I have been putting this one off for quite a while because for some reason people just did not tend to talk about it as often as Monty Python's other works. Now I know why. Monty Python is always surreal, iconoclastic, and edgy, but in this they amp it up to a pretty shocking degree. Whereas the troupe keep their same deadpan tone and straight-faces, I can't help but feel there's almost a level of anger behind this latest production, contrasting starkly with an incredibly increased production budget. They have gigantic orchestrated dance sequences, state of the art special effects, increased animation budget, more extras than all of their other productions put together, bigger sets, increased costuming and make up and prosthetic effects, more and bigger props, and crazier visuals, and it's all pretty much to hit you across the head with projectile vomit, squirting arteries, the blackest of humor, and an almost impatient death wish. It's hilarious, but I feel as if they've done something dirty to me.
I spent more of the time jaw-droppingly taken aback than I did laughing. The closest the Pythons get to their classic absurdist sensibilities is during the war sequences! The rest of the time they're pretty much kicking religion's ass and deconstructing every step of human life. A sequence in space seems more like they're interested in using new animation to pull dirty tricks than making sure the joke fits, and they throw inserts into the mix of creepy stuff like talking fishes and a surrealist television show from nowhere that looked and felt like Spaced's send-up of Vulva's art piece except without the context to know what the heck was going on while a man in an elephant suit ran around. It all fits their sensibilities but it's so off-putting--which may be why it was their last show.
I can't decide if this is my new favorite Python piece, or if I'll just never sleep again. I'm impressed, but aghast. I think I need to shower...
--PolarisDiB
I spent more of the time jaw-droppingly taken aback than I did laughing. The closest the Pythons get to their classic absurdist sensibilities is during the war sequences! The rest of the time they're pretty much kicking religion's ass and deconstructing every step of human life. A sequence in space seems more like they're interested in using new animation to pull dirty tricks than making sure the joke fits, and they throw inserts into the mix of creepy stuff like talking fishes and a surrealist television show from nowhere that looked and felt like Spaced's send-up of Vulva's art piece except without the context to know what the heck was going on while a man in an elephant suit ran around. It all fits their sensibilities but it's so off-putting--which may be why it was their last show.
I can't decide if this is my new favorite Python piece, or if I'll just never sleep again. I'm impressed, but aghast. I think I need to shower...
--PolarisDiB