Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

1983 · 1h47 · Film

Directed by Terry Jones

Starring Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Carol Cleveland, Simon Jones, Patricia Quinn, Judy Loe

Ideal when you feel… Happy Romantic Angry

Life's questions are 'answered' in a series of outrageous vignettes, beginning with a staid London insurance company which transforms before our eyes into a pirate ship. Then there's the National Health doctors who try to claim a healthy liver from a still-living donor. The world's most voracious glutton brings the art of vomiting to new heights before his spectacular demise.

Original language

English

Screenplay

Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Terry Jones

Music

John Du Prez

Cinematography

Peter Hannan, Roger Pratt

Cast

Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Carol Cleveland, Simon Jones, Patricia Quinn, Judy Loe, Andrew Bicknell, Andrew MacLachlan

Updated July 22, 2026

Trailer

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