Aberystwyth is a small and lovely market town in Ceredigion, Mid Wales. Its name in English means “The Mouth of the River Ystwyth” and the town's population is swollen, as rivers sometimes are by a yearly flood. Each September the town's twelve thousand strong population is increased by another seven thousand as students return or join the University that is located there.
Little happens there of note to the outside world and that is, to a greater extent, how the locals like it. It has a golf course, a funicular railway and a marina, all signs of a settled and peaceful community. The local people are traditional in their language - which is Welsh - and their religion. Strong non-conformist Christians, the people of Aberystwyth worship simply but profoundly.
So, when in 1979 Monty Python released their film “The Life of Brian”, a somewhat naughty take on Jerusalem in Biblical times and following the travails and tribulations of a young man mistaken for the Messiah (the eponymous Brian), trouble was afoot. The film had already provoked a strong reaction from Christian groups the world over who were dismayed at its flippant tone and many indeed saw it as a form of heresy or even blasphemy. The film saw the debut of a promising young actress, Sue Jones-Davies, who played Brian's some-time girlfriend, Judith.
When the cinema in Aberystwyth applied to the council for a license to show the film it was unequivocally denied. This was no film for Aberystwyth and that is how it has stayed. This one horse town (with considerably more sheep) was not for turning and the ban has stayed in place ever since then. Until now.
The local Mayor is none other than Sue Jones-Davies, the young actress who got her first real break all those years ago in The Life of Brian. Now, in her position of power, she is making a plea to local councilors to lift the ban and arrange a viewing in the local cinema. It's a debt she feels she has to pay to the great professional opportunities the film enabled her to pursue.
Jones-Davies, divorced from Actor Chris Langham who was jailed in 2007 for child sex offences and the mother of his three grown up children, is hoping that her position as Councilor and Mayor, representing the Plaid Cymru (Party for Wales) political party, might lead the way to a reconciliation between the town and the three decade old film.
Professing to be astonished that the ban is still in place, the part-time yoga teacher is hoping that an upcoming vote of the council will lift the censorship that took place half her life time ago. It is hoped that the people of Aberystwyth will be given a showing of the film, with the proceeds going to charity. It can only be hoped that they enjoy it, finally.
One wonders if they know that he dies in the end.
