Only The Most Surreal Visuals

One thing that Monty Python is known for in their work is their usage of visuals and how bizarrely they’re used. Flying Circus was known for its comedy sequences being broken up with animation by one of the Pythons, Terry Gilliam, which always featured incredibly sketchy and surreal visuals. These animated bits often followed miniature narratives that made little to no sense at all, with the events somehow bridging what happens between one live-action sequence and the next. These in-between sequences don’t really exist in Life of Brian. There is one scene, however, where these drawings and their style are used to their fullest extent. Whilst escaping from the centurion guards, Brian is temporarily abducted by aliens in a manner very similar to Gilliam’s animations. This sequence draws on the absurdity tactics mentioned previously, as it gives you a quick bursting of feeling dumbstruck by what’s unfolding on screen. The surreal nature of this sequence is a powerful tool that draws on the classic Python comedy style that the movie would be incomplete without.

Of course, this is not the only part of the movie where this kind of surreal feeling can be had. Although there is only one animated or immediately bizarre sequence that can come to mind, the same usage of surrealism can be seen in a few other gags throughout the film. One notable usage of this idea is in another one of the film’s most well-known sequences, the “Romanes eunt domus” scene, in which Brian is forced to paint his rebellious “Romans go home” message on the governor’s palace a hundred times over. The finished product of his school detention-esque punishment results in the entire front of the building being covered in text. The shot showing his work is incredibly panoramic and feels super unrealistic, almost like something out of a fever dream, and directly draws on that surreal feeling brought about by the Python style.