Screening of ‘Life of Brian’ coincides with 30-year anniversary
Thirty years on, Glasgow’s film licensing committee is reversing its position on Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian,’ perhaps best remembered for the show-stopping musical number ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.’ Councillors initially slapped an X-rating on the provocative 1979 look at New Testament times, effectively banning it from the city. Now, after prodding from the Glasgow Film Theatre, which plans a special screening and is inviting members of the film’s cast and crew, Glasgow has lifted the ban. “The film has been widely available to the general public on video and DVD and has been screened on terrestrial television,” Allison Gardner, of the GFT, wrote in support of the screening. “None of these events has caused widespread offence or in any way destroyed the sanctity of the church or undermined its place in our wider society.”