I talk to movie people a lot, and independent studios often come up. New World Pictures, American International, Cannon, etc. I rarely hear people bring up one of the most eccentric and wonderful companies in history: HandMade Films.
As legend has it, Monty Python couldn't get funding to film their Life of Brian screenplay. It sounds crazy now in the light of South Park and other scathingly irreverent shows and movies. Even after Brian was in theaters people were howling in protest. I remember when I saw it. A little brother of a stoner friend of mine was out there picketing. I recognized him and thanked him for the free publicity. He merely sneered at me. I saw the boy later and asked if he had bothered to actually watch Life of Brian. He proudly said that he hadn't and didn't need to see it. He knew it was blasphemous. Isn't that usually the case?
Any fool with a modicum of intelligence can see that Monty Python's uproarious Life of Brian is in no way a condemnation of Jesus Christ or Christianity. It is a bracing satire of how Christianity is interpreted by the ignorant. It's also a very funny send-up of generally inaccurate Hollywood Biblical epics.
George Harrison, the quiet, spiritual Beatle, was close friends with Python's Eric Idle. Harrison loved the Life of Brian screenplay and wanted to see the movie. Grateful for the way Monty Python helped the depression he went through during the nightmarish Beatles breakup, George wanted to pay his mates back.
Simply handing over money to fund a movie without concern for distribution or knowledge of tax laws would be like shoveling pound notes into a roaring fireplace. George partnered with his accountant, Denis O'Brien, and HandMade Films was born.
Life of Brian was successful beyond all their dreams, so naturally more movies were planned. The hope was for HandMade to produce films featuring the Monty Python group, but the guys were ready to go their own ways and pursue new projects. Still, the second HandMade film was Time Bandits, a Python-centric child's fairy tale fantasy directed by Terry Gilliam. It was another unmitigated success.
HandMade was off and running, and that's when the studio began to take on its own personality. The idea was to produce unusual films the big companies wouldn't touch. Odd, low budget gems done by a mix of movie veterans and newcomers.
There were hits and misses, but every Handmade production is worthy of attention. The very good ones, The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, Scrubbers, Withnail and I, Five Corners, and Pow Wow Highway, are near masterpieces. The bad ones? Bullshot and Shanghai Surprise come painfully to mind. They are regrettable messes, but are still worth a look and a laugh.
My own favorite, Nicholas Roeg's bugfuck Track 29, is dismissed in Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. It's an uncomfortable, very strange and disturbing movie that certainly isn't for everyone.
HandMade died in an scandalous explosion. Apparently Denis O'Brien had been indulging in creative bookkeeping and was getting rich while not paying filmmakers. The money was spread out in offshore accounts, loans and tax dodges, and not least siphoned out of trusting George's own funds.
The Beatle refused to believe his longtime friend was stealing from him, but was eventually forced to see the truth. Harrison successfully sued O'Brien, but the master financial wizard mostly avoided real losses.
Robert Sellers tells the HandMade saga with passion and obvious loyalty to various principles of the story. He rightfully targets O'Brien with barbed language, but the book often lacks real objectivity. The people and the films he loves are treated with laudatory respect. The ones he doesn't are not.
For instance, Sellers appears to be infatuated with the Eric Idle/Robbie Coltraine comedy, Nuns on the Run. I didn't see the entire film, but what I have seen looks like a powerful ipecac. Siskel and Ebert loathed the movie, and took pains to express their hatred. Sellers calls the beloved critics excruciatingly annoying, and he said that Morgan Creek boss and Nuns on the Run distributor Joe Roth banned Siskel and Ebert from future screenings because of it. Sellers acts like Gene and Rog got punished and deserved it. He neglected to report that Roth relented and allowed Siskel and Ebert back to screenings three weeks later. It makes me wonder how many other half-truths are in Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
I enjoyed this book, and I learned a lot about HandMade Films while reading it. I only wish it had been written by someone more impartial and possibly closer to the actual source than Mr. Sellers.
It also makes me think back to Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, which was not produced by HandMade Films. The hilariously imaginative opening of the films is a sketch about accountant pirates. I always considered it a silly and ironic concept, but now I think there was real anger behind the laughs. Finance professionals are the true pirates of modern times, and Monty Python were often their victims. As most of us are.
One final note: HandMade didn't distribute a lot of outside productions, but they did some in the early years. One was the Miramax movie, The Burning, which is one of the best and most respected slasher films of all time. Unable to hide his disgust, Robert Sellers calls The Burning repellent.
Excuse me?
Written by Mark Sieber
As legend has it, Monty Python couldn't get funding to film their Life of Brian screenplay. It sounds crazy now in the light of South Park and other scathingly irreverent shows and movies. Even after Brian was in theaters people were howling in protest. I remember when I saw it. A little brother of a stoner friend of mine was out there picketing. I recognized him and thanked him for the free publicity. He merely sneered at me. I saw the boy later and asked if he had bothered to actually watch Life of Brian. He proudly said that he hadn't and didn't need to see it. He knew it was blasphemous. Isn't that usually the case?
Any fool with a modicum of intelligence can see that Monty Python's uproarious Life of Brian is in no way a condemnation of Jesus Christ or Christianity. It is a bracing satire of how Christianity is interpreted by the ignorant. It's also a very funny send-up of generally inaccurate Hollywood Biblical epics.George Harrison, the quiet, spiritual Beatle, was close friends with Python's Eric Idle. Harrison loved the Life of Brian screenplay and wanted to see the movie. Grateful for the way Monty Python helped the depression he went through during the nightmarish Beatles breakup, George wanted to pay his mates back.
Simply handing over money to fund a movie without concern for distribution or knowledge of tax laws would be like shoveling pound notes into a roaring fireplace. George partnered with his accountant, Denis O'Brien, and HandMade Films was born.
Life of Brian was successful beyond all their dreams, so naturally more movies were planned. The hope was for HandMade to produce films featuring the Monty Python group, but the guys were ready to go their own ways and pursue new projects. Still, the second HandMade film was Time Bandits, a Python-centric child's fairy tale fantasy directed by Terry Gilliam. It was another unmitigated success.
HandMade was off and running, and that's when the studio began to take on its own personality. The idea was to produce unusual films the big companies wouldn't touch. Odd, low budget gems done by a mix of movie veterans and newcomers.
There were hits and misses, but every Handmade production is worthy of attention. The very good ones, The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, Scrubbers, Withnail and I, Five Corners, and Pow Wow Highway, are near masterpieces. The bad ones? Bullshot and Shanghai Surprise come painfully to mind. They are regrettable messes, but are still worth a look and a laugh.
My own favorite, Nicholas Roeg's bugfuck Track 29, is dismissed in Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. It's an uncomfortable, very strange and disturbing movie that certainly isn't for everyone.
HandMade died in an scandalous explosion. Apparently Denis O'Brien had been indulging in creative bookkeeping and was getting rich while not paying filmmakers. The money was spread out in offshore accounts, loans and tax dodges, and not least siphoned out of trusting George's own funds.
The Beatle refused to believe his longtime friend was stealing from him, but was eventually forced to see the truth. Harrison successfully sued O'Brien, but the master financial wizard mostly avoided real losses.
Robert Sellers tells the HandMade saga with passion and obvious loyalty to various principles of the story. He rightfully targets O'Brien with barbed language, but the book often lacks real objectivity. The people and the films he loves are treated with laudatory respect. The ones he doesn't are not.
For instance, Sellers appears to be infatuated with the Eric Idle/Robbie Coltraine comedy, Nuns on the Run. I didn't see the entire film, but what I have seen looks like a powerful ipecac. Siskel and Ebert loathed the movie, and took pains to express their hatred. Sellers calls the beloved critics excruciatingly annoying, and he said that Morgan Creek boss and Nuns on the Run distributor Joe Roth banned Siskel and Ebert from future screenings because of it. Sellers acts like Gene and Rog got punished and deserved it. He neglected to report that Roth relented and allowed Siskel and Ebert back to screenings three weeks later. It makes me wonder how many other half-truths are in Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
I enjoyed this book, and I learned a lot about HandMade Films while reading it. I only wish it had been written by someone more impartial and possibly closer to the actual source than Mr. Sellers.
It also makes me think back to Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, which was not produced by HandMade Films. The hilariously imaginative opening of the films is a sketch about accountant pirates. I always considered it a silly and ironic concept, but now I think there was real anger behind the laughs. Finance professionals are the true pirates of modern times, and Monty Python were often their victims. As most of us are.
One final note: HandMade didn't distribute a lot of outside productions, but they did some in the early years. One was the Miramax movie, The Burning, which is one of the best and most respected slasher films of all time. Unable to hide his disgust, Robert Sellers calls The Burning repellent.
Excuse me?
Written by Mark Sieber
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