A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman

A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman is a 2012 British animated comedy film that is a portrayal of the life of Monty Python alumnus Graham Chapman. The film is loosely based on A Liar's Autobiography: Volume VI, a book written by Chapman and David Sherlock. It received a limited theatrical release on 2 November 2012 in the United States, and aired on the Epix TV channel on the same day.

A Liar's Autobiography
TIFF poster
Directed byBill Jones
Jeff Simpson
Ben Timlett
Produced byBill Jones
Ben Timlett
Written byDavid Sherlock
Based on
StarringGraham Chapman
Terry Gilliam
John Cleese
Michael Palin
Terry Jones
Music byJohn Greswell
Christopher Murphy Taylor
Edited byBill Jones
Production
company
Bill and Ben Productions
Distributed byTrinity Filmed Entertainment (UK)
Brainstorm Media (US)
Release date
  • 8 September 2012 (2012-09-08) (TIFF)
  • 8 February 2013 (2013-02-08) (U.K.)
Running time
85 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$5,102[2]

Voice cast

Various characters voiced by Palin, Jones, Cleese, Carol Cleveland, and Stephen Fry.

Production

In June 2011, it was announced that Bill and Ben Productions were making A Liar's Autobiography, an animated 3D film based on the memoir.[3] The full name is A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman. Although not a Monty Python film, all but one of the remaining Pythons are involved in the project. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing… it’s all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie."

The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel EPIX has announced that the film is in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Jeff Simpson, and Ben Timlett, the film used 14 animation companies, each working on chapters that range from 3 to 12 minutes in length, with each chapter in a different style similar to Opéra imaginaire.

John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced his psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved, although he can be seen during footage of John Cleese's eulogy at Chapman's memorial service near the end of the film.[3]

Release

A Liar's Autobiography was first screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012 and premiered in the UK on 16 October 2012 as part of the BFI London Film Festival. The film's official trailer claims that Chapman said, "This is the best film I've been in since I died."[3]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of June 2020, it holds a 45% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 50 reviews with an average rating of 4.85 out of 10.[4] On Metacritic, the film has a 45/100 rating, signifying "mixed or average reviews".[5]

References
  1. "A LIAR'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY - THE UNTRUE STORY OF MONTY PYTHON'S GRAHAM CHAPMAN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  2. A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman at Box Office Mojo Retrieved 13 July 2013
  3. Cieply, Michael (26 June 2011). "Graham Chapman Tribute From Monty Python". The New York Times.
  4. "A Liar's Autobiography - The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman (2012)". Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  5. A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman at Metacritic Retrieved 15 July 2013
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