Monty Python’s Life of Brian, released in 1979, revolves around a young man named Brian Cohen (as played by Graham Chapman), who shares his birthday with Jesus and is later mistakenly believed to be the Messiah. Due to the film’s strong religious themes, it sparked considerable controversy in both the U.S. and abroad following its premiere. “There were a lot of protests,” recalled Python member Terry Jones around the time of the movie’s 25th anniversary. “Several nuns used to parade outside a theater in New York with placards, telling people they’d be doomed if they went to see the film.”
That’s all in addition to the many outright bans that plagued Life of Brian over the years, some of which remained in place for decades. These extended from the Southern United States to the UK, Ireland, Italy, and Norway—in Sweden, it was actually promoted as “The film that is so funny that it was banned in Norway” at one point. Glasgow only came around and finally lifted its ban 30 years later. Even the BBC, which was responsible for introducing the world to the Monty Python troupe, refused to air Life of Brian for fear it might offend its Christian viewers.
Believe it or not, bans on screening the film still persist today, particularly in parts of Germany, where it’s prohibited on Good Friday. In 2013, it was reported that an activist group called Free of Religion faced a 1,000-euro (more than $1,000) fine for showing it in Bochum that year. “We have to react in this way in order to comply with rules which we did not lay down ourselves,” said city spokeswoman Barbara Gottschlich at the time. The offending initiative’s founder, Joerg Schnueckel, pushed back against the notion, saying that only a fundamentalist clerical state would force its citizens to submit to rules put in place by the dominant religion.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel for German Life of Brian fans, though. In 2018, residents of Bochum were granted a special permit to show the film on Good Friday after presenting their case to the Federal Constitutional Court. Roughly 500 people gathered at a local nightclub for the event, which appears to have been organized by the same group that was fined for the 2013 screening. However, the permit was only valid for 2018, and it’s unclear whether there have been any further screenings of the film since then.
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