So it was their condescension that really got me irritated.’ Gilliam remembers having never seen Palin quite so pissed off before. I mean, how do they think the film was made? That we go in there one night, write the script and the film’s made the next morning? They don’t realise we’d been working on it for two years, we’d studied, that we had an opinion and we had an attitude, but they wouldn’t let us have that. What they were trying to do was to sort of smirk at the audience and belittle what we’d done and that seemed so out of touch and so stupid and so mistaken. And it was really the way they played to the audience that got me. I don’t get angry very often but I got incandescent with rage at their attitude and the smugness of it. “We went on that programme and we’d done our homework, thinking we were going to get into quite a tough theological argument, but it turned out to be virtually a slinging match. If this service is really for me, just for starters, I want you to become the first person ever at a British memorial service to say 'fuck'.” You say you're very proud of being the very first person ever to say 'shit' on British television. (He paused, then claimed that Chapman had whipered in his ear while he was writing the speech):Īll right, Cleese. Anything for him but mindless good taste. And the reason I feel I should say this is he would never forgive me if I didn't, if I threw away this glorious opportunity to shock you all on his behalf. Good riddance to him, the freeloading bastard, I hope he fries. Well, I feel that I should say: nonsense. And I guess that we're all thinking how sad it is that a man of such talent, of such capability for kindness, of such unusual intelligence, should now so suddenly be spirited away at the age of only forty-eight, before he'd achieved many of the things of which he was capable, and before he'd had enough fun. He's kicked the bucket, hopped the twig, bit the dust, snuffed it, breathed his last, and gone to meet the great Head of Light Entertainment in the sky. "Monty Python Live (mostly): One, Down, Five to Go" – More information about the 2014 Live Shows at The O2, London.“Graham Chapman, co-author of the "Parrot Sketch", is no more. "Backstage as they gear themselves up to perform, they're intense versions of themselves."
"The core story is known to everybody this story is what they're like ," Graef told the Evening Standard. Graef created a fly-on-the-wall view of the camaraderie of the group behind the scenes the pressures of rehearsals and their feelings about live performances since the early days of Python. The Pythons brought on BAFTA Award-winning director Roger Graef, who had worked with the group on "Pleasure at Her Majesty's" and other concert films from Amnesty International's "Secret Policeman's Ball" benefit shows. As was evident by the audience's reactions to the show, he wasn't alone.įilming of the rehearsals was begun before UKTV Gold signed up for a feature-length documentary, to be co-produced by Python (Monty) Pictures Ltd., Films of Record, and Phil McIntyre Television. Monty Python is a comedy troupe of 4 Englishmen (John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle), 1 Welshman (Terry Jones) and 1 American (Terry Gilliam), best known for their legendary and influential sketch comedy show 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' (which ran for four seasons from 1969 to 1974). We also see how some of the stage show's effects were created (including Eric Idle's dance with Carol Cleveland for the "Galaxy Song"), and the filming of professor Brian Cox's inelegant run-in with Stephen Hawking for their cameo.Īlso featured is rare footage from the Pythons' earliest live performances, including their "First Farewell Tour" in 1973, and their Hollywood Bowl appearance in 1980 – the last occasion at which all six Pythons were on stage together.Ĭaptured backstage, comedian Mike Myers – who was the Closing Night's surprise guest on "Blackmail" – reveals his unabashed love of Python.
Most evident is their exuberance once the fans show up by the thousands – in their seventies, the Pythons are like kids again. Much of the film is made up of interviews with the five Pythons, who discuss their temperaments and their comedic styles, their conflicted feelings about revisiting Python material, the absence of Graham Chapman, and the joys of performing together.
Mixing interviews with candid videography taken in rehearsal halls and backstage at the O2, "The Meaning of Live" documents the Python reunion show from its November 2013 press conference announcement, through rehearsals, discussions over the script, music and costumes, and curtain-up on the 10 sold-out shows. What is most revealing is the genial humor and affection of the Pythons and their thoughts about taking to the stage once again, as they reunite for their first live performance in 34 years.
UK Premiere (TV): 13 November 2014 on UKTV GoldĪ documentary commissioned by UKTV which also made the festival rounds, "Monty Python: The Meaning of Live" gives viewers unparalleled backstage access to the preparations and staging of the Pythons' 2014 reunion at London's O2 Arena. Monty Python - The Meaning of Live (2014)