Terry Jones, one of the founding members of Monty Python and perhaps the pepperiest of its pepperpots, died yesterday at 77 after battling dementia in recent years. He was a prolific writer and director over the past 50-plus years, and he was the guiding force as director of the Pythons' classic films, including "Life of Brian," where he did a memorable turn as Brian's put-upon mother. ("He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy.")
I just wrapped up an analysis of the "Up" series of films, which started in 1964 and followed a co-hort of British baby boomers through, so far, age 63. The tag line of the series is an adage that states: Give me the boy at 7 and I'll show you the man. In my case, you need to be patient until age 14, because it wasn't until I had experienced and internalized "Monty Python's Flying Circus" during the mid-'70s that I could be considered fully formed. I simply wouldn't be the person I am without Monty Python -- for better or worse. (It's a fair cop.)
Maybe someday I'll follow up on my decades-long intention of analyzing "The Meaning of Life" from 1983 as the definitive fuck-you from a group of performers to the industry as well as to their fans. Jones had two of the most delicious lines in the film -- "I've had another son!" and "I couldn't eat another bite." So many memories from everyone's favorite naked organist.
Here is the BBC tribute to Terry Jones, with plenty of essential clips:
No comments:
Post a Comment