Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Comedy, Musical

Graham Chapman	Various
John Cleese	Various
Susan Deming	Additional Voices (voice)
Susan Denaker	Main Female Voices (voice)
Terry Gilliam	Various
Eric Idle	Various
Terry Jones	Various
Michael Palin	Various
Howard Pattow	Additional Voices (voice)
Jeffrey Steefel	Additional Voices (voice)
Carol Cleveland	Headmaster's wife
Simon Jones	Chadwick, Jeremy
Patricia Quinn	Mrs. Williams
Mark Holmes	A Severed Head,

Director	Terry Jones; Terry Gilliam
Producer	John Goldstone
Writer	Bart Jennett; Graham Chapman; John Cleese

Perhaps only the collective brilliant minds of the Monty Python film and television troupe are up to the task of tackling a subject as weighty as The Meaning of Life. Sure, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and their ilk have tried their hands at this puzzler, but only Python has attempted to do so within the commercial motion picture medium. Happily for us all, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life truly explains everything one conceivably needs to know about the perplexities of human existence: from the mysteries of Catholic doctrine, to the miracle of reproduction, to why one should avoid the salmon mousse, to the critical importance of the machine that goes "Ping!" Using fish as a linking device (and what marvelous links those aquatic creatures make), The Meaning of Life is presented as a series of sketches: a musical production number about why seed is sacred; a look at dining in the afterlife; the quest for a missing fish (there they are again); a visit from Mr. Death; the cautionary tale of Mr. Creosote and his rather gluttonous appetite; an unflinching examination of the harsh realities of organ donation, and so on. Sadly, this was the last original Python film, but it's a beaut. You'll laugh. You'll cry (probably because you're laughing so hard). You may even learn something about The Meaning of Life. Or at least about how fish fit into the grand scheme of things. --Jim Emerson