The Meaning of Life (1983) on Netflix
A tank of six fish asks what life is about. Sketches on the stages of life follow, from a delivery room to a Yorkshire family to a school to a war.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.5/10130,850 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes86%
Trailer
Plot summary
A run of sketches about the stages of life opens in a delivery room, where the doctors pay more attention to the hospital's expensive equipment than to the woman in labor. In Yorkshire, a Roman Catholic man who has just lost his job comes home to his wife and their very many children and explains the church's opposition to contraception, while a Protestant man lectures his wife on his church's tolerance, though she points out that they never do. At an English public school, a schoolmaster and chaplain lead a nonsensical church service, and a sex education lesson follows that involves the master's wife. A World War I officer tries to rally his men, who insist on celebrating his birthday, and in 1879 Natal officers hunt for whatever bit off one of them in the night.
Cast
Show all 20 cast
- Mark Holmesas Victim #2 (Cheerful Severed Head) / Troll Waiter / Guest #2
- Valerie Whittingtonas Mrs. Moore
- Jennifer Franksas Bride
- Angela Mannas Second guest's wife
- Sydney Arnoldas Pirate Captain (segment "The Crimson Permanent Assurance")
- Guy Bertrandas Chief Executive (segment "The Crimson Permanent Assurance")
- Jennie Franksas Bride (as Jennifer Franks)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Meaning of Life (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- After the title was settled, author Douglas Adams called director Terry Jones to say he had just finished a book called The Meaning of Liff. The near-identical titles worried Jones enough that the film's opening now includes a gag tombstone that changes from 'The Meaning of Liff' to 'The Meaning of Life' when struck by lightning.
- The Mr. Creosote vomiting sketch was shot at Porchester Hall in Queensway, and hundreds of pounds of fake vomit had to be cleaned off the venue on the last day of filming there because a wedding was booked in the same hall just hours later.
- Ireland banned the film outright on its original release, just as it had done with the group's earlier Life of Brian, though it was later given a 15 rating for video.
- The Meaning of Life was the last feature film to star all six Monty Python members before the death of Graham Chapman in 1989.
- The hospital sketch was inspired by Graham Chapman's own background as a doctor, who had noticed real hospitals filling up with more and more machinery.
- In the scene where Michael Palin's character explains Catholicism to his children, his line was originally "that rubber thing at the end of my sock", which was later overdubbed with a cruder word.
