Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)

Timing: 1:47 (107 min)

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7.5/10
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All about film

Video 4

Photo 43

Actors and characters

Release date

1983-03-31

Country

United Kingdom

Production

Universal Pictures, Celandine Films, The Monty Python Partnership

Genre

Comedy

Budget

$9 000 000

Revenue

$15 000 000

Website

Director

Terry Jones

Actors

Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Carol Cleveland, Simon Jones, Patricia Quinn, Judy Loe
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

John Goldstone

Operator

Roger Pratt

Composer

John Du Prez

Artist

Audition

Michelle Guish, Debbie McWilliams

Editing

Julian Doyle
All team (16)

• The director's cut from 2003 has a runtime of 112 minutes.
• The short film “Crimson Permanent Assurance” was shot as if it were a separate, full-fledged project. Terry Gilliam was allocated a soundstage, a film crew, and a cast. The film kept growing and growing because no one, according to Gilliam, told him where to stop. It went over budget, and a 5-minute scene turned into a 30-minute short film, but the final duration was eventually reduced to 16 minutes.
• The members of Monty Python refused to show the screenplay to Universal Studios, deciding, according to Eric Idle, that “if we can’t figure out how to film the movie ourselves, then no outside advice will help.” Instead, they presented the studio executives with a poem providing a concise plot outline and budgetary considerations. This proved sufficient.
• Graham Chapman (1941-1989), an openly gay man, requested the role of God himself, as the church refused to register him with his partner, David Sherlock. At the time, the Church of England did not recognize or register same-sex marriages.
• During an interview shortly after the film’s release, one of the members of Monty Python stated that only the concept of the meaning of life allowed them to connect the diverse and seemingly unrelated sketches.