Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

                  A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death.

          Python's final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus.

The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of Python's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers.

The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humors, garnished by some spectacular violence. At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone."

          Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch—The Crimson Permanent Assurance.

          Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right.

          Crucially, this was the last project that all six Pythons would collaborate on, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds.

          This would be the last time Chapman appeared on-screen with the Pythons.