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6[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/life_of_brian_2794.jpg]]
7[[caption-width-right:310:♪ ''Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (whistle)'' ♫]]
8
9->''"He's not the Messiah! He's a very naughty boy!"''
10-->-- '''Brian's mother'''
11
12''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' is the third film from the Creator/MontyPython troupe, directed by Creator/TerryJones and released in 1979.
13
14The film follows the misadventures of Brian (Creator/GrahamChapman), who was born just down the street from UsefulNotes/JesusChrist. Dissatisfied with his life as a Jew in Roman territory, Brian attempts to join LaResistance (though mostly because there's a very pretty girl there) and ends up fleeing from the Romans. The film is notable for being the only Python feature to make a solid attempt at a single, cohesive plotline rather than a RandomEventsPlot or collection of sketches.
15
16Upon its release, this film drew a lot of controversy, mainly in the form of criticism from various religious groups and orders due to what was perceived as a disrespectful mockery of UsefulNotes/JesusChrist (which in turn was frequently based on the erroneous belief that Brian was intended to be/actually was Jesus, rather than just someone whose life parallelled him in several ways). Rather than mocking Jesus, however, the film actually treats the source material [[JesusWasWayCool with a lot of respect]]. It just points out that UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} may have missed the point on some of what Jesus taught. It is not unheard of for the movie to be regarded as an AffectionateParody by actual ministers. The Pythons themselves have always maintained that the film is not [[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blasphemy blasphemous]] (i.e. critical of God and Jesus), but rather [[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heresy heretical]] (critical of ''the church'').
17
18''Film/HolyFlyingCircus'', a made-for-TV comedy about the controversy surrounding this film, was released on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC 4]] in 2011. Creator/EricIdle later joined with ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife'' composer John Du Prez to write an {{oratorio}} based on the film, ''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)''.
19
20----
21!!''I think he said "Blessed are the tropemakers!"''
22
23* AccidentalHero: Brian manages to create a messianic following, entirely by accident. Even telling them to fuck off doesn't help.
24-->'''Brian:''' I'm not the Messiah! Honestly, I'm not!\
25'''Female Follower:''' [[MortonsFork Only the true messiah denies his divinity]].\
26'''Brian:''' ''[horrified]'' Well, what kind of a chance does that give me?! Alright, I ''am'' the Messiah!\
27'''Multitude:''' HE IS! HE IS THE MESSIAH!\
28'''Brian:''' NOW.... '''[[PrecisionFStrike FUCK OFF!]]'''\
29''[beat]''\
30'''Male Follower:''' ...how shall we fuck off, O Lord?
31* AcousticLicence: Averted. Jesus giving a sermon is perfectly audible to the people in the first few rows, but on the next hill over, which isn't even far away, they're having a little trouble hearing him over that distance and the rest of the countryside noise.
32-->"I think it was 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'."
33* ActorAllusion: The "Latin grammar graffiti correction" scene reflects Creator/JohnCleese's former job as a Latin teacher.
34* AerithAndBob: PlayedForLaughs: the film features numerous characters with regional and period-appropriate names (e.g. "Matthias", "Judith", "UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}", etc.) alongside people with blatantly modern British names (e.g. "Brian", "Stan", "Reg", "Mandy", etc.), making the modern comedy stick out all the more glaringly amidst the setting.
35* AnAesop: The film's intended message is spelled out by Brian in exactly three lines: "You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to work it out for yourselves! You are all individuals!"
36* AgeProgressionSong: The "Brian" song begins with him as a babe and describes him growing into a boy, then a teenager, and finally a man.
37* AllThereInTheScript: Brian's mother is named Mandy, and his girlfriend's full name is Judith Iscariot. Neither is mentioned in the film itself.
38* AlwaysChaoticEvil:
39** The Judean People's Front, for reasons unknown. [[UnreliableNarrator At least, that's how they're perceived by others]]. Several [[AllThereInTheManual Deleted scenes]] provide more explanation, showing their leader to be a pastiche of Hitler.
40** Also, the head of the People's Front of Judea would believe the Romans are.
41* AncientAstronauts: The two aliens who accidentally save Brian when he falls from the tower.
42* AnimatedCreditsOpening: Animated hijinks involving Roman architecture, mainly, setting the stage for the irreverent comedy we're about to watch.
43* TheAntiNihilist: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" expresses this view: life is horrible and meaningless, but despite this, we should try and enjoy it as long as we're here.
44-->''Life's a piece of shit\
45When you look at it\
46Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.\
47You'll see it's all a show\
48Keep 'em laughing as you go\
49Just remember that the last laugh is on you.''
50* AppealToFlattery:
51-->'''Crowd:''' Who are you?\
52'''Mandy:''' I'm his mother, that's who.\
53'''Crowd:''' Behold His mother! Behold His mother! Hail to thee, mother of Brian! Blessed art thou, Hosanna! All praise to thee, now and always!\
54'''Mandy:''' Ohhh... now, don't think you can get around me like that!
55* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
56** "Wodewick" is called a robber, a rapist, and a pickpocket, in that order:
57--->'''Pilate:''' Who is this "Wodewick" to whom you wefer?\
58'''Man:''' He's a "wobber"!\
59'''Other man:''' And a "wapist"!!\
60'''Woman:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint And a pickpocket!]]
61** Also on a larger scale, the scene with three street prophets, one of whom is haranguing his audience with hellfire and brimstone, the second of which is doing the same thing only slightly dialed down, and the third of which is prophesying minor domestic inconveniences:
62--->'''Mud-covered Madman:''' And the eyes will be ''red with the blood of living creatures''! And the whore of Babylon shall ''riiiiide'' forth, on a threeheaded serpent! And throughout the land will be a ''greeeat rubbing of parts''!\
63'''Redclad Haranguer:''' ''[Northern Irish accent]'' And the demon shall burn and maim, with a ''nane''-bladed sword! Not two, or five or seven but nane-bladed, which he will wield against all wretched sinners, sinners just like you, sir, there! And the horn on his head shall be...\
64'''Boring Prophet:''' ''[mildly]'' There shall, in that time, be rumours of things going astray, erm, and there shall be a great confusion as to where things really are, and nobody will really know where lieth those little things wi-- with the sort of raffia-work base, that has an attachment. At this time, a friend shall lose his friend's hammer, and the young shall not know where lieth the things possessed by their fathers that their fathers put there, only just the night before, about eight o'clock.
65* ArtisticLicenceHistory: The Python crew did their homework on the historical setting, though did take licence for a number of things:
66** During his full frontal nude scene, Graham Chapman famously used a rubber band to create the illusion he was circumcised like a proper Jew from BibleTimes. In reality, the total circumcision they were simulating, called ''periah'' or ''priah'', would not be a Jewish custom until a couple of centuries after the point he film is set. Originally, Jewish circumcision only severed the tip of the foreskin (something admittedly much harder to simulate had they even known), which only got expanded to the full extrication of the foreskin in order to impede Hellenized or Romanized Jews from restoring it through weighting (Greeks and Romans considered circumcision to be inhumane and barbaric).
67** Some things the Romans are said to have done for the Jews (see WhatHaveYouDoneForMeLately) were actually already present prior to Roman conquest (such as wine, which had been around since the time of the Old Testament), while some others were established by previous rulers such as Greece or Persia.
68** In addition, while the film does bring up the fact that it would be unfair to dismiss the Romans as little more than {{Evil Overlord}}s, they were perfectly capable of being so on their worst days, and sometimes even on their best. Some of the largest rebellions against them, including the UsefulNotes/JewishRevolts, were directly caused by a high-ranking Roman (or a group of them) grabbing the VillainBall with both hands[[note]]The Jewish Revolts were kicked off by a centurion ordering the slaughter of a bunch of Jews ''for no reason whatsoever!''[[/note]] -- a common cause for revolt would be the installation of an asshole tax collector who would make demands he ''knew'' could not be met until the locals got tired of him and retaliated; or [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder they would betray a loyal ally]] [[KickTheDog for no good reason]], then [[WrittenByTheWinners make up a story]] [[NeverMyFault about how the rebels started it]]. But what more often than not broke their necks was the total disregard for local customs -- this was particularly evident in their treatment of Judaism, which they never quite fully understood until ''after'' they fought three devastating wars against Jewish rebels, ending with the destruction of Jerusalem and the diaspora. So, overall, while the Romans certainly did a lot, many people, including the Jews, had every reason to despise them.
69** The argument that they "brought peace" is also laughable: Rome, despite claiming to be in an age of ''[[IronicName Pax Romana]]'' ("Roman Peace"), was almost always at war, be it an aggressive campaign of expansion or suppressing a needlessly provoked revolt. Typically, "Roman peace" meant "butcher the enemy to the last child and then roast them in the tabloids". Also, Rome was beset with internal problems that could -- and did -- lead to civil wars (admittedly, not an uncommon occurrence for that time period): the PraetorianGuard were notorious for [[BodyguardBetrayal killing emperors they didn't like]] and were disgustingly easy to bribe into doing so by ambitious usurpers; various legions could be just as fickle with their loyalty; the aforementioned asshole tax collector problem was ''never'' properly solved, or at least regulated; they constantly flip-flopped between tolerating foreign religions or persecuting their practitioners, which inevitably led to conflict in the latter's case; and the [[TheCaligula more looney emperors]] went out of their way to make bad situations worse, if they didn't create them to begin with.
70** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking People in ancient Judea have modern Anglophone names like Brian, Reg or Stan/Loretta]].
71** Pilate asks the centurion whether there is a Naughtius Maximus currently in the garrison. At the time, Roman soldiers served for 20 years as a regular followed by 5 years as a reservist, then retired. As Brian was born the same night as Jesus, he is at least 36 by this point, so Naughtius would be long retired by now.
72* ArtisticLicenceLinguistics: Overlapping with ArtisticLicenceReligion: while it's impossible to know exactly how the "Tetragrammaton" ("YHWH", or "יהוה", one of several Hebrew names for God) would have been pronounced in the first century, the general consensus among historians is that "Yahweh" is most likely. "Jehovah" is an alternate Romanization that didn't become widely used until the 16th century.
73* ArtisticLicenceReligion:
74** From the stoning scene: The Tetragrammaton (YHWH) wouldn't have been pronounced "Jehovah" in the first century. As ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' was to observe several years later, the ''Romans'' mispronounced it "Iehovah", and then it became "Jehovah" during the Middle Ages, usually attributed to typographical errors by overworked scribes.
75** An unintentional example -- Brian is supposed to be Jewish, but during his [[MaleFrontalNudity nude scene]] it becomes quite clear that Graham Chapman is not circumcised.
76* AwayInAManger: Brian is born at the same time as Jesus, in the manger next door.
77* BeenThereShapedHistory: Brian's life intersects with Jesus and he keeps getting mistaken for the Messiah.
78* BerserkButton: Don't refer to Mr. Bignose's... Big Nose. He was surprisingly 'patient' when it's pressed so many times, until he snaps.
79* BeYourself: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. While the film is clearly in favour of not blindly following dogma, the Pythons were savvy enough to both recognize this could be a LostAesop in all the silliness, and that the trope itself is a built-in BrokenAesop. Therefore, it takes a more bitter interpretation of "Don't blindly follow dogma ''you made up yourself'' because a guy ''really really'' seems like the messiah to you": Brian explicitly states the message, and people still screw it up because they've convinced themselves ''that much'' that he's a messiah.
80* BigBad: Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea. The People's Front of Judea and the Judean People's Front both see him as their arch enemy and are trying to oust him.
81* BigDamnHeroes: ''Repeatedly'' subverted in the final scene, as [[spoiler:Brian's allies show up, group by group, and do nothing whatsoever to save him]].
82* BigNo: When Mandy tells the crowd to shove off.
83* BilingualBonus: The facades of Pilate's palace have the words "PILATUS IUDAEOS REGET OK" inscribed on them. Translated from Latin, it reads "PILATE RULES OK", a phrase based on a popular UK colloquialism.
84* BirthdaySuitSurpriseParty: Brian's lover Judith Iscariot -- an {{Expy}} of Mary Magdalene -- tries to convince the Virgin Mandy (Brian's mum) that he is special (whilst naked, as Mandy had barged in on the two of them). It doesn't work. And earlier when after awaking, Brian opens his blinds...
85-->'''Brian's mum:''' He's not The Messiah! He's a very naughty boy!
86* {{Blackface}}: John Cleese dons this to portray Balthazar in the Three Wise Men scene.
87* BlindObedience: {{Lampshaded}} by a crowd who eagerly parrots a speech ''against'' eagerly parroting points of view and ideas.
88* BoomerangBigot: Ben, the convict played by Michael Palin who Brian briefly shares a cell with. He adores the Romans although he’s not one himself, and thinks that if it weren’t for them, "this country would be in a right bloody mess."
89-->'''Ben:''' '''Nail''' 'em up, I say! Nail some sense into 'em!
90* ButtMonkey: Brian himself. He gets chased by Roman guards, [[spoiler:taken to space by aliens, gets abandoned by his loved ones, [[DownerEnding and dies via crucifixion.]]]]
91* TheCameo: The Pythons ran into Creator/SpikeMilligan (who had been visiting some of the places he had fought with the British Army in WWII) and gave him a brief role as a prophet.
92* CampGay: Pontius Pilate is rather... flamboyant, what with his speech impediment, his mannerisms, and his "vewwy good fwiend" Biggus Dickus.
93* CanisLatinicus:
94** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K8_jgiNqUc Naughtius Maximus, Biggus Dickus, Incontinentia Buttocks]].[[note]](The combinations "ck", "gg," and "gh" do not occur in Latin. It should be Nautius Maximus, Bigus Diccus and Incontinentia Buttox.)[[/note]]
95** The scene where a centurion catches Brian writing "Romanes eunt domus" on a wall and upbraids him for his poor grasp of Latin and forces him to correct his mistakes. If you're wondering, "Romanes eunt domus" is very bad Latin for "Romans go home", or as the guard puts it, "People called Romanes, they go to the house?"... it gives the adjective for "Roman" an incorrect declension and uses an incorrect mood (indicative, when it should be imperative) for "go" and case (nominative, when it should be accusative locative) for "home". The corrected version, "Romani ite domum", is much more accurate.
96* CannotSpitItOut: The stuttering prison guard and his {{Cloudcuckoolander}} assistant, when the Centurion tries to free Brian. PoorCommunicationKills, unfortunately... Although this later turns out to be ObfuscatingDisability.
97* TheCatCameBack: Brian's followers abandoned him, until they come back during his crucifixion... to thank him for his sacrifice.
98* CavalryBetrayal: Multiple times during the crucifixion.
99** The Centurion shows up to release Brian, but [[spoiler:the Cheeky Bloke nips in first and gets released instead]].
100** The People's Front of Judea show up, [[spoiler:give Brian a statement of thanks for his impending martyrdom, and then leave]].
101** The [[spoiler:Judean's People's Front]] sends a suicide squad to rescue him, which [[spoiler:promptly [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin commits suicide]]]].
102** Judith arrives, only to [[spoiler:give her own thanks for his impending martyrdom.]]
103** And finally Brian's mother stops by to [[spoiler:guilt trip him about leaving his mother alone without any support in her old age.]]
104* CessationOfExistence: One of Brian's fellow convicts at the end has a particularly cheerful take on this trope: "You came from nothing, you're going back to nothing! What have you lost? Nothing!"
105* CharacterExaggeration: Pontius Pilate is exaggerated as [[{{Camp}} High Camp]], following the footsteps of ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'' where he was mildly Camp.
106* ChekhovsArmy: Subverted with [[spoiler:the Judean People's Front]] in the final scene. After [[TheDreaded many hushed references]] to them by the other Judean resistance groups, they [[TheCavalry charge into the crucifixion site at the end]], leaving the Roman soldiers fleeing in terror...[[spoiler:then promptly kill themselves ''en masse'', revealing that they're actually the JPF's "crack suicide squad"]].
107* ChildByRape: Brian was born because his mother was raped ([[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization at first]]) by a Roman centurion named Naughtius Maximus.
108* ChoosyBeggar: [[http://www.montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Life_of_Brian/6.htm Scene 6]] has Brian and his mother pass a group of lepers begging for alms. One (played by Creator/MichaelPalin) turns out to have been cured of leprosy by UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, whom he calls a "bloody do-gooder" and complains about how the cure ruined his livelihood.
109-->''"Jesus [cured me of leprosy], sir. I was hopping along, minding my own business. All of a sudden, up he comes. Cures me. One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by your leave. 'You're cured mate.' Bloody do-gooder."''
110* CollidingCriminalConspiracies: The People's Front of Judea breaks into Pilate's palace with the intention of kidnapping his wife and holding her hostage to make the Romans withdraw from Judea. They run into another rival group of Jewish rebels who have the same plan. Brian briefly tries to convince them to [[EnemyMine team up]] but fails, and the two groups kill each other with the resulting commotion attracting the guards, who capture Brian as the only survivor.
111* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Much. The film runs on this trope.
112** The scene in which Brian's followers ignore his message of individuality and original thought to jump on the "Brian is the Messiah" bandwagon, and given a twist when, after the entire crowd says in unison "Yes! We’re all individuals!", one man pipes up "I’m not."
113** The scene where the centurion corrects Brian's Latin, ignoring the fact that the phrase itself is treason (and painting on a wall is vandalism, although graffiti was an accepted method of advertisement back then).
114*** The guard lets Brian off after he covered ''the entire building he was tagging'' with the phrase, now written correctly.
115** The People’s Front of Judea, so overly concerned with the rules of committee behaviour (and, in the "What the Romans done for us?" scene, with nitpicking accuracy) that it never accomplishes anything. Lampshaded by Judith when she urges them to rescue Brian from the Romans and they immediately start to discuss forming a committee to rescue Brian.
116* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: The ex-leper, who objects to Jesus' healing miracles because they ruined his career as a beggar.
117* CountryMatters: Reg would've used the word had the censors not demanded he say "klutz" instead.
118* CowardlyLion: Brian is rather pathetic, denying his Roman heritage one moment, then using it to gain leniency when the Romans catch him. Then again he manages to escape for a while.
119* CreatorCameo: The man who rents out the mountain for sermons is Music/GeorgeHarrison, as a reward for funding the film.
120* {{Cyclops}}: The aliens have one EyeOnAStalk.
121* DeadpanSnarker: Mandy, Reg, Brian, Mr. Cheeky, Mr. Big Nose, The Old Man at the Stoning, Ben, The Ex-Leper... It's basically a WorldOfSnark. Brian alone tries to defuse some accusations of being the Messiah with sarcasm, which backfires.
122* {{Demythification}}: This movie, despite expectations, actually subverts this. It follows the whacky misadventures of a man who is repeatedly mistaken for a prophet in Roman Galilee, from his adoration by the Magi to his crucifixion by the Romans, and shows (accurately) that there were many self-proclaimed prophets in that time and place. Yet the movie does not make any comment on Jesus' nature, and he stays offscreen except for one scene early on depicting the Sermon on the Mount. Despite this, many censors considered the film blasphemous and it was denied a release in several countries for decades.
123* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "From now on, you shall be called 'Brian that is called Brian'".
124* DeusExMachina: Parodied. A low-flying UFO passed by ''just'' when Brian was about to fall to his death. [[EnforcedTrope The Pythons couldn't figure out how to get Brian down from the tower]] and so went straight to RuleOfFunny.
125* DirtyCoward: It's notable that the People's Front of Judea leader, Reg, feigns a bad back to prevent himself from taking part in his group's activities.
126* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The crowd starts arguing about whether the sign is the shoe or the gourd, mirroring sectarian disputes.
127* DoubleTake: The two aliens inside the spaceship do a double-take at the sight of Brian. More exactly, their ''eyestalks'' do a double-take.
128* DownerEnding: A ''very'' rare comedic example: "Cheer up, Brian. You know what they say: some things in life are bad..." Pretty much subverted by being a very cheery downer ending.
129-->''Always look on the briiiight siiiide of life''
130* DoWrongRight: The scene with the centurion making Brian change his (treasonous) graffiti to be grammatically correct Latin.
131* DoYouWantToHaggle: Lampooned. While Brian is in a desperate hurry to avoid the centurions looking for him, he tries buying a false beard as a disguise. He attempts to buy it full-price, but the vendor [[JewsLoveToArgue insists on doing the back-and-forth of a buyer-seller haggling.]] When Brian refuses to play along, he calls in his tall brute to threaten him if he does not. He manages to pay for the beard for a slightly lower price, along with a free gourd, Brian insists that he keeps the change, saying that that is his payment for the gourd, only for the vendor to wind up haggling (again, with the brute forcing Brian to play along) that the gourd is worth more despite the fact that it was free.
132* DreamCrushingHandicap: Stan wants to be called Loretta and become a woman because he wants to have babies. But alas, he just doesn't have a womb... "Where's the fetus going to gestate? You gonna keep it in a ''box''!?"
133* EasilySwayedPopulation: The fact that Brian's followers will not abandon their belief that he is not the Messiah, no matter how hard he tries.
134* ElmuhFuddSyndwome: Pontius Pilate. It was actually considered sophisticated to have a speech impediment back then. They did their research. So it's even applying DeliberateValuesDissonance to make it funny. An entire film of Pilate's inability to say R seems to have just been used to set up a pun on the mispronunciation of "rank".
135* EverythingExceptMostThings: When Reg and company are trying to stir people up against the Romans, he [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder asks what the Romans have ever done for them]]. He soon winds up with a very long list indeed, but keeps trying to get people going.
136-->All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
137* ExactWords: How Brian's followers interpret his instructions. Justified as they really believe that Brian ''is'' the Messiah.
138* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:After Brian is crucified, just about everyone arrives to have a final word with him, never bothering to try saving him.]]
139* {{Fanservice}}: The film features a naked Graham Chapman as well as a naked Sue Jones-Davies (Judith). Naked Terry Jones, on the other hand, falls more into FanDisservice.
140* FlockOfWolves: The women who dress up as men to go to the stoning. Plus the fact that all the actors playing those women were in fact, men. So you have [[RecursiveCrossdressing men pretending to be women pretending to be men]].
141* GallowsHumour: The ending on the cross is rendered funny when everyone starts singing "Always look on the Bright Side of Life".
142* GenderConcealingVoice: According to Brian and his mother, under Jewish law, women are forbidden to attend stonings. So the crowd at the stoning is therefore full of women wearing fake beards and faking deep voices.
143* GenreDeconstruction: Though it portrays Jesus in a favourable light, the movie is a pretty harsh deconstruction of society's romanticized view of life in the time of Christ, and of Biblical stories in general. As it points out, the Romans weren't just cruel oppressors with ZeroPercentApprovalRating (though that's not to say they couldn't be) -- they did more to improve the Judean people's lives than anyone before them. Conversely, "God's chosen people" had criminal justice that could be just as brutal and unfair as the Romans', and they were never a noble LaResistance -- they spent more time getting involved in petty squabbling amongst themselves than they did resisting the Romans. And in any case, having a cult of devoted followers who expect you to solve all of their problems isn't nearly as cool as you would think. And having your friends betray you in the name of martyrdom? It's only inspiring '''''when it's not happening to you!''''' And it finally deconstructs the whole idea of a prophet by showing a nobody who isn't a prophet, doesn't prophesize anything, and isn't trying to inspire anyone (at best, he briefly pretends to be one to escape capture) somehow being considered one no matter what he tries to say or do.
144-->'''Brian:''' ''(after spending the rest of the night painting "ROMANI ITE DOMUM" all over the building)'' Finished!\
145'''Guard:''' Right. Now don't do it again. ''(walks off)''
146* GirlsWithMoustaches: Some women unconvincingly disguise themselves as men, complete with big bushy beards, in order to attend a stoning.
147* GladiatorGames: Played for laughs: the weaker gladiator doesn't even attempt to fight, just drops his weapons and runs for it. The stronger gladiator chases him, until he abruptly drops dead from cardiac arrest.
148* GodivaHair: Averted. When Brian's mother discovers Brian and Judith after they've had sex, Judith's long hair covers her breasts but it '''really''' doesn't cover the rest of her.
149** The hermit played by Terry Jones is a rare male example, whose beard reaches all the way down to his nether regions.
150* GoldenMeanFallacy: Judith, trying to agree a compromise on the "men having babies" issue:
151-->'''Judith:''' All right, so I think we can all agree that Stan can't have babies, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but we can still fight for his ''right'' to have babies.
152* GoneHorriblyRight: Zigzagged. Eric Idle's character gets himself un-sentenced to death twice by joking that he is a) innocent then b) Brian …but he doesn't actually ''want'' to get off his death sentence.
153* GraffitiOfTheResistance: The graffiti against the Roman occupation; one Roman soldier is [[DoWrongRight more disturbed by the bad grammar]] than the content of the message.
154* GrammarCorrectionGag: The graffiti correction scene.
155-->'''Centurion:''' "Romanes eunt domus?" People called Romanes, they go the 'ouse?!
156* GrammarNazi: A centurion comes across Brian's treasonous graffiti... and is angry about his bad Latin grammar. He uses threats of violence to make sure Brian gets it right.
157* HairyGirl: Judith gets to show off an impressive 70s bush in her nude scene when she and Brian are discovered by his mother after having had sex. This is a historical anachronism, as removing body hair was the norm for women in ancient Mediterranean civilizations.
158* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Brian gets crucified.]]
159* HistoricalInJoke: Brian's Roman paternity is almost certainly a reference to the allegation that Jesus was the son of a Roman soldier named Panthera.
160* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The official at the stoning, where the criminal was guilty of saying "Jehovah" in vain:
161--> "No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle! Even -- and I want to make this ''absolutely clear''!! -- even if they DO say 'Jehovah'!" (cue crowd stoning him for blasphemy)
162* HoldingInLaughter: After Brian has been caught and taken before Pilate, he claims, based on what his mother told him, that he's a Roman citizen as his father was a Centurion named Naughtius Maximus. The lead Centurion informs Pilate that it's a joke name, like Sillius Soddus or Biggus Dickus. Pilate then states matter-of-factly that he had a friend in Rome named Biggus Dickus. Cue all the Roman soldiers trying not to laugh, and failing miserably, prompting Pilate to sentence at least one of them to the Arena as a Gladiator, though the man is still laughing too hysterically after being led out. Supposedly combined with EnforcedMethodActing with the extras playing the soldiers told they wouldn't be paid if they laughed.
163* HollywoodDarkness: Very obvious during the 'Romanes Eunt Domus' scene. Even if you argued that it was during a full moon, you can see sharply-contrasted clouds in the sky.
164* HopeSpot: The ending takes sadistic delight in twisting the screw further and further for Brian. [[spoiler:Once Brian's being crucified, one of the other victims notes that lots of people end up getting rescued, which is followed by everyone who might have a reason to rescue Brian showing up... and spectacularly failing to even try rescuing him.]] Still, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life...
165* HypocriticalHumour:
166** A key theme of the movie is many of the [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisies]] and {{Double Standard}}s present in organized religion and, in a broader context, in society at large. This being a movie by the Pythons, it becomes a rich source of humour as well.
167** Brian's followers brainlessly chant his "think for yourselves" rhetoric right back at him.
168** The beginning of the movie features a ceremony where a man who used the Lord's name in vain is about to be stoned to death ("All I said was 'that bit of halibut is good enough for Jehovah'!"). However, except for Brian all of the people attending the stoning are women... who, in that women are not permitted to participate in the stoning, are breaking the Jewish religious law just as much as the poor sod they're about to stone to death.[[note]][[DeathByIrony It's actually the priest that's running the execution who ends up getting stoned to death]].[[/note]]
169** The People's Front of Judea will not submit to blackmail but they will kidnap and torture Pilate's wife unless he [[ImpossibleTask dismantles the entire Roman Empire in two days.]]
170* IAmSpartacus: Direct ShoutOut that intentionally parodies this trope by inverting it, as the 'Spartacus' that they're looking for is the person whom they're not going to execute, but ''set free''. "I'm Brian! And so's my wife!"
171%%* IKnowWhatWeCanDoCut: The kidnapping plan.
172* ImmediateSelfContradiction:
173--->'''Brian:''' Fifteen.\
174'''Haggler:''' Seventeen, my last word. I won't take a penny less, or strike me dead.\
175'''Brian:''' Sixteen.\
176'''Haggler:''' Done -- nice to do business with you.
177* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: The full title is ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'', featuring the group's name.
178* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Judith, who really doesn't seem to have a problem defending a NiceJewishBoy's integrity to his own mother even when she herself is stark naked and very obviously someone that the boy has recently had sex with. You do wonder what flavour of Jewish Judith herself could possibly be. (People's Front of Judea, obviously.)
179* {{Irony}}:
180** Everyone in a hive-minded crowd declares themselves in unison to be an individual... then one individual blurts out that he's not.
181--->"SHHH!"
182** The one guy who gets saved from crucifixion ''wanted'' to die.
183* ItsASmallWorldAfterAll: The alien spacecraft swoops by the tower Brian fell off of, leaves the planet, then crashes back to Earth right by the same tower.
184* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Eric Idle's Mr Cheeky spends the first half of the film insulting everyone he sees as 'big nose'... but in the finale when Brian is crucified, he is genuinely supportive and sympathetic to him and seems genuinely upset that the Romans take his 'I'm Brian' joke seriously and the real Brian will still keep suffering.
185* JesusWasWayCool: The Pythons ended up deciding that Jesus was impervious to ridicule. The only joke made in his presence is about people mishearing the Sermon on the Mount, which factors into the film's lampooning of religion rather than Jesus himself.
186* JewishMother: Brian's mother, Mandy, who nags him even when he's on the cross.
187* JewsLoveToArgue: From the sectarian infighting to a vendor getting offended that Brian "doesn't wanna' haggle".
188* JustInTime:
189** Subverted, when the Legionary commander arrives at the prison with orders to release Brian, it turns out they've already left.
190** And again when [[spoiler:the Crack Suicide Squad]] arrives to free Brian.
191* KarmicDeath: The unnamed priest who leads a stoning of a blasphemer gets fed up with people trying to start the stoning before he's given the order and says "Nobody is stoning anyone until I say so, even-and I want to make this VERY CLEAR-if they say 'Jehovah'." [[DeathByIrony The crowd then stones him for blasphemy.]]
192* LargeHam:
193** "We're the People's Front of Judea! Judean People's Front..." Played with, making fun of a man for forming the Popular Front.
194** Also, the priest at the stoning, who loudly and theatrically directs the procession and gets so excited he even commits blasphemy himself.
195* LastSecondWordSwap: In "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" the word "worst" is replaced at the last minute by "best" as part of the song's BlackComedy effect.
196* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
197** "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" compares death to the end of a production from the actors' perspective. It's played at the end of the film.
198** Towards the end of the song, it becomes BreakingTheFourthWall, as Creator/EricIdle engages in a peculiar monologue. Among other things, he states that "this record's available in the foyer".
199* LineageLadder: When Reg is hyping up the People's Front of Judea to mentally prepare them to discuss a plan to kidnap Pontius Pilate's wife, he uses the "father's father" pattern to really drive home how long the Romans have been screwing them. Unfortunately, Loretta is a bit LiteralMinded and continues the pattern, which gets lampshaded by Reg.
200-->'''Reg:''' They've bled us white, the bastards. They've taken everything we've had! And not just from us, but from our fathers, and from our fathers' fathers!\
201'''Loretta:''' And from our fathers' fathers' fathers!\
202'''Reg:''' ''[annoyed]'' Yeah.\
203'''Loretta:''' And from our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers!\
204'''Reg:''' Yeah. All right, Stan[[note]](who is Loretta)[[/note]], don't labour the point.
205* LiteralMetaphor: [[spoiler:The Suicide Squad literally walk up to Brian's cross and commit suicide rather than being a tactically suicidal (rescue) squad at all.]]
206* LongList: The "what have the Romans ever done for us?" scene turns into one of these as [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder Reg's rhetorical question]] ends up turning into an extended list of the many varied benefits the Roman occupiers actually ''have'' brought to Judea.
207* LovingAShadow: By the end, it is obvious that any romantic feelings Judith has toward Brian are motivated by a devotion to him as a possible messiah, rather than true feelings for him.
208* LowCountGag: After going through a list of rival resistance movements against the Romans, it is revealed that one such movement has only one member. (Possibly there were once more members but he is the only one remaining.)
209-->'''Francis:''' Whatever happened to the Popular Front, Reg?\
210'''Reg:''' He's over there.
211* LudicrousPrecision: Brian spoke to the crowd outside his window for exactly one minute, just as his mother claimed.
212* MeaningfulRename: Stan declares that he wants to be a woman and asks his comrades to call him Loretta.
213* MaleFrontalNudity: Brian. Wonder if that scene inspired Creator/EricIdle to write that famous song in the Python's next movie?
214* MessianicArchetype: PlayedForLaughs. Brian only ends up as the messianic archetype due to sheer bad luck and being the only street preacher to engage with his audience, which in turn was only because he only pretended to be a street preacher to hide from the pursuing Romans.
215* MisaimedFandom: The InUniverse message of the entire film. People obeying someone they mistake for the Messiah and misinterpreting everything he does or says.
216* MisplacedWildlife: Ocelots, jaguars, Swedes, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the Welsh]] show up in supposedly-Biblical-Jerusalem.
217* MissedTheCall: The Three Wise Men visit Brian's house first by mistake while Following a Star. They have to take their gifts back from Brian's quarrelsome mother.
218* MistakenForProfound: People thinking Brian is the Messiah.
219* MistakenForSpecialGuest: Brian's whole life, particularly after he decides to pretend to be a prophet in the town square.
220* MisterSeahorse: Discussed with Stan, who wants to identify as a woman (Loretta) including bearing a child even though it's biologically impossible. "It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them."
221* MondegreenGag: At the beginning of the film, UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} gives the Sermon on the Mount to a large crowd of observers. However, the ones at the back have a hard time understanding Him because of the distance, and one guy consequently mishears "blessed are the ''peace''makers" as "blessed are the ''cheese''makers" and "blessed are the ''meek''" as "blessed are the ''Greek''." The first mishearing sparks a minor debate over its (nonexistent) meaning, while the second is quickly corrected by another audience member's wife.
222* MoodWhiplash: The ending. [[spoiler:One minute, Brian's crucified and has been abandoned by everyone who could have rescued or cared for him. The next, everyone's cheerfully singing "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life".]]
223%%* MoralGuardians: The natural enemy of the Python.
224* MortonsFork: Doesn't matter what Brian says, the crowd ''will'' [[MistakenForProfound believe he's the Messiah]].
225-->'''Brian:''' I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!\
226'''Girl:''' Only the true Messiah denies His divinity. \
227'''Brian:''' What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!\
228'''Followers:''' He is! He is the Messiah!
229* MundaneMadeAwesome: The theme song. Musically, it's an anthem fit for a Biblical epic, with bombastically triumphant horns and a ''very'' dramatic singer. [[LyricalDissonance Lyrically]], it details Brian's perfectly mundane life as he matures from a perfectly mundane baby into a perfectly mundane man.
230-->''Brian\
231 The babe they called Brian.\
232 He grew...\
233 Grew, grew and grew...\
234 Grew up to be...\
235 [[LargeHam GREW UP TO BEEEEEEEE]]...\
236 A boy called Brian.''
237* TheMusical:
238** "Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)", a comic oratorio written by Creator/EricIdle and John du Prez (the same team of ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}''). Besides many original compositions are Python mainstays "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" and "The Lumberjack Song".
239** In Creator/TerryJones' documentary series ''Medieval Lives'', a knight's crest is made for him with the motto ''Messias Non Est'' (He's Not the Messiah).
240* MythologyGag: Like the king of Swamp Castle in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', Pilate is preparing to have a palace wall knocked through to make a bigger room.
241* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Brian accidentally exposing himself in front of his followers. The hermit played by Terry Jones (the one who was under the vow of silence) probably counts, too.
242* NeverSayThatAgain: A man is due to be stoned for saying "Jehovah" aloud. Problem is, the priest ''also'' says it aloud and the energized stoning crowd crush him under a boulder.
243* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He really ''isn't'' the Messiah, as the Pythons were quick to point out whenever accused of mocking Jesus. Jesus appears briefly as a background character, saying exactly what he said in the Bible and not made the butt of a single joke (unless you count "the people in the back can't hear him"). Now, as for making fun of ''Christians''...
244* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: A kind bystander (played by Creator/TerryJones) offers to carry the cross of one of the prisoners, only for the prisoner to run off. Unfortunately for the bystander, the Romans assume that he is the prisoner and don't listen to his explanations about trying to help, and he ends up crucified.
245* NoMeansYes: Denying he's the Messiah just makes the believers even more certain of Brian's divinity.
246* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: When Brian asks his mother if she was raped by the Roman who was his father, she replies, "Well, at first, yes."
247* NowBuyTheMerchandise: During the fade-out of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," the Cheeky Man notes: "Incidentally this record is available in the foyer. Some of us have to got live as well, you know." Reportedly, the single really was on sale in the foyers of some cinemas.
248* NWordPrivileges: Brian defends his Jewish pride by describing himself with every Jewish slur imaginable.
249* ObfuscatingDisability: One of the guards in charge of the prisoners for crucifixion has a phony speech impediment.
250* ObfuscatingInsanity: The other guard in charge of the prisoners for crucifixion has a phony mental illness.
251-->'''Centurion:''' Have they gone?\
252''(beat)''\
253'''Insane Jailer:''' We've got lumps of it round the back.\
254'''Centurion:''' What?\
255'''Speech Impaired Jailer:''' Don't worry about him, he's mmm... he's mmm... ''(stomps)'' he's mad, sir!\
256'''Centurion:''' Have they gone? ''(gestures to indicate the prisoners)''\
257'''Speech Impaired Jailer:''' Oh, yeah, ah nahh, nnnn, nnnn, nnn...\
258'''Insane Jailer:''' ''(starts laughing creepily)''\
259''(both jailers make peculiar measuring gestures)''\
260'''Centurion:''' Oh, come on! ''(leaves in disgust)''\
261'''Speech Impaired Jailer:''' ...Nnn ....yes, sir!\
262''(both Jailers wait until the Centurion is safely out of earshot)''\
263'''Speech Impaired Jailer:''' ''(in completely normal voice)'' Anyway, get on with the story.\
264'''Insane Jailer:''' ''(also in completely normal voice)'' Well, I knew she’d never really liked him, so I...
265* OccupiersOutOfOurCountry: They only want the cruel but effective Romans to go home.
266* OddReactionOut: The conversation between the multitude and Brian start with Brian getting a UniversalGroupReaction, but then a lone dissenter appears:
267-->'''Brian:''' Look, you've got it all wrong. You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals!\
268'''The Crowd:''' Yes! We're all individuals!\
269'''Brian:''' You're all different!\
270'''The Crowd:''' Yes! We're all different!\
271'''Man in crowd:''' I'm not...
272* OffOnATechnicality: Since the LargeHam priest got stoned to death for saying "Jehovah," it's probably safe to say that the old prisoner is off the hook.
273* OffTheShelfFX: The spaceship prop's "exploding" mechanism was powered by exploding cigars and a lightbulb filament.
274* OhCrap:
275** One of the guards' face ''screams'' of this when Pilate says that Biggus Dickus "has a wife, you know". (It's rumored that extras playing the guards were told it was a serious scene and that [[EnforcedMethodActing if they laughed they'd be fired]], in which case the reaction would be real.)
276** The Roman centurion (played by John Cleese) has [[http://youtu.be/7Lc86JUAwwg?t=3m31s prepared a speech for Pilate to read]], taking into full account [[ElmuhFuddSyndwome his rhotacism]] -- the speech is devoid of R sounds but replete with sibilants -- and then Biggus Dickus, who has a '''huge''' lisp, takes over out of the blue. The centurion actually says "Oh no!" as Dickus snatches the scroll and all but buries his face in his hands.
277* OnlySaneByComparison: In the climax, Judith is who points out that Brian will be killed if they don't stop debating with each other and take immediate action.(She is, of course, ignored.). She still believes that Brian is a messiah of some kind, so she is far from healthy.
278* OnlySaneMan:
279** In as much as a Creator/MontyPython movie can be said to have a "sane" man, Brian usually fulfills this role. Of the Romans, the centurion played by John Cleese seems to be the only one with his head screwed on straight.
280** In the PFJ. Reg is the only one to realize the futility of fighting for Stan's right to do something which is biologically impossible anyway.
281** In the stoning scene, the two Roman guards just watch the various hypocrisies, stupidities and chaotic scenes that go on with resigned looks on their faces.
282* OpenTheDoorAndSeeAllThePeople: With MaleFrontalNudity, no less.
283* OpinionFlipFlop: Brian's mum's interest in the three wise men coming to meet Brian immediately changes when they've mentioned they've brought gold as a gift.
284* OverTheShoulderCarry: Just before the stoning scene, the beard and stone salesman offers a beard to a woman with a sick donkey, which she is carrying over her shoulder.
285* PaperThinDisguise
286** During a stoning, all the women in the group are wearing fake beards in order to participate. There's even a vendor right outside the stoning grounds openly selling these beards.
287** When Brian returns to the People's Front. Seriously, hiding under a rug? They do it a second time when the Romans come to search the headquarters for Brian. They then joke about it when they come back a third time-"You haven't given us time to hide!"
288* PassionPlay: PlayedForLaughs and PlayedWith. ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' is a comedy, so it shifts focus away from the brutal execution of Christ to a more humorous character named Brian, who was born in the manger next to Jesus's. Because of their proximity, Brian ends up being mistaken for the real Messiah and gets sentenced to crucifixion by the Romans. [[spoiler:Only for those being crucified next to Brian begin whistling and singing "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life" to cheer him up.]]
289* PeriodPieceModernLanguage: The film takes place in the time of Jesus Christ, and all of the characters speak with modern English diction, which includes curse words and slurs.
290-->'''All of the PFJ [[labelnote: Note]] Peoples Front of Judea [[/labelnote]]:''' Splitter!
291* PlummetPerspective: A hammer is seen plummeting from a tall tower, foreshadowing that Brian will fall from the same tower.
292* PopCulturalOsmosis: "Always Look On the Bright Side Of Life" has become such a popular standard that some first time viewers will laugh when the characters sing this song in the film, because they assume the Pythons are simply covering a well known song. In reality it was completely written by Python member Eric Idle.
293* ThePrankster: The guy played by Eric Idle, titled as "Mr. Cheeky", is actually one, starting from igniting the whole "Big Nose" incident, and later dashes Brian's chance to be freed by claiming himself to be Brian for kicks.
294-->"Bloody Romans, can't take a joke."
295* PrecisionCrash: While being chased by Romans, Brian falls off of a tall building and into the cockpit of a passing alien spacecraft. It goes into space and has a dogfight with another ship. The other ship hits it, and it crash lands right back in Jerusalem at the feet of a local who had seen it pass by in the first place.
296* PrecisionFStrike: Brian uses the word only once in the film:
297-->'''Brian:''' Alright, I ''am'' the Messiah!\
298'''Worshipers:''' HE IS! He is the Messiah!\
299'''Brian:''' Now... ''fuck off!''\
300'''Worshipper:''' ''[{{Beat}}]'' How shall we fuck off, O Lord?
301* PunchClockVillain: The Romans seem more exasperated with their garrison duty and the mayhem that goes on around them, than vindictive.
302* PunnyName: PlayedWith:
303** The lead Centurion naturally assumes that the name of Brian's father, "Naughtius Maximus", is a joke name, like "Sillius Soddus" or "Biggus Dickus". It turns out that [[RealJokeName there is a real Biggus Dickus.]]
304** The Judean People's Front has a suicide squad. [[spoiler:[[SuicideMission Their mission: commit suicide]].]]
305** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot Judith Iscariot]].
306* RealJokeName: Brian tells Pilate that he's a Roman and his father was a soldier named Naughtius Maximus. The lead Centurion present thinks that this is a joke name and tries to explain the concept to Pontius Pilate by giving examples of other joke names like 'Sillius Soddus' and 'Biggus Dickus', only for Pilate to say that he knows someone by the name of Biggus Dickus. He's not kidding. Dickus is his friend and he comes to visit later.
307* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Even if he's an antagonist, Pilate is portrayed as a reasonable and decent man who oversees Judea. He only antagonizes Brian because Brian has been breaking the law. He's also genuine in his friendship with Biggus Dickus, standing up for him when his name is being insulted. And he tries his best to appease the people of Judea when it's time to release prisoners. However, it's also deconstructed that while Pilate has the best interest of his people, the people of Judea instead just wants to roll on the floor laughing at Pilate's ElmuhFuddSyndwome (and Biggus Dickus' lisp), so they go out of the way to piss him off. Also reconstructed that when Pilate almost gives up after "Welease Bwian!", he is informed that Brian is actually scheduled for crucifixion, and he quickly orders the Centurions to hurry up and release him, honoring his words (even if it's ultimately futile).
308* RecursiveCrossdressing: The stoning, in which the Pythons were men playing women pretending to be men.
309* RenegadeSplinterFaction: The Judean People's Front is plagued by these.
310* LaResistance: The several groups to free Judea from the Romans, and how they suck at it.
311** The People's Front of Judea (who are not the Judean People's Front) is a group Brian joins, mostly to get with Judith. The group discusses the horrible abuses by the Romans, but ends up admitting that the provide most of the technology they use.
312** During an operation to kidnap Pilate's wife, the People's Front of Judea runs into another group, the Campaign for Free Galilee. The two groups [[WeAreStrugglingTogether immediately start fighting]], and when Brian tries to convince them they have a common enemy, they both think of the Judean People's Front.
313** [[spoiler:When Brian is crucified]] the Judean People's Front arrives with a suicide squad. Unfortunately [[spoiler:they are a bit too literal, as the squad immediately kill themselves upon arrival]].
314** The Popular Front of Judea has only one member.
315* RevolutionariesWhoDontDoAnything: The People's Front of Judea seems more intent in fighting with other Judean Liberation groups and discussion than actually doing anything.
316* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: An extended example. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7HmhrgTuQ What have the Romans ever done for us?]] It turns out, a ''lot'' of things, including the aqueduct, sanitation, roads, medicine, and more.
317* RightOnQueue: There is an orderly queue for people being crucified, as if it were nothing more than daily minor bureaucracy.
318* SadisticChoice: Played for laughs. When Brian asks why Pilate wants to see him, the Centurion sarcastically replies, "I dunno, I expect he wants to know which way up you want to be crucified."
319* SecretKeeper: Discussed, Subverted and lampooned. Brian is mistaken for one when he does not finish his parable to the small crowd. Curious as to what he was going to say, people ask him what it was before they begin to think that it was a secret, then they think that it was some grand holy secret bestowed to him by a higher power, the crowd only becoming bigger and the claims more absurd before everyone coming to the conclusion that Brian is the messiah.
320* SeriousBusiness: Latin. Failure to recognize the difference between the Dative and the Locative will get a sword to your throat.
321* ShapedLikeItself: When Brian joins the People's Front of Judea, Reg tells him "from now on, you shall be called Brian, that is called Brian".
322* ShoutOut:
323** A 'Judith' is an impressively dense patch of pubic hair, according to the 'Roger's Profanisaurus' section of ''ComicBook/{{Viz}}'' magazine.
324** The title song is, stylistically, quite similar to the title song of ''{{Film/Goldfinger}}''.
325** The Centurion arrests Brian with the words "You're fucking nicked, my old beauty," a quote from Joe Orton's play ''Loot''.
326* ShownTheirWork: They managed to get a lot of historical details right in the film, not surprising since a historian (Creator/TerryJones) directed it.
327** Brian being the bastard son of a Roman soldier in fact mirrors an ancient anti-Christian claim about Jesus, as found in the writings of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsus Celsus]] and others.
328** On a similar note to the above, the kind man who offers to share the weight of one prisoner's cross is a reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_of_Cyrene Simon of Cyrene]]. Similar to Gnostic accounts, the prisoner then escapes and leaves the kind man to be crucified in his place.
329** The disparate Jewish sects agitating against the Romans really were as divided in real life as they were depicted to be in this film, and actually did more infighting than fighting against the Romans. Ultimately this meant that all three Jewish uprisings against the Romans failed precisely because WeAreStrugglingTogether, though the immense military strength of the Roman Empire didn't help either. John Cleese, a former Latin teacher, most likely knew enough about Roman history to know this.
330** Speaking of John Cleese's history as a Latin teacher, naturally his centurion character's impromptu Latin lesson to Brian during the 'Romanes Eunt Domus' scene is spot on.
331* SizableSemiticNose:
332** Most of the nose-based insults in the film come from Jewish characters themselves, with Mr. Cheeky calling another man (who is not a Jew but a Samaritan) "Big Nose," and telling him and Brian "Where are you two from, Nose City?"
333** Brian self-consciously asks his mother whether his nose is really that big. Thinking it's a [[BiggerIsBetterInBed "men with large shoes"]] style euphemism, she goes off on him for always thinking about sex.
334** Later, when Brian learns from his mother he's the bastard son of a Roman centurion, he denounces his Roman ancestry by saying:
335--->'''Brian:''' I'm not a Roman, Mum, and I never will be! I'm a kike! A Yid! A Hebe! A hook-nose! I'm kosher, mum! I'm a Red Sea pedestrian, and proud of it!
336* SkewedPriorities: The Roman centurion doesn't appear to care about the treasonous content of Brian's graffiti, but he is violently angry about the sloppy grammar.
337* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Pretty far on the cynical side in regards to its portrayal of modern organized religion, MoralGuardians, and society in general. That said, it's notable that the film ends with a song telling you to look on the bright side of life, even if it is a joke. Note that Brian only acquires disciples in the first place when he inadvertently starts to promise them some unspecified reward if they do X, Y and Z. Before then, his attempts to preach are mocked and laughed at, but once he says that they'll be "given" something, they're all ears. Unfortunately, he was only busking preacher-type language to blend in with the other preachers and avoid the attention of the Romans, and didn't mean what he was saying. Nevertheless, they start flocking after him, demanding he tell them what they'll be given.
338* SoapboxSquare: Brian hides out from the authorities in a plaza filled with speechifying mystics and prophets and starts spouting nonsense in order to blend in. Problem is the crowd thinks he's the First Coming.
339* SonOfAWhore: Mandy provides... services... to the Roman guards, and she tells Brian that one of them resulted in his conception.
340* SoundtrackDissonance: ''"Always look on the bright side of life!"''
341* SpaceBattle: During the scene where Brian accidentally falls into a UFO, he's treated to a quick battle before he gets dropped back off in Jerusalem.
342* SpeechImpediment:
343** Pilate, as stated above in ElmerFuddSyndrome. His subjects like to make fun of it by asking that he release prisoners named in such a way that would make them laugh (Roger, for instance).
344** Biggus Dickus as well. He has Sylvester The Cat Syndrome, which causes problems when he lists the names of some of the actual prisoners (Samson the Saducee Strangler, Silas the Syrian Assassin, several seditious scribes from Caesarea...), which only makes the commoners laugh harder.
345--->'''Biggus Dickus:''' ...wath it thomething I thaid...?
346* SpitefulSpit: The jailer spits on Brian, to the envy of another prisoner.
347-->'''Prisoner:''' Look at that! Bloody favouritism!
348* StarfishAliens: The giant eyeball-headed ones that rescue Brian when he falls off the tower.
349* StealthPun:
350** Possibly one when, Brian calls his father a "bastard" ... right after discovering that he, Brian, actually was one.
351** Definitely a very stealthy one with the now-healed former leper asking for alms from Brian and his mother. The whole time the ex-leper is talking, he's skipping and hopping the entire time -- a reference to a man healed in Literature/TheBible (although a cripple, not a leper) who after his healing "Went about walking and leaping".
352* StopWorshippingMe: Brian is continually [[MistakenForSpecialGuest Mistaken for the Messiah]].
353* StupidSacrifice:
354** [[spoiler:The "crack suicide squad" attempts to save Brian from crucifixion, by stabbing themselves in the chest.]]
355** Not by Brian himself, but his followers left him to die on the cross, so he could become a martyr.
356* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: In "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life":
357-->Some things in life are bad,\
358They can really make you mad.\
359Other things just make you swear and curse.\
360When you're chewing on life's gristle,\
361Don't grumble; give a whistle,\
362And this'll help things turn out for the best.
363* SuicideMission: Played for laughs by [[spoiler:the "crack suicide squad". They show up at the crucifixion, their leader cries "Attack!" whereupon all of the members open a door on the chest of their armor, stab themselves and die at Brian's feet.]] "That showed 'em, huh?"
364* TheTheoremOfNarrowInterests: The Ex-Leper complains that not many people are interested in his life's story; therefore, he doesn't receive much money when he tells it to entertain a group of strangers. Lepers are more successful in that venture.
365* ThreatBackfire: The centurion tries to intimidate the old man who covers for the resistance movement by bringing up crucifixion -- and gets very put out when the old man doesn't seem particularly fazed at all.
366* TruthInTelevision: Roman-occupied Judea at the time depicted really was full of small religious sects, ecstatic prophets preaching on the streets and fragmented revolutionary groups.
367* UngratefulBastard: Jesus managed to heal a leper (played by Michael Palin) of his leprosy. Still unemployed however, people are less willing to give an unemployed "ex-leper" change than they would a regular leper. He then [[TheTheoremOfNarrowInterests complains]] about Brian not giving him much when he concedes and ''does'' give him money.
368-->'''Ex-Leper:''' Half a denarius for me bloody life story?\
369'''Brian:''' There's no pleasing some people.\
370'''Ex-Leper:''' That's just what Jesus said, sir.
371* UngratefulTownsfolk: In spite of everything the Romans have brought to Judea, some of the townsfolk still want them gone, multiple rebellion groups forming out of their hatred for the Romans (and each other). This is even hilariously lampshaded in the film.
372-->'''Reg:''' They've bled us white, the bastards. They've taken everything we had, not just from us, from our fathers and from our fathers' fathers... [and] what have they ever given us in return?\
373'''Xerxes:''' The aqueduct?\
374'''Reg:''' What?\
375'''Xerxes:''' The aqueduct.\
376'''Reg:''' Oh yeah, yeah they did give us that. Yeah. That's true.\
377'''Masked Activist:''' And sanitation.\
378'''Stan:''' Oh yeah... sanitation, Reg, you remember what the city ''used'' to be like.\
379'''Reg:''' All right, I'll grant you that the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done...\
380'''Matthias:''' And the roads...\
381'''Reg:''' Well yes obviously the roads... the roads go without saying. But apart from the aqueduct, the sanitation and the roads--\
382'''Another Masked Activist:''' ...irrigation?\
383'''Other Masked voices:''' Medicine... Education... Health...\
384'''Reg:''' Yes... all right, fair enough...\
385'''Activist Near Front:''' ...and the wine...\
386'''Omnes:''' Oh yes! True\
387'''Francis:''' Yeah. That's something we'd really miss if the Romans left, Reg.\
388'''Masked Activist At Back:''' Public Baths!\
389'''Stan:''' ''And'' it's safe to walk in the streets at night now.\
390'''Francis:''' Yes, they certainly know how to keep order... let's face it, they're the only ones who could in a place like this!\
391''[Everyone except Reg chuckles appreciatively]''\
392'''Reg:''' All right... but ''apart'' from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health... what have the Romans done for us?\
393'''Xerxes:'''... Brought peace.\
394'''Reg:''' ''[Dismissive]'' Oh, peace... shut up!
395* UniversalGroupReaction:
396** The conversation between the multitude and Brian:
397--->'''Brian:''' Look, you've got it all wrong. You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals!\
398'''The Crowd:''' Yes! We're all individuals!\
399'''Brian:''' You're all different!\
400'''The Crowd:''' Yes! We're all different!\
401'''Man in crowd:''' I'm not...
402** When Brian and members of the People's Front of Judea break into Pilate's home to kidnap his wife, they're met by a rival group with the same objective, and [[WeAreStrugglingTogether begin fighting each other]]. Brian points out they should be united against a common enemy, to which both groups stop fighting and say, in unison, [[RunningGag "The Judean People's Front?!"]]
403* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: When the BigLippedAlligatorMoment during the flying saucer scene occurs, a man is watching Brian, standing nearby when the alien craft crashes. When Brian crawls out of the wreckage, he merely comments "[[{{Understatement}} You lucky bastard]]." Later, the Roman guards chasing him (that didn't fall off the tower) pass by the wreckage without batting an eye.
404* UnwantedFalseFaith: The whole point of the film is that Brian gets mistaken for a messiah very much like Jesus, in spite of his every attempt to dissuade them.
405* VerbalTic: "Oh, don't worry about him sir, he's deeeaahhhh... he's deeeaahhhh..." [[spoiler:It turns out he can speak perfectly normally, he just likes to fuck with the Romans.]]
406* WeAreStrugglingTogether: The TropeNamer. This is a bit of a GeniusBonus: while any Brit could see the reference to the British Left in the late '70s (which was about to get much, much worse), the truth is that the ''actual'' Judaean rebels ''really were'' incredibly divided and often couldn't get it together enough to fight the Romans.
407* WhatHaveYouDoneForMeLately: "All right, but apart from [[LongList the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health]], what have the Romans ever done for us?".
408-->"...Brought peace?"\
409"Oh, peace...shut up!"
410* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: The Judean's People's Front has a completely different accent from everyone else in the film. It's supposed to be a funny German accent, since the leader of the group, Otto, was originally going to be a parody of Adolf Hitler. All of the scenes setting this up were cut, so all that remains of the joke is their inexplicable accent.
411* WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs: The TropeNamer; the People's Front of Judea despise Roman occupation, but even they concede that at least they are competent administrators who have brought with them many improvements to civil infrastructure and general quality of life.
412%%* WhoopiEpiphanySpeech: Subverted repeatedly.
413* WithUsOrAgainstUs: The resistance groups spend more time fighting each other than fighting the Romans. Brian even calls them out on it.
414-->'''Brian:''' We should unite against our common enemy!\
415'''Others:''' The Judean People's Front?\
416'''Brian:''' No! The ''Romans''!
417* WritingLines: As the punchline to the "Latin Grammar" scene's parody of [[SternTeacher merciless Latin teachers]], the centurion orders Brian to write out the corrected message ("Romani Ite Domum") on the walls of the palace 100 times before sunrise under pain of castration.
418* TheXOfY: The title is the ''Life of Brian''.
419* YouKnowImBlackRight: PFJ member Loretta (played by Idle) is established to be a trans woman early on. Late in the film, Judith loses her temper at Reg and the other PFJ members for wanting to decide by committee what to do about Brian's impending crucifixion and storms out. Reg comments "Another little ego trip from the feminists", prompting an indignant "What?" from Loretta, to whom he then apologizes.
420----
421->''[+See? It's the end of the film! Incidentally, this record is available in the foyer!+]''

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