns and bawdy Britishisms that endeared the comedy troupe to the generation of Americans who came of age during the run of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on TV in the 1970s. If a few of the jokes are dated -- who can laugh wholeheartedly at any line involving terrorists these days? -- the movie still holds up beautifully, as both pointed satire and silly, stakes-free comedy. The memorable set pieces still work, from the crowd scene at Jesus's Sermon on the Mount ("Did he say, 'Blessed are thecheesemakers?' ") to the hilariously interminable sequence during which Michael Palin's Pontius Pilate invokes over and over again a friend back in Rome whose Latin name is a sophomorically funny double-entendre. (You won't watch "Gladiator" again anytime soon without cracking up at Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix's somber Latinate intonations.) The Pythons may have been brilliant, but they weren't above the broadest humor available, including giving speech impediments to Pilate and his friend; viewers are advised to go ahead and laugh -- there will be plenty of time to hate themselves in the morning. It's easy to forget that, as much fun as the Pythons have at religion's expense, "Life of Brian" was just as much a sendup of lefty sectarian politics. For the first half of the movie, the title character is a member of an anti-imperialist political cell that is determined to rout the Romans out of Judea. With their spot-on depictions of the movement's endless meetings, earnest self-seriousness and rhetorical excess, it's clear that the Pythons were impaling political correctness long before the term made its way into the public vernacular. John Cleese, who like his fellow cast members takes on multiple roles in "Life of Brian," is particularly effective as Reg, the hypocritical tyrant who leads the People's Front of Judea, a splinter group of the Judean People's Front. Whether he's playing an ancient version of a Weatherman or a Roman guard who forces Brian to correct his Latin while painting "Romans Go Home!" on a garrison wall, Cleese nearly steals the show in "Life of Brian," as does Terry Jones as Mandy, Brian's mother ("Now you listen here," Jones screams in his familiar falsetto when her son's followers show up at her home, "he'snotthe Messiah, he's avery naughty boy."). Chapman is suitably bland as the naif who becomes the repository of his disciples' most profound projections and anxieties. And it's in these sequences that "Life of Brian" isn't just ridiculous but sublime. Given "Brian's" combination of secular humanist whimsy and surprising theological wisdom, it's hard to believe that it was such a controversial film when it first came out. (It was banned in Norway, Ireland and parts of England for blasphemy; in America, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant leaders all denounced it.) Of course, given the current heightened tenor of religious rhetoric and paranoia, it may well wind up pushing brand-new buttons today. To quote Michael Palin quoting Jesus, "There's just no pleasing some people."

结局听到游戏中熟悉的always look on the bright side oflife，才知道原来出自这部电影！必须大赞。开头三位从东方来的智者受星相指引来到耶路撒冷，指示弥赛亚的降世，向其表示敬意，却走错了地方，来到brain家中。长大的brain加入people's front of judean，行动中被罗马大兵抓。反对罗马人要把罗马人赶出去的brains此时声称自己是罗马人（他的母亲玛丽亚说自己被罗马人强奸），机缘巧合的brain逃出了监狱，为躲避大兵假装在街上传经，结果却被信众狂热追捧。他急切的想要大家不要追随他了，“不要祈祷别人告诉你怎么做。你们每个人都是不同的个人”，信众们得到指引依然狂热近乎无脑。最后brain被绑上了十字架，所谓的信仰者赞许他的牺牲肯定他的伟大，并支持他的死去。

brain大概是耶稣的形象，所以大概能理解为什么影片开始就被喷了。

很喜欢那一段，想做女性、想要拥有一个小孩的男士，所以男性的生育权的确是我之前没有想过的事情。很棒了，//m.douban.com/note/710874944/?type=rec

还有一段也很搞笑，brains把葫芦给了一个人，在被信徒追赶的路上掉了一只鞋，结果人们也会因为靠那个东西作为指引而吵架而分道扬镳

但是罗马大兵和brain那段关于时态主谓宾的对话点在哪里？没有看懂，愚蠢与腐朽吗？

宗教的狂热，在位者的昏庸以及联盟的分裂多方位的讽刺

——神是从哪里来的？

——神是人们自己创造出来的。

——在电影里，布莱恩不过就是个傻蛋、笨蛋、蠢蛋而已，但是就是这个一个被人犹阵线利用的木偶，竟然成为了神，这是怎样的讽刺？！


——让我们自己反思自己吧，让神走下神坛~

——神的存在不是其本身，而是我们的尊崇、叩拜和迷信。


——也许只有布莱恩自己是清醒的，他感到了悲哀并对众人而悲哀，这倒真使他具有了慈爱的神的某些可能。他说：“永远不要追随别人，不要相信别人告诉你们的，你们是特别的一个人你们自己。”他还说：“生命本没有/也不需要超越于其自身意义的意义”。——哦，这当然不是布莱恩说的，而是编剧哥说的，编剧哥，你太有才了！！！


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附：他不是艺术，但他，绝对是个异数。他叫做Terry Gilliam。

http://movie.douban.com/review/1564904/

看过两遍。

初看还在05年。我在准备艺术史的考试。昏天暗地的看《圣经》，然后男友就拿了这部片子，说能看得好笑的话，证明对圣经故事有体会了。

要觉得这部片子真的好笑，还真的需要《圣经》基础。有了新约的基础，才能觉得这片子的好笑。当然好笑归好笑，深度在哪里，还要慢慢体会。

个人很喜欢这部片子。虽然我买的一套特丽琼斯碟里其他几部让我有些失望，也许是因为《布赖恩的一生》锋芒太露的缘故。其他几部都不如这部来的如此富有叙述的流畅性和故事的精彩性。

对信教的人来说也许是“灾难”，因为将宗教给戏化了。可宗教的现代含义，也许不只是高高敬畏。有时平等视之，乃至从反面看，或许更有感触，也未可知。

我也太爱布赖恩的老妈，那个英语说得……即使就听英语也可以让我笑死。

但笑之余其实有很多可以深思的地方。包括那些神迹的产生。那最后被迫走上受难之路的原因……乃至最后，吊上十字架后，望天吹起口哨唱起歌。

我只觉得很潇洒。荒诞的潇洒。那是凡人的一场荒诞的潇洒。

如同那片尾曲——

Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad,
Other things just make you swear and curse,
When you're chewing on life's gristle,
Don't grumble,
Give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistle]
Always look on the light side of life.
[whistle]

If life seems jolly rotten,
There's something you've forgotten,
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps,
Don't be silly chumps.
Just purse your lips and whistle.
That's the thing.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistle]
Always look on the right side of life,
[whistle]

For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word.
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin.
Give the audience a grin.
Enjoy it. It's your last chance, anyhow.
So,...

Always look on the bright side of death,
[whistle]
Just before you draw your terminal breath.
[whistle]

Life's a piece of shit,
When you look at it.
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.
You'll see it's all a show.
Keep 'em laughing as you go.
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.
Always look on the right side of life.

everybody!!! Always look on the right side of life~~!即便人生荒诞，也可潇洒，哈哈。

让我们从结尾看起吧，在影片的结尾，钉在十字架上的Brian和伙伴一起唱到“总是看到生活的光明面，哪怕你只剩下最后一口气- - - - - - - ”，二三十人被钉在二三米高的十字架上，裸露着上身，头顶着烈日，也许明天，最晚后天就会死了，可是大家快乐地唱到“always look on the bright side of life”，我忍不住笑，笑了一会儿停了，镜头越拉越远，山顶上，被钉在十字架上的人显得有些肃穆和庄严，可是他们仍在用和声唱歌，想了想又忍不住笑------。

再往前看，凯撒大帝本来要释放Brian，结果罗马士兵问“谁是Brian”的时候，一个人开玩笑说“我是我是”，真正的Brian说“我才是我才是”，于是十字架上的人全部叫起来“我也是我也是”（还有人说，“我老婆也是Brian”）。结果假的Brian被拖去释放，他一边还嚷嚷着“我开玩笑的”，真有良心。

继续往前，Brian为了躲避罗马士兵的追捕而在街头布道，每人相信他，结果他要跑路之前，对别人漠不关心地说“我不知道”，却并当作带来了上帝的指示，至此，越来越多的信众追随着他，无论他说“滚开”，还是在逃跑的时候掉下的破鞋，都被当作神的指示。他一路跑，不愿做莫名其妙的“弥赛亚”，信众愈发觉得他谦虚谨慎，神秘伟大，愈是深信不疑。我想起生活中很多很多的例子，笑到不行。

如果用当初解剖周星星的论文的热情，我们可以在这部电影身上解剖出反领袖崇拜的心，反盲目追随的肺，以及反宗教狂热的肝等等，但是在我看来，导演就是一个顽童，把从小到大所受的宗教教育全部嘲笑一便，谁说耶稣不会是罗马人？谁说玛丽亚是处女？谁说耶稣真的能治愈麻风病人？谁说耶稣被钉在十字架上不曾想过逃跑？谁说一个男人不能做洛丽塔，并且享受怀孕的权利？

继续往前，影片的开头，原来Brian是耶稣的邻居，他曾在出生的时候被远道而来的占星术士误认为是耶稣，而被祝福。

原来每一个人一开始都是耶稣基督，我们说的话，就像小混混Brian，他为了驱赶信众所说的“永远不要追随别人，不要相信别人告诉你们的，你们是特别的一个人你们自己”，只要我们相信，我们的话就是神喻，我喜欢有人说的那句，“生命本没有/也不需要超越于其自身意义的意义”，任何附加的意义都是荒谬的，就像我们对耶稣的解释那么荒谬。

1979年的片子，布景有些假，一看就是那种在棚里堆出来的，但是这种虚假的背景与本片处处存在的荒谬感反而特别地相衬，貌似“就让你看到假的，这一切就是假的”。

http://blog.sina.com.cn/u/5419f9a3010007jt