The Meaning Of Life

Why are we here?

What's life all about?

Is God really real?

Or is there some doubt?

Well, tonight, for a change, we will sort it all out, For tonight is The Meaning Of Life.

Hurrah, and indeed, huzzah, for I can now at last see this on the big screen. As the slightly lesser known brother of Life Of Brian and Holy Grail, Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life takes us on a guided tour of life, from beginning ("The Miracle Of Birth", with the machine that goes 'ping') to end ("Death", all because of the salmon mousse).

Not really based on a specific story, this instead takes the form of long interlinked sketches used as chapters in the tale of life. This system has the advantage of bringing a lot of colour and unpredictability to the proceedings, in a charac-teristically Python-esque way. This is also the most musical of the Monty Python films, featur-ing, among others, the Sperm Song, Galaxy Song, and the Penis (Not The Noel Coward) Song.

All the Monty Python members play out their (often bizarre) roles perfectly, and bring the Python touch to all aspects of life (including "Live Organ Transplants" and "Fighting Each Other").

I would have to say that this is definitely my favourite Monty Python film, since there are no real slow points in the film due to each part bringing yet another refreshing angle to the 'story'.

Oh, and by the way, this film takes the piss out of every conceivable group of people, so if you're easily offended, watch it anyway, cos it's bloody hilarious. And watch out for the wafer thin mint (it is only wafer thin after all).