Almost The Truth: The Lawyer'S Cut [Blu-ray] [2009]

I can't work out why no one has reviewed this; I often look to Amazon's review for guidance, as the reviews are generated by ordinary people rather than some bloated ove paid journo. Anyway, as of now, there have been no reviews. Anyway, I put my money out and picked this up. Waht is it? A quite brilliant massive documentary, a kind of Python Beatles Anthology, with 7 hours of interviews, clips, thoughts etc. I can recommend it wholeheartedly, despite having Russell Brand's leering grin in it. In depth interviews with Palin, Jones, Cleese, CHapman and Idle, and clips of Chapman, really covering the story from their conception, through the programme's conception through it's halcyon days, the height of Brian and where they are now. Wonderful and original stuff. Thinking of buying it? Go for it, it is (should this be your thing) quite quite wonderful. Thanks to the world of Python; it has made my life a richer and more slightly off at an angle experience.

Over the last 40 years, Messrs Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin have spent much more time talking about Python than actually doing of it, and have willingly borne testimony to authors and interviewers bent on amplifying the legend; indeed, there have been more detailed exegeses of Monty Python than any other comedy phenomenon. There have been several books about it, along with biographies of individual members; the TV programs marking the 10th, 20th, and 30th anniversaries, brimmed with introspection, rumination, and revelation by the central protagonists. The group reunion at the Aspen Comedy Festival in 1998 was captured for commercial video release. So what is there left to add to the story of the world's greatest comedy troupe?

Well, so far as this series goes, very little, if anything. All five surviving Pythons talk at length about the ensemble's achievements during its relevatively brief operational period, 1969-1983. Several previously-told anecdotes are retold, and well-known Python themes revisited (origin of certain sketches, group writing/performing dynamics, censorship). There are clips a-plenty, but they are mostly the usual suspects (Parrot, Lumberjack, Cheese shop, Spam, et al). The late Graham Chapman has his say via archive interview clips.

Despite this, several long-standing aspects of 'Pythonomena' are, alas, neglected. The Python books, for instance, were crucial and innovative examples of what today we'd call brand extension (indeed, it's arguable that these and the brilliant Python LPs did more to enlarge its audience than the actual TV broadcasts). No mention is made of the excellent and underrated specials made for German TV. The fact that Python humour often strays into puerile twaddle is rarely acknowledged; and although Python's shallow attitude toward female characters has long been owned-up to, something of a veil has been drawn over the tawdry way in which Gay characters were usually depicted. The TV shows' producer Ian MacNaughton receives only a rather scathing passing mention (here and in other Python histories), although it seem likely that he did much to hold the shows together through the 45 episodes.

Was this because of lack of space? Unfortunately the producers of 'Almost The Truth' did manage to find time to include many minutes of useless `What-Python-meant-to-me-growing-up' comment from comedy second-raters like Phil Jupitus and some irritant named Russell Brand. Steve Coogan is slightly more qualified to cast perspective on Python's influence, but even he adds nothing of value. Canadian comedian Dan Ackroyd already appeared on the 1989 anniversary tribute, and 20 years on says not much beyond `They were very influential'.

The extras are rather bitty, the one item of note being a conspicuously unfunny Palin/Jone spoof for the British TV popular science programme 'Tomorrow's World'. I was hoping for the complete 9 November 1979 edition of TV chatshow 'Friday night, Saturday Morning' wherein Cleese and Palin famously clashed with Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood over 'Life Of Brian', but no such luck (although clips of this do appear in the relevant the 'Almost the Truth' episodes).

So, all in all, I'd commend this DVD only to Python completists with £16.99 to spare; for Python fans without the requisite des-inc, don't fret, you're not missing much.

I would've preferred more in the way of background info/insight from the Pythons themselves and less in the way of "Oh my gosh they were AMAZING" type reminiscence from the likes of Phil Jupitus et al. They could've really taken it as read that anyone watching it already thought the Pythons were great, and gone beyond that. Still worth watching though