A Book about the Film Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

All the References from Americans to Zulu Nation

Darl Larsen

This reference identifies and explains the cultural, historical, and topical allusions in the film Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, the Pythons’ third and final original feature as a complete group. In this resource, virtually every allusion and reference that appears in the film is identified and explained —from Britain’s waning Empire through the Winter of Discontent to Margaret Thatcher’s second-term mandate, from playing fields to battle fields, and from accountant pirates to sacred sperm. Organized chronologically by scene, the entries cover literary and metaphoric allusions, symbolisms, names, peoples, and places; as well as the many social, cultural, and historical elements that populate this film, and the Pythons’ work in general.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 444 • Trim: 7½ x 10⅜

978-1-5381-1596-1 • Hardback • June 2020 • $65.00 • (£50.00)

Subjects: Performing Arts / Film / Reference, Social Science / Popular Culture, Performing Arts / Film / Genres / Comedy

A Book about the Film Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

All the References from Americans to Zulu Nation

Hardback

Summary

This reference identifies and explains the cultural, historical, and topical allusions in the film Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, the Pythons’ third and final original feature as a complete group. In this resource, virtually every allusion and reference that appears in the film is identified and explained —from Britain’s waning Empire through the Winter of Discontent to Margaret Thatcher’s second-term mandate, from playing fields to battle fields, and from accountant pirates to sacred sperm. Organized chronologically by scene, the entries cover literary and metaphoric allusions, symbolisms, names, peoples, and places; as well as the many social, cultural, and historical elements that populate this film, and the Pythons’ work in general.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 444 • Trim: 7½ x 10⅜

978-1-5381-1596-1 • Hardback • June 2020 • $65.00 • (£50.00)

Subjects: Performing Arts / Film / Reference, Social Science / Popular Culture, Performing Arts / Film / Genres / Comedy

Author

Darl Larsen is professor in the Media Arts department and the Center for Animation at Brigham Young University, where he teaches film and animation studies and screenwriting. He is the author of Monty Python, Shakespeare, and English Renaissance Drama (2003), Monty Python’s Flying Circus: An Utterly Complete, Thoroughly Unillustrated, Absolutely Unauthorized Guide to Possibly All the References (2013), A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (2015), and A Book about the Film Monty Python’s Life of Brian (2018).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Abbreviations
SCENE 1 The Crimson Permanent Assurance
SCENE 2 Fish Tank
SCENE 3 Animated Opening Titles
SCENE 4 Part I: The Miracle of Birth—Labor and Delivery
SCENE 5 Part I: The Miracle of Birth, Part 2: The Third World—
“Every Sperm Is Sacred”
SCENE 6 Part I: The Miracle of Birth, Part 2: The Third World—Protestantism
SCENE 7 The Adventures of Martin Luther (Elided Scene)
SCENE 8 Part II: Growth and Learning—School Chapel
SCENE 9 Part II: Growth and Learning—Sex Education Class
SCENE 10 Part II: Growth and Learning—Rugby Football vs. the Masters
SCENE 11 Part III: Fighting Each Other—World War I
SCENE 12 Part III: Fighting Each Other—Military Lecture
SCENE 13 Part III: Fighting Each Other—Marching Up and Down the Square
SCENE 14 Part III: Fighting Each Other—First Zulu War 1879
SCENE 15 Part III: Fighting Each Other—Tiger Skin
SCENE 16 The Middle of the Film: Find the Fish
SCENE 17 Part IV: Middle Age—Conversation Restaurant
SCENE 18 Part V: Live Organ Transplants
SCENE 19 Part V: Live Organ Transplants—“Universe Song”
SCENE 20 Attack of the Supporting Feature
SCENE 21 Part VI: The Autumn Years—Mr. Creosote
SCENE 22 Part VI: The Autumn Years—Gaston Goes Home
SCENE 23 Part VII: Death—The Death of Arthur Jarrett
SCENE 24 Part VII: Death—Falling Leaves (Animation)
SCENE 25 Part VII: Death—Mr. Death Comes to Dinner
SCENE 26 Part VII: Death—“It’s Christmas in Heaven”
SCENE 27 The End of the Film
SCENE 28 End Credits
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Reviews

Hard-core Monty Python fans will be thoroughly delighted....

— Publishers Weekly

[Larsen] meticulously dissects the film scene by scene (and often line by line), delving into what topics, including boarding schools or tinned salmon, would have meant to the Pythons and also how they would have been received by 1980s film audiences. A sketch on the Zulu War, for example, would have called to mind the twilight of the British Empire, the previous year’s Falklands War, and recent earnest films about the war. Larsen isn’t seeking to amplify the film’s humor; instead he’s edifying the reader. Beyond capturing the zeitgeist through the use of contemporary references, he uses scenes from the film as entry points to limn British history. He admits the Pythons may not have always intended allegory, but Larsen can use their material to discuss the austerity of postwar Britain, the rise of Margaret Thatcher, or the coal mining industry.

— Library Journal