Julian Doyle

READ IN ENGLISH

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Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I first saw this book on Netgalley, I supposed it would be about Life of Brian (amazing film). It was not completely what I expected. For the biggest part, it was not at all what I had expected...

For someone who edits movies, I was a bit surprised to find so little structure in the book. True, it kind of follows the storyline of the movie, but it switches a lot between different theories in explaining why Life of Brian is the most accurate biblical movie made. Mixed in between the theories is also some explaining on making films and deleted scenes from the movie.


The parts about the film where by far the most interesting parts. I found the theories, which also involved the - how could there be a conspiracy without their involvement - Knight Templars and Freemasons. It even references Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. All in all, some parts were funny or absurd, others were just less interesting. I'm not sure what the ultimate goal of this book was nor what I think of it...… (mehr)

In 1984 I dared to play the soundtrack to Life of Brian on my overnight comedy show (called Pullet Surprise) and was fired. I was unable to find work in radio ever again. My friends and I watched the series in its first run in 1969. After the first show we all had to agree not to laugh during the show, because 1) we’d miss a throwaway line, and 2) we were memorizing as we watched. There were no vcrs, dvrs, books or soundtracks, and no guarantee we’d ever be able to see these episodes again. And the CBC lived down to our expectations, cancelling season two, causing us to picket their offices in subzero weather. So I have a proven passion for things Python.

Bizarrely, this book is not by or about Monty Python. It is a polemic by their film editor, whose clear and profoundly deep passion is debunking Religion, and particularly the various incarnations of the Christian bible. Doyle has assembled endless contradictions, variations and errors to make the single point: how can anyone charge you with blasphemy when there is no possible agreement on the truth? There are endless pages of coincidences, fun with numbers and interpretations of artworks from the middle ages. Some chapters remind me of Kennedy-Lincoln coincidences, like JFK was shot in a Ford Lincoln, and Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theatre, and both men’s assassins have 15 letters in their names, and their secretaries each had…..

Each chapter has at least some connection to Life of Brian, usually right off the top to let you think there is some comedy potential in the book. A snippet of clever dialogue from the film, a reminiscence about an event in the making of the film, or about film editing’s usefulness. Then it’s right back into historical controversy. Doyle says he knows he presents his hypotheses in the most controversial and alarming way. Doesn’t help.

I have read similar historic criticisms elsewhere, but not so many and not all collected in one book. This is largely because I am not interested in debunking the bible. Nor, I suspect, is the typical Monty Python fan. This is the least Monty Python of any MPFC product I have ever seen. It is an abuse of the brand. A perfectly good polemic on religion, but not for the Python collection.

David Wineberg… (mehr)