AS MONTY Python's Life of Brian celebrates its 45th birthday its editor has claimed it is a more historically accurate portrayal of the time of Jesus than any other.
The first feature film directed solely by Colwyn Bay's very own Python Terry Jones, The Life of Brian sparked controversy upon its release in 1979 as religious groups branded it the most blasphemous film ever made.
The story of hapless Brian Cohen, a neighbour of Jesus whose parallel life saw him mistaken for the Messiah, even sparked boycotts.
Unlike Jones and fellow Pythons John Cleese, Sir Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, the film's editor Julian Doyle has remained fairly silent on the controversies - until now.
To mark the 45th anniversary of The Life of Brian's release on Friday, Doyle has published a book - The After-Life of Brian.
In it he claims Jones and his fellow Pythons' treatment is closer to what people were probably thinking at the time of Jesus than what the gospel teaches.
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“If you look at the film from an historical point of view, you realise it is a far more authentic and accurate portrayal of Jesus Christ than the teachings of the Church and the Bible combined," said the 81-year-old.
“If you really want to get upset about the film then it should be over its historical accuracy, which brings the biblical narrative into serious question."
The movie sparked protests by religious groups and was banned for a year in Norway, eight years in Ireland and more than a decade in Italy.
It was also banned in a number of towns across Wales including Aberystwyth, which only lifted restrictions in 2009 when Sue Jones-Davies, who played Brian’s love interest Judith Iscariot in the film, became town mayor.
Terry Jones, who visited Aberystwyth with Palin when the ban was lifted, spoke to the Radio Times during his visit and said: "I never thought it would be as controversial as it turned out, although I remember saying when we were writing it that some religious nut case may take pot shots at us, and everyone replied: 'No'.
"I took the view it wasn't blasphemous. It was heretical because it criticised the structure of the church and the way it interpreted the Gospels."
Despite the controversy Jones, who passed away in January 2020, was a celebrated hero of comedy. The first patron of Theatr Colwyn, he spent his life championing the arts in Colwyn Bay and North Wales.
His family are currently fundraising to create a statue of him to sit on the promenade at Colwyn Bay, with a QR code embedded so people can donate money to the arts and keep supporting the town's creative industries.
For Doyle, who also worked on Python favourites The Holy Grail and Meaning of Life, that is a far cry from how the Pythons were treated 45 years ago.
"The politicians, the censors, and, of course, the placard-waving mobs of protesters completely misunderstood Life of Brian," he said.
"They simply didn’t grasp that we weren’t mocking Jesus or Christians at all. We were making a film that satirised society’s comedic tendency to follow religious, political and business leaders like sheep.
"Describing Life of Brian as blasphemous is as nonsensical and ignorant as calling Jesus Chris Superstar blasphemous. Quite clearly, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical is about as far from as blasphemous as you can get."
Doyle, whose film credits also include Time Bandits and Brazil, added: "I was amazed when Life of Brian was banned.
"But I’m also still amazed that 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' never got a regular slot on Songs of Praise. It’s the most popular choice of song for funerals in the UK, so it’s being blasted out of churches all the time!"
Doyle believes that key points in the story - such as the crucifixion scene where Mr Cheeky, one of Brian's fellow condemned, jokes 'We’ve got a couple of days up here' shines a light on the inaccuracy of traditional portrayals.
"In the film, Mr Cheeky’s comment is historically accurate because that is what gets you, exposure and dehydration," Doyle said. "If someone died in a few hours it doesn’t make sense. It’s an absurd amount of effort and time to put in.
"Also we found we had to make small crosses for the actors to carry, because anything larger would have been impossible to shift. Christian artwork often shows Jesus carrying a towering cross but he would have needed to be a powerlifter to have any chance of getting that on his shoulders, let alone dragging it along."
"While the Pythons only ever intended to make a comedy film, they intuitively hit on a more realistic portrayal of Jesus and his times because they followed reason rather than faith.
"This has obviously made a lot of Christians unhappy, but it stands up to scrutiny.
In 2014 Jones, John Cleese and Doyle attended a conference at King's College London to discuss the film’s contribution to scholarship on the life of Jesus.
"I’m very proud of the growing appreciation of the film’s historical accuracy within the academic world," he said. "Especially given how vociferously religious critics tried to crucify the Pythons when the film first released."
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