There is no bigger fan of Monty Python than myself. And Terry Gilliam is one of the world's leading film directors........but!
I find "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" short to be unfunny, too long and boring. Mostly, too long, which for a short, is not good.
That is all I have to say.
I think that it would have been better as the in-movie short that it was originally meant to be. By preceding the actual movie, it gives no explanation why it's included at all.
But as they say, it's a Gilliam thing.
If you were offended in any way by the preceding post, go make one yourself.
I've read the book 'Monty Python Speaks' and the rest of the Pythons make it very clear that they weren't at all happy with the Crimson Permanent Assurance either. It cost a fortune to make and it was simply a matter of the others letting Gilliam do whatever it is he does and then they found out later what he was up to. The real story of the production of the Crimson Permanent Assurance is probably funnier than anything in the actual segment. 'The Meaning of Life' really was a very uneven film, brilliantly funny in some parts, other parts simply puzzling.
Everyone gets everything he wants.
I'm just watching it now and I have to say it's clever and hilarious, but then I like Terry Gilliam's style of film making. The whole skit is so off the wall and ridiculous, comedy gold in my opinion.
shareIt was a good commentary on the meaning of life; being enslaved by the big corporations, and breaking free of those bonds to bring it all down to ashes. This has been the meaning of life for billions of humans for several millenia. It may have fit in with the movie, but only maybe towards the end.
shareI thought The Crimson Permanent Assurance sketch and the Mr. Creosote sketch were my favorite parts of the movie. The Crimson sketch was utterly absurd yet brilliant; only Terry Gilliam could have pulled it off.
shareI'm finding some of the best commentary on life in cartoons, especially in those witty ones from way back when that dished lots of adult humor that would go unnoticed by the very young. Watching episode 10 of 'Upsidaisium' on the second season of the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show this morning, we saw a scene that struck us immediately as somethng straight out of Crimson Permanent Assurance, where a boat moves down Wall St. Can't help but wonder if this was a tiny seed of inspiration.
shareAgreed it was boring.
shareI really like "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" a lot, but the ending was too abrupt and not thought-out enough.
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