Life of Brian tops film poll

MONTY PYTHON’S Life of Brian has topped a poll of favourite British films.

The 1979 movie, starring Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman and John Cleese, squeezed The Full Monty (1997), about strip-teasing steel workers into second place.

Romantic comedy Four Weddings and A Funeral (1994), starring Hugh Grant, is third.

Trainspotting, the gritty 1996 film that shot Ewan McGregor to fame, was next, followed by 1962 screen classic Lawrence of Arabia.

Shaun of the Dead (2004), a spoof romantic comedy about zombies, came sixth.

The top 10 is completed by Withnail & I (1987), Brief Encounter (1945), Zulu (1964), and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).

A total of 2,500 people voted for the survey on www.radiotimes.com.

Film Critic Barry Norman tells the Radio Times that Monty Python’s Life of Brian is “hard to justify” as the greatest British film of all time.

But he adds that the list “suggests that support for British films, ancient and modern, still flourishes, and that is most encouraging”.

The top ten best British films

1. Monty Python’s Life of Brian

2. The Full Monty

3. Four Weddings and a Funeral

4. Trainspotting

5. Lawrence of Arabia

6. Shaun of the Dead

7. Withnail & I

8. Brief Encounter

9. Zulu

10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail