Monty Python's Life of Brian is a 1979 comedy written and performed by the Monty Python comedy team. It tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman), a young man born on the same night and the same street as Jesus Christ.

plot:

Brian (Graham Chapman) is born in the stable a few doors down from the one in which Jesus was born (a fact which initially confuses the three wise men who come to praise the baby Jesus, as they must put up with Brian's boorish mother Mandy, played by Terry Jones, until they realize their mistake). Brian grows up to be an idealistic young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea. He is shocked to find out that he is the son of a centurion. "Well, it started off as a rape ..." his mother explains. While attending Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he becomes infatuated with the attractive young rebel Judith (Sue Jones-Davies). His desire for Judith and hatred for the Romans lead him to join the People's Front of Judea, one of many factious and bickering separatist movements, who all have similar names (such as the Judean People's Front). His first assignment as a rebel is an attempt at scrawling some graffiti ("Romanes eunt domus") on the wall of the governor's palace. This succeeds beyond his wildest expectations when he is caught by a passing Roman guard who, in disgust at Brian's faulty Latin grammar, forces him to write out the 'corrected' message ("Romani ite domum", which can also be translated to "Romans Go Home") one hundred times.(cf Mark 5 on "Legion").

When the guards change shifts at daybreak, the new Roman guard tries to arrest Brian. He runs, has a series of adventures, and ultimately winds up at a plaza, where various mystics and prophets harangue the crowd. Forced to come up with something plausible to say in order to blend in, he babbles some pseudo-religious nonsense which inspires his small audience. Once the Romans have left, he tries to put the episode behind him. But he has inspired a movement. Ultimately, a large crowd decides he is the Messiah. Brian is appalled, but there is nothing he can do: his every action is studied as a point of doctrine, and any unusual occurrence is seen as a "miracle."

The Romans finally catch the hapless Brian, and he is scheduled to be crucified. Various parallels to the crucifixion of Jesus are seen. In the end, a "rescue" attempt fails and his buddies in the People's Front of Judea leave him to be martyred. Pontius Pilate pardons Brian, but in a scene reprising one in the film Spartacus, everyone being crucified claims to be Brian. The actual Brian remains hanging in the hot sun as Eric Idle sings Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.