In the words of his mother, Brian of Nazareth was not the Messiah but a very naughty boy. Mel Gibson would probably concur -- and doubtless conjure up some suitably bloody punishment for the young man so frequently mistaken for Jesus.
For Brian's latest transgression threatens to mock Gibson and his gorefest of a movie, The Passion of the Christ.
The producers of Life of Brian, Monty Python's celebrated 1979 film, are to rerelease it as a response to Gibson's movie.
"A lot of people in America have said that they couldn't figure out a way to deal with the public reaction to Mel's movie," Life of Brian producer John Goldstone told Daily Variety. "This is a kind of antidote to Mel."
The two interpretations of the Bible could hardly be more different. While one focuses on a sensationalist and partisan look at the last days of the Messiah, the other is a broad-based historical survey of the social and political conditions of the time, featuring health issues (lepers and ex-lepers), the criminal justice system (stoning) and the economy (compulsory haggling at markets).
Brian also examines the political scene, depicting the internecine rivalry between the Ju-dean People's Front, the Popular Front of Judea, and the People's Front of Judea.
The climax of both films is the crucifixion. In one it is gruel-lingly explicit in its exposure of the pain endured by the Messiah. In the other, it provides a cheerful end to what is ultimately an upbeat story.
And there is a nice singalong tune as well.
Life of Brian is to be released late next month in New York and Los Angeles. The distributors are also looking at plans to re-release the film in other countries.
Like The Passion of the Christ, Life of Brian proved controversial on its original release. Both films attracted protests and calls for them to be banned.
But Gibson will probably look on the bright side. As Passion was dislodged from the top of the US box office after taking US$295 million in three weeks, it swept through Latin America, where it opened at the weekend.
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