Review: 'Python: Almost The Truth' a joyous experience, begins on IFC Oct.18

Smallscreen Reviews

By April MacIntyre Oct 18, 2009, 19:03 GMT

Monty Python means more to me than just a left-of-center British comedy, it was a show I always caught with my dad, late at night, after Tom Snyder's "The Tomorrow Show." The group's survivors, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam (Idol alum Graham Chapman died in 1989) share anecdotes and wonderful tales and recently reunited onstage last week in New York for a public

The group's survivors, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam (Idol alum Graham Chapman died in 1989) share anecdotes and wonderful tales and recently reunited onstage last week in New York for a public "conversation" at the premiere of this feature-length "theatrical cut."The humorous skits and graphic cartoons so bizarre in concept for its time entertained mightily, and their films always were my favorites, still in high rotation for the home DVD collection.The trouple of British (and an American) came together In 1969, working up a new comedy concept at the BBC. "Monty Python's Flying Circus" is now 40 years old.The 40th anniversary of the troupe is celebrated in an engaging and revealing six-hour documentary series, “Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut),” which begins tonight on the Independent Film Channel. The group's survivors, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam (Idol alum Graham Chapman died in 1989) share anecdotes and wonderful tales and recently reunited onstage last week in New York for a public "conversation" at the premiere of this feature-length "theatrical cut."The documentary takes you inside the playful and contentious creative working relationships that feature vocational detours, battles with alcohol, family histories and illuminating memories of a post-war Britain that was the impetus for the English members to break free from a dreary environment. The Terry Gilliam interview is an intimate walk down memory lane with the American who animated the troupe's efforts.Relive the surreal humor of the ministry of silly walks, the fjords and a dead parrot, the Four Yorkshiremen, the Fish-Slapping dance, Arthur (King of the Britons), the merciless taunts of French soldier, Brian, cross-dressing singing lumberjack and a naked man playing the organ. The classic films of "Flying Circus" from "Life of Brian" to "The Meaning of Life" were all honed on the TV show that thumbed its nose at proper British conventions of the time.This documentary is a joyous and rip-roaring inside look at brilliant minds who came together in a tenuous collaboration, and endured. Monty Python: Almost The Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut) begins a six-night run this evening on IFC. Watch it.