A Liar’s Autobiography | Review

A Gay Old Time: Documentary/Animation Hybrid a Loving, Original Tribute

Co-directors Bill Jones, Jeff Simpson, and Ben Timlett (two of which were involved with a 2009 documentary series on Monty Python) have managed to create a stupendously odd and entertaining 3D animated film, A Liar’s Autobiography, that’s both an homage to and grossly exaggerated glance at the life of Graham Chapman, renowned member of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. While Chapman passed away in 1989 from throat cancer, this animated feature utilizes his voice from tapes he made in 1986 from the narration of his own book “A Liar’s Autobiography: Volume VI” (taped in Harry Nilsson’s studio).

We’re introduced to an animated version of Chapman, performing as Oscar Wilde on stage opposite close friend and colleague, John Cleese. Forgetting his next line, a spaceship beams through the roof and scoops him up into a newly animated form, and we’re off down a hyperbolized history of Chapman’s life. Born during an air raid in 1941 England to working class parents, Chapman acknowledges formative experiences, including his youth as an avid reader, discovering his homosexuality, and most importantly, his entrance into Cambridge, where he would meet his close friends Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Eric Idle and form what would famously become Monty Python. After meeting his partner, David Sherlock, Chapman was out and proud as a gay man during a time when most were afraid to do so. While Chapman shares plenty of details concerning his sexual escapades, there’s also frank discussions concerning his alcoholism (four pints of gin a day!). And several segments don’t back away from the morose and uncomfortably grotesque (like bloody limbs littering the landscape during the War time air raids). The voices of all the old Monty Python members (with the exception of Idle) are included throughout, where they either voice themselves or multiple characters, with each segment or vignette highlighting portions and moments of Chapman’s entertaining and comical life.

Beyond managing to be a loving homage to one of the prominent members of Monty Python, A Liar’s Autobiography also manages to be an enthralling artistic achievement. While it employs appropriate use of 3D technology, its real asset is the hybrid animation styles and techniques. Every few minutes, the animation completely changes as new animation companies crafted a different segment, blended seamlessly together (15, all told). While Chapman may have passed away in 1989, it’s hard to imagine an earlier film treatment of his life managing to be so frank, embracing and entertaining about his sexuality. This is decidedly not a documentary and makes no claims to be factual, but A Liar’s Autobiography is cutting edge animation that’s a loving tribute to an intelligent, hilarious man.

There may perhaps not be an ounce of truth to the life portrayed on screen, but there’s a rich comic history it draws upon, and fans of Monty Python or those in the know, may get even more from this fascinating film than those unfamiliar with Chapman and his work. A strange hybrid of form and technique (not to mention Cameron Diaz as the voice of Sigmund Freud) A Liar’s Autobiography is an odd, charming celebration.

Reviewed on September 8th at the 2012 Toronto Int. Film Festival – Special Presentations Programme – 82 mins.