Editing Monty Python (section)

====''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1983)====
{{Main|Monty Python's The Meaning of Life}}
[[File:Terry Jones Monty Python O2 Arena (cropped) (2).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mr Creosote|Mr. Creosote]] from ''The Meaning of Life'' (played by [[Terry Jones]], pictured) has been called "the ultimate gross-out icon" and the "film's signature" scene.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Mr Creosote is the ultimate gross-out icon |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/monty-python-meaning-of-life-mr-creosote-gross-out-icon-072049260.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJW2-1FMX4DqYdxnfR60KarRZVqHnDiqNEuVR46Tk5TVqAJKmKi22M7XybnkfwBCkiTGV7eL8yvW7Bn3iGPdL8NQZ1AUXKvlzkYtnYcSCBlJEwFVUfyqHX26UdbqA7ji3ysk4Voiq60Ln4oBZNxaBugytrGSpujmpg0HWKU3HmuO&guccounter=2 |access-date=10 April 2023 |work=Yahoo|quote=it remains the film’s signature, and one of the greatest Python moments because it seems to sum up what they were all about: a clever observation of the world wrapped up so tightly in absurdity that you almost missed the point while doubled over in hysterics.}}</ref>]]
The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of ''Flying Circus'': a series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, ''The Meaning of Life'' is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "[[Galaxy Song]]" (performed by Idle) and "[[Every Sperm Is Sacred]]" (performed by Palin and Jones).<ref name="Making Meaning">{{cite news |title=How we made Monty Python's The Meaning of Life |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/30/monty-python-meaning-of-life |access-date=24 August 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of [[Black comedy|black humour]], garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a [[liver]] from a living patient without [[anaesthetic]] and the morbidly obese [[Mr Creosote|Mr. Creosote]] exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint...").<ref name="Python quotes"/> At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Monty Python's The Meaning of Life |url=https://ew.com/article/1998/04/03/monty-pythons-meaning-life/ |access-date=19 August 2019 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}</ref>

The Liver Donor scene (in which a paramedic appears at the door of a living man to take his liver) is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope.<ref name="Making Meaning"/> 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. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation ''[[Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python|Parrot Sketch Not Included]],'' where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.<ref name="Five films"/>

Although not as acclaimed as its two predecessors (''Holy Grail'' and ''Life of Brian''), ''The Meaning of Life'' was still well received critically and was screened at the [[1983 Cannes Film Festival]] where it won the [[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/1983/allAward.html |title=Awards 1983: All Awards |work=festival-cannes.fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216190344/http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/1983/allAward.html |archive-date=16 December 2013 |df=dmy}}</ref>