Humour and Antiquity in Film: Roman Scandals and Monty Python’s Life of Brian

Antiquity appears in films from the very beginning of cinema. As other examples reception, presence antiquity depends on context specificity medium which includes relationship with audience, as well personal mark author. The subject this paper are two movies set antiquity: Roman Scandals (1933) and Life Brian (1977). Both comedies, plots ancient past, both satirical, meaning that they have a contemporary social sting. Also, comedies belong to genre swords sandals (if we take an umbrella term for all related antiquity, not only epic sagas mid-1950s 1960s), revealing similar, parodic attitude mentioned genre. film Scandals, musical comedy elements burlesque, is America (the midwestern city West Rome) Rome, constructing complex process identification differentiation Rome. All has do remarkable usage Rome American culture history, especially since time when started break ties Britain. This explicitly marked scene exhibition Museum which, it emphasized, belongs period invasion Humorous twists numerous, being constructed language, problems adaptations dialogues between cultures, parody its motifs. also parodies subgenre – biblical Christian movies. Although humorous procedures construct satirical tone, always bears anachronisms, overlapping history contemporariness differently those films. However, raise, among things, question crucial research field classical reception (to belongs), way used invention tradition (Hobsbawm). gives attention parody, already appeared continuing existence through Middle Ages, regarding sacred texts forms according Bakhtin, had their version. In view fact humour numerous ways, focuses particularly raises towards these pose.