Up today is a set of films from Terry Gilliam. Gilliam, the original animator for the Monty Python troupe (remember all those funny cartoons in The Holy Grail?), he later became a full acting member of the group. After his time on the Monty Python’s Flying Circuis show, he went on to filmmaking, making quite a name for himself. Some of these are a bit “newer” films than I traditionally review, but I’d never seen them before.
Jabberwocky was Gilliam’s first solo director credit (he co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Jones). Filling out the “story” of the short poem inside Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, a poem we had to memorize in school and of which I can still remember parts (“Beware the jubjub bird and shun the frumious bandersnatch!”), the movie stars fellow Monty actor Michael Palin as Dennis. Dennis is a bumbling idiot in the middle ages, trying to get enough money or prestige to gain the attentions of a girl he wants to marry. He travels to the big city for an opportunity, but finds nothing but misery there. Meanwhile, a monster has been killing local villagers and King Bruno the Questionable is looking for a knight to vanquish the beast. I like The Holy Grail and Life of Brian, but I’m otherwise not a huge Monty Python fan, and this film is very much like those skits, which is understandable. At this early point in his career, Gilliam made a film in a style that he was comfortable with. While there are darker elements to the story, it has the same slapstick comedy and inane style of a Python piece. If you are in for silliness, there’s plenty on display here, but that’s about all there is. I laughed plenty, but ultimately I don’t think its a movie I’d watch multiple times.
Time Bandits, from 1981, is a kid adventure/fantasy in the style of many films of this era (a la The Neverending Story). Kevin is tired of his dreary life and his unloving parents, when one night he is visited by a group of dwarfs (ahem, “little people”) who are on a quest to steal from history’s treasures. If God is the architect of the world, these these ageless dwarfs are its builders. Aided by a magical map that shows them holes in space and time, stolen from “The Supreme Being,” they go on an adventure to rob Napolean during his wars and King Agamemnon in ancient Greece, among others. All is not fun and games though, as they also end up on the wrong side of Robin Hood and the Titanic, and all while being pursued by The Supreme Being and “Evil” (the devil), who wants the map for his own dastardly purposes. It’s a fun (and funny) escapade throughout. It’s a definite PG rating, as it never gets too scary for the kids who may be watching, but there is plenty of humor thrown in that will be over their heads. It also is filled with a who’s who cast, including Sean Connery, Ian Holm, Shelley Duvall, John Cleese, Katherine Helmond, David Warner, and R2-D2 himself, Kenny Baker, as one of the troop of anti-heroes. I’m sorry I missed this one as a kid, it’s the kind of film I definitely would have enjoyed.
Time Bandits was Gilliam’s first commercial success, but Brazil has become a much more lasting hit. It wasn’t a success at the box office* (for reasons, see the next paragraph), but has gone on to be a huge cult hit since. A dystopian darker-than-black comedy, it is Monty Python meets 1984. In the near-future where everything is controlled by computers but nothing works, Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce in his breakout role) works at the Ministry of Information, watching over the population and rooting out problems. Sam really cares for people, unlike his cold, heartless, technology-obsessed coworkers and family. A terrorist person or organization has been bombing public places for 13 years now (“beginner’s luck” is the official government response), and meanwhile, Sam is trying to hunt down a girl that he noticed at work and in his dreams, but whose past is classified at his pay scale. The main target of the government is a man named Tuttle, a “rogue” repairman who ignores bureaucracy and goes around fixing AC units without the proper government licenses. When a computer glitch kills a man named Buttle instead of Tuttle, Sam’s investigation into it ultimately leads to his own downfall. The film pokes fun at big government and big technology run amok, but the satire hits a little too close to home, and some of the humor, while hilarious at face value, is a bit disturbing when you consider some of this stuff can really happen today, such as corporations trying to control everything through regulation and paperwork, creating more work in the process. The movie has an all-star cast of Pryce, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Robert DeNiro, Katherine Helmond, and a slew of minor roles for before-they-were-famous actors that you’ll recognize. There are 3 versions of the film out there, including a much-edited “happy ending” version, but I watched the longer “director’s cut” and it was fantastic. Extremely funny but also equally dramatic and at times even suspenseful, this is a tremendous film that I highly recommend. Gilliam hit his stride on this one, making a movie that resonates for the ages.
*The smaller “happy” version was made by the studio without Gilliam’s input, and Gilliam went to bat to protect the film he originally intended. It had all ready been released in Europe to rave reviews and box office success, so he put pressure on the studio (Universal) to release the film as he wanted it. They fought back by delaying its release, but it backfired on them when the Los Angeles Film Critics Association did something unheard of: they awarded all their top prizes (best director, best film, and best screenplay) of 1985 to Brazil, even though it hadn’t even been released in the USA. Ultimately Universal Studios made just a few changes to appease American censors and released the movie, but by then (1986) the hype had cooled and they didn’t recoup their expenses. Fascinating behind-the-scenes stuff.
The Fisher King is one of those newer movies (1991) that I should have seen by now, but never did. Jeff Bridges stars as shock jock Jack Lucas, whose popular show and high class life are thrown away when he says the wrong thing to the wrong caller on his show. The listener ends up doing a mass shooting at a local nightclub in a murder/suicide, and three years later, Jack still hasn’t recovered. He’s blaming his run of bad luck on karma. On a wild night, he meets Perry (Robin Williams). Perry is half crazy and homeless, and it turns out he hasn’t been the same since his wife was murdered right in front of him, at that terrible nightclub tragedy. In helping Perry, Jack thinks he can finally get some good karma, but Perry seems to have unattainable goals. He wants to steal what he thinks is the Holy Grail from a businessman in uptown, and he wants to meet a woman that he has fallen in love with, but whom he hasn’t had the nerve to approach. But first, Perry must conquer his literal demons, as he sees a premonition of a fire breathing red knight on a red horse chasing him whenever he starts to feel some normalcy. Bridges is passable, but it is Robin Williams who shines. He was on a roll at this point in his career (made just after Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society), and he is great here again. Bridges on-screen girlfriend Anne (Mercedes Ruehl) gives the performance of a lifetime as well, and it won her an Oscar. Part comedy, part drama, and with some fantasy thrown in, it’s a very good film, though maybe not-quite-great, and you just hope for a happy ending as it approaches.
So much for saving the best for last. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is total shit. It is unfunny, boring, and probably only interesting for a viewer who is as high as the characters in the film. Based on the famous Hunter S Thompson book of the early 70s, it follows a journalist and his lawyer, Duke and Dr Gonzo (Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro) in their drug-fueled work covering first, a bike race, and later, a narcotics symposium, in the city of sin. The first solid hour is nothing but the duo’s reaction to the world around them as they trip acid, snort coke, and inhale ether. 30 minutes in, Duke dialogues to the viewer (about the bike race), “I had witnessed the start, I was sure of that much. But what now? What comes next?” I was asking myself the same thing. I totally understand the film is a bit of a metaphor on the craziness of the times in which it takes place (1971) and the film, when it is coherent, is definitely anti-war, but man it is a tough watch. How this film has gone on to become a “cult hit” is beyond me. The only bright spot is the acting chops of Depp and Del Toro, who are so good in the roles, you forget who the actors are, but they aren’t enough to save this mess.
Jons Movie Takes 