A Liar’s Autobiography artwork exhibited at BFI Southbank, January 2013“The best film I’ve been in since I died,” trumpets the poster for A Liar’s Autobiography, Monty Python’s Graham Chapman thereby giving dubious posthumous approval to an irreverent 3D animated version of his heavily fictionalised 1980 memoir.
Featuring the voices of four of the surviving Pythons, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, and archive recordings of the voice of “the dead one” narrating his autobiography shortly before his death, this unconventional biopic uses 14 different animation styles to trace Chapman’s life from his childhood to worldwide fame.
To celebrate its preview as the opening night of LOCO London, a four-day celebration of comedy films, BFI Southbank is hosting a free exhibition of the props, stills and Gilliam-esque models created for the film, showcasing the work of British animation houses like Peepshow, Trunk and Cake who helped bring Chapman’s “untrue” story to life.
