The comedy team takes a look at life in all of its stages in their own uniquely silly way.The comedy team takes a look at life in all of its stages in their own uniquely silly way.The comedy team takes a look at life in all of its stages in their own uniquely silly way.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 win & 2 nominations total
- Bride
- (as Jennifer Franks)
- Nurse #2
- (as Imogen Bickford Smith)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTerry Jones spent most of the budget on the "Every Sperm Is Sacred" sequence. The rest of the team found out later.
- GoofsIn the death sequence, the name at the top of the mausoleum is "nitruc" instead of "curtin", so the segment is reversed/flipped.
- Quotes
[the End Of The Film]
Lady Presenter: Well, that's the end of the film. Now, here's the meaning of life.
[Receives an envelope]
Lady Presenter: Thank you, Brigitte.
[Opens envelope, reads what's inside]
Lady Presenter: M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations. And, finally, here are some completely gratuitous pictures of penises to annoy the censors and to hopefully spark some sort of controversy, which, it seems, is the only way, these days, to get the jaded, video-sated public off their fucking arses and back in the sodding cinema. Family entertainment? Bollocks. What they want is filth: people doing things to each other with chainsaws during tupperware parties, babysitters being stabbed with knitting needles by gay presidential candidates, vigilante groups strangling chickens, armed bands of theatre critics exterminating mutant goats. Where's the fun in pictures? Oh, well, there we are. Here's the theme music. Goodnight.
- Crazy creditsThe Producers would like to thank all the fish who have taken part in this film. We hope that other fish will follow the example of those who have participated, so that, in future, fish all over the world will live together in harmony and understanding, and put aside their petty differences, cease pursuing and eating each other and live for a brighter, better future for all fish, and those who love them.
- Alternate versionsFilm prints and early video releases contain narration over the "Our [Short] Feature Presentation" pretitle cards that is not present on later video releases (such as later VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray). Both are in a low male voice. The first one says "There will be a short film of approximately ten minutes before our feature presentation" (even though the short film is about 16 minutes), and the second one, over a short organ fanfare, says "And now, our feature presentation." Later versions leave these completely silent.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Meaning of Life (1997)
- SoundtracksThe Meaning of Life
Lyrics by Eric Idle
Music by Eric Idle & John Du Prez
Performed by Eric Idle (uncredited)
I never really thought this was anywhere near the best work of the Pythons... but, the more I see this movie, the more I like it. People not in tune with the Python sense of humour will find this film unbearable I'm sure. (When I saw it in the theatre when it first came out there were an incredible numbers of walkouts... even *before* the infamous "Mr. Creosote" scene.) Not an actual movie so much as an extended (and expensively-produced) episode of the classic BBC TV series "Monty Python's Flying Circus"... depicting several stages in the lives of human beings, from birth to death. There are some hilarious bits (the sex education class, Death crashing a dinner party), some clever bits (the opening fish skit, the show-stopping dance number "Every Sperm is Sacred") and some just plain gross, disgusting bits (Mr. Creosote, organ donations). Plus, the movie has its own special short subject "The Crimson Permanent Assurance"... where an accounting office staffed by aging workerbees suddenly metamorphosizes into a pirate ship! Most people find this bit incredibly boring and pointless... but, dang, its cleverly done!
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
- Filming locations
- Battersea Power Station, Battersea, London, England, UK(chase, sketch: Find The Fish)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $9,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $14,929,552
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,987,853
- Apr 3, 1983
- Gross worldwide
- $14,949,697
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1