Satire In Life Of Brian

1) Satire: Satire can be looked at as a method of teaching as it takes a serious topic and twists it to be looked at in a ridiculous and comedic stance. Usually, for this stance to work, the serious topic needs to be one that a majority of the people know, such as Jesus’s life as the base of the Monty Python movie, Life of Brian. Life of Brian was a satirical movie made to mock the snooty British upper-class and class system, but under the guise of a movie about/ related to Jesus Christ. Satire is still relevant today, because everyone loves a good laugh, and the learning aspect is just a bonus.

2) Epic Film Genre: In the years before the 1960’s, everyone pretty much learned about the classical world in history classes, this meant that everyone

was well versed in mythologies and historical stories. This built a platform for movies such as Spartacus and Cleopatra to come out, because everyone knew about their stories and they now got to see them in their grandeur in an entertaining way. Epic films were composed mainly of historical events that were presented in a grandiose and spectacular manner (Sylvestre, Spartacus blog post). Epic films usually focus on a main historical character and their life was formed into entertainment through attractive women, expensive sets, big and burly men, large architectural feats, an exorbitant number of extras and an epic musical score.
3) Gladiators in film: The first thing that anyone thinks of when they think of gladiators is probably, among violent words, the word ‘slave’. Slaves are all that Romans thought of anyone that were beneath them. Either criminals, strong slaves or in rare cases, volunteers are brought in to fight to the death (most of the time) in gladiatorial battles in arenas where they are trained beforehand in a ludus specialized for fighting. Both in the movies Gladiator and Spartacus, we see that gladiators aren’t just slaves or aren’t just something you can throw away for your own entertainment, we see that they are also people, who desire to be free.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963) is a fantasy genre movie directed by Don Caffey, starring Todd Armstrong as Jason and Nancy Novack as Medea. This movie follows the myth of Jason and the Argonauts as he embarks on a quest to find the golden fleece; this myth is combined with some other myths, such as Herakles’s feats.
In Greek myths as well as fantasy genre movies, there are creatures of otherworldly depiction, such as the living bronze statue of Talos. This scene is pivotal in the plot because it changes Herakles’s arrogant attitude after Hylas dies at the end. It also shows the greed of humanity, even in the most respected and well-known people, as raiding the tomb against Jason’s orders is what caused this mishap in the first place. This scene also establishes Jason’s leadership skills and shows his initiative and quick-thinking as he defeated the statue by ‘unplugging’ it as the steaming ichor pours out. This whole scene is imperative for the fantasy genre as it is one of the beginning steps to Jason’s quest. Everyone in the scene is depicted wearing traditional Greek garments and footwear, as well as using weapons that would be found during the time of the Jason and the Argonauts myth. The scene makes you feel trapped, like you’re in the Argonauts’ shoes, because there is this hulking monstrosity before you, and you’re just on this small beachhead on a small island. This is enhanced by the camerawork, where the scene intentionally shows the size difference between Jason and the Argonauts and the bronze statue of Talos, which is Ray Harryhausen’s goal. This is important because it acts as a contrast to traditional “Peplum” films at the time. In this scene, it gives off the feeling of authenticity, as there is a legitimate dynamation-made monster among people in the same diegetic world (Gordon, Jason and the Argonauts Lecture). At the beginning of the scene, there is a deep, loud and beating music score, almost as if it was symbolizing the giant bronze statue of Talos. In addition, throughout the scene, there is squeaking, grating sound as if the statue is straining to move, which adds another layer of authenticity.
In the 1960’s, during the time of Jason and the Argonauts, special effects were the bee’s knees. In a sea of “Peplum” movies that were released during this period due to the sheer fact that there were pre-written stories that could be made into money for entertainment purposes, the producers of Jason and the Argonauts made sure it stood out for its authentic feeling. This is also coupled with the fact that pretty much everyone at the time knew about myths and legends of this era due to schooling, made the movie stand out even more.

The satirical movie, Life of Brian (1979), was directed by Terry Jones and produced by the Monty Python troupe, which includes features of Terry Jones, John Cleese and Eric Idle. This movie was a satirical work of art meant to mock “The British Establishment” in the form of the well-known story of Jesus Christ as it follows a similar character, Brian, around (Gordon, Cleopatra and Life of Brian Lecture).
The epitome of satire is shown in this scene.

The scene takes a subject that is a topic of serious discussion in the modern world, such as gender roles and assignments, and presents it in a slapstick-less Moe, Larry and Curly kind of banter between two males, a female and an indecisive person. The Judaean Peoples Front is a group that fights the oppression brought upon them by the Romans. This scene was meant to mimic British society that was controlled by a class system (Gordon, Cleopatra and Life of Brian Lecture) and how dictatorial control can’t stop the people from being/doing what/who they want. Since the story is presented in a way that everyone knows, the scene needs to follow the ambience of the period; the four people are dressed in regular lower-class attire, on the steps of a coliseum. The producers are well versed in classical history, however they wanted to focus on the movie’s satire and the point it is trying to make (Gordon, Cleopatra and Life of Brian Lecture). Regarding camerawork, it doesn’t fluctuate much until the question of Stan’s gender comes into play, for what I can only assume is emphasis on the satire of the discussion of gender roles—either that or it is because the four of them are supposed to be the uneducated lower-class and they (well, only Stan, really) don’t know about basic bodily functions. In this scene, the emphasis, sound-wise, is on what the four are saying, so there is no music, only light “busy” talk in the background going

on.
Life of Brian is a movie that ridicules the entirety of “The British Establishment” in relation to a story that everyone knows, in which it caught flak from several people saying that it was mocking Jesus Christ. It was actually mocking the church, the class system, British laws and government and the education system. The danger of ‘the blind leading the blind’, political disagreement combined with dictatorial control, as well as the hypocrisy of officials were all present in the film in one way or another, which was brought out through satire.