My film education was for many years limited to whatever tripe Hollywood saw fit to dump in Brisbane multiplexes, so it was hardly surprising when I looked at it a couple of years ago that I saw some pretty big holes. I filled one on Friday night, when I saw the third of the Monty Python films, The Life of Brian, which was re-released in France last week. I had seen the first half hour or so a week earlier on a friend's computer, but the sound was appalling, so I had deliberately stopped, not wanting to spoil a much anticipated experience.

Those who praise this film are entirely justified. Its insights into organised religion and other social issues are more pointed and better articulated than in any other comedy I've seen. True to the Monty Python roots, the film is in some ways more of a montage of sketches than a single coherent story, but this doesn't matter. Scenes such as the debate of the left sandal, the romans correcting the vandal's grammar, and the open window address - "Yes, we are all different!" - are just classics. In some ways, this is a bit like Kill Bill, Volume 1 - the sheer quality of the parts overwhelms any shortcomings of the whole - only moreso.