Terry Gilliam

[paranoid marvin]

On thing I hate about his films is why thye take cruel twist

Time Bandits Why did the kids parent have to die ? Thats just flat out mean.

I think the idea was that although they gave him material things (in fact the whole movie is about material things), they never seemed to have any time for him. Sean Connery's character said that he would adopt Kevin as his own son, and no doubt would have loved and cared for them more than his real parents did.

For me, the end of the movie paves the way for Connery's new persona as a fireman to re-adopt Kevin.

Overall I think that Gilliam's movies require active participation by the audience. In most, you can't simply sit back and say 'entertain me'. He's a very talented and unique director. They aren't usually easy films to watch, and The Fisher King is another - brilliant to watch, but only occasionally as the sensory input is just too high. For me , FK is Robin Williams finest hour as an actor, and arguably 12 Monkeys brought to the fore the manic character we later see in Fight Club.

In film terms, Gilliam is a genius director, and I would definitely place him in the same category as Kubrick. He is an artist, and he has very much brought his artistic nature into his film directing.

 

[BAYLOR]

I think the idea was that although they gave him material things (in fact the whole movie is about material things), they never seemed to have any time for him. Sean Connery's character said that he would adopt Kevin as his own son, and no doubt would have loved and cared for them more than his real parents did.

For me, the end of the movie paves the way for Connery's new persona as a fireman to re-adopt Kevin.

Overall I think that Gilliam's movies require active participation by the audience. In most, you can't simply sit back and say 'entertain me'. He's a very talented and unique director. They aren't usually easy films to watch, and The Fisher King is another - brilliant to watch, but only occasionally as the sensory input is just too high. For me , FK is Robin Williams finest hour as an actor, and arguably 12 Monkeys brought to the fore the manic character we later see in Fight Club.

In film terms, Gilliam is a genius director, and I would definitely place him in the same category as Kubrick. He is an artist, and he has very much brought his artistic nature into his film directing.

One person I would like to have seen him work with on a project is Harlan Ellison.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I like most of his stuff, haven't seen all of his movies. I never understood the appeal Brazil has for others. Love Time Bandits, The Fisher King, and the Baron Munchausen, which was an acquired taste.

 

[CupofJoe]

Terry Gilliam is one of the few directors that I enjoy watching but rarely want to go back and re-watch. Oliver Stone is another.

 

[Harpo]

Today in the charity shop I found a copy of The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, one of the few TG films that I haven’t yet seen.

if it’s raining on my birthday I’ll stay in and watch it.

 

[BAYLOR]

I like most of his stuff, haven't seen all of his movies. I never understood the appeal Brazil has for others. Love Time Bandits, The Fisher King, and the Baron Munchausen, which was an acquired taste.

I so wanted Sam Lowery and Jill Layton to Get away, for real . Why wouldn't Gilliam let Lowery win in the end? Brazil is a great film but, I despise that ending.

 

[asp3]

I so wanted Sam Lowery and Jill Layton to Get away, for real . Why wouldn't Gilliam let Lowery win in the end? Brazil is a great film but, I despise that ending.

In my view he did get away mentally. So even though it was a depressing ending Sam Lowery didn't have to deal with the despair of being captured. I thought it was a perfect ending.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Terry Gilliam films tend not to have upbeat endings.

 

[BAYLOR]

Terry Gilliam films tend not to have upbeat endings.

Indeed.

 

[Toby Frost]

I greatly enjoyed Jabberwocky: it's a very entertaining sequence of events, even if they don't add up to a terrific film. It looks like a medieval picture. Somehow, despite splattered knights and a briefly naked princess, it's a PG. Brazil is good too: it looks amazing. The eye for detail is incredible. I watched Twelve Monkeys again recently, and found it impressive but strangely depressing.

I wish Gilliam had filmed Alice in Wonderland instead of Tim Burton. It would have looked much more interesting and we wouldn't have had to put up with Johnny Depp.

 

[HareBrain]

In my view he did get away mentally. So even though it was a depressing ending Sam Lowery didn't have to deal with the despair of being captured. I thought it was a perfect ending.

I agree. The state and its bureaucracy always wins in the end -- hence Robert do Niro's character getting literally swamped with paperwork and then ceasing to exist, which I thought was a brilliant touch. An upbeat ending would have allowed the audience to go home reassured, which would have negated the point the film was making.

 

[Dan Jones]

I greatly enjoyed Jabberwocky: it's a very entertaining sequence of events, even if they don't add up to a terrific film.

Good summary of Jabberwocky. I remember one review saying that this film was probably as close as any movie has come to capturing the disgusting day-to-day existences of the lives of medieval folk. It certain is grimy.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Good summary of Jabberwocky. I remember one review saying that this film was probably as close as any movie has come to capturing the disgusting day-to-day existences of the lives of medieval folk. It certain is grimy.

Yes, it feels very 'earthy' like some of the earlier parts of 'Excalibur'.

The thing with Jabberwocky though is that Gilliam done it all 2 years earlier - but far funnier - with Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I agree. The state and its bureaucracy always wins in the end -- hence Robert do Niro's character getting literally swamped with paperwork and then ceasing to exist, which I thought was a brilliant touch. An upbeat ending would have allowed the audience to go home reassured, which would have negated the point the film was making.

I agree, it was the only ending it could have been. I admire Gilliam for what he did with Brazil, but it's not a movie I could ever enjoy watching.

But as I mentioned earlier, he makes movies designed to make you think, not for enjoyment. I think that Stanley Kubrick did the same.

 

[asp3]

But as I mentioned earlier, he makes movies designed to make you think, not for enjoyment. I think that Stanley Kubrick did the same.

I disagree. He makes movies that you don't find enjoyable. I enjoy Brazil and love the entire movie (It's #5 on my list of favorite movies) and enjoy watching it. For me the thrill of the escape sequence is wonderful even if we eventually find out it's only in his mind. There are a lot of joyous moments in the film that balance the brutality for me.

I would agree that most people don't enjoy his movies, but I don't think he focuses on making people think at the expense of making enjoyable films.

 

[BAYLOR]

Good summary of Jabberwocky. I remember one review saying that this film was probably as close as any movie has come to capturing the disgusting day-to-day existences of the lives of medieval folk. It certain is grimy.

In Medieval times , the life expectancy was 35.

 

[BAYLOR]

I disagree. He makes movies that you don't find enjoyable. I enjoy Brazil and love the entire movie (It's #5 on my list of favorite movies) and enjoy watching it. For me the thrill of the escape sequence is wonderful even if we eventually find out it's only in his mind. There are a lot of joyous moments in the film that balance the brutality for me.

I would agree that most people don't enjoy his movies, but I don't think he focuses on making people think at the expense of making enjoyable films.

Ive only seen it twice , and that's about it . Its not a film that pleasant to watch and the humor males it even less so. Can you imagine what Terry Gilliam could done have with George Orwell's 1984 , Aldous Huxley's Brave New World , Yevgeny Zamyatin We Stanton Coblentz's In Caverns Below or Bernard Wolfe's novel Limbo ?

 

[paranoid marvin]

I disagree. He makes movies that you don't find enjoyable. I enjoy Brazil and love the entire movie (It's #5 on my list of favorite movies) and enjoy watching it. For me the thrill of the escape sequence is wonderful even if we eventually find out it's only in his mind. There are a lot of joyous moments in the film that balance the brutality for me.

I would agree that most people don't enjoy his movies, but I don't think he focuses on making people think at the expense of making enjoyable films.

Apologies, I think I used the wrong words there. I think that Gilliam's films are wonderful and imaginative, but the themes that he raises (and quite often the downbeat endings) make them hard (at least for me) to enjoy. Gilliam challenges the viewer to be an active participant in his films, making them think and try to rationalise what they are watching, rather than to just sit back and enjoy the ride as you might in a Star Wars or Indiana Jones movie.

Time Bandits is one of my most favourite movies of all time. It's the first I rented from the videostore, and I was mesmerised by the whole thing. As I got older, I appreciated different aspects of the movie, and enjoy perhaps for different reasons. Like many of his movies, the ending asks more questions than it answers, and I think that it could be viewed as both a happy and a sad ending depending on the perspective you view it.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I love some of Terry's films, 12 Monkeys is a particularly good one, I loved Time Bandits as a kid and Fear & Loathing is brilliant, but I have to say that Tideland is one of the worst films I have ever seen, it stars Jeff Bridges but it's main star is a young girl. It is just odd and not very good. It ranks along Innocence (a 2004 French film) as one of the awful films that Sonia has made me watch, but didn't manage to get through herself.

Glad I'm not the only one. I have a very high tolerance for arty films (and bad films for that matter) but I found Tideland unwatchable crap. Fear and Loathing was a great disappointment. I loved the book as a kid and the film was trying too hard to be faithful to it. It was like watching an animated Classics Illustrated. Or an audiobook with pictures. Too much voice-over.
[Brothers Grimm until this thread I had forgotten he'd directed it. I remember thinking 'meh'. Hollywood pot boiler to prove he could stay under budget.
Zero Theorem was Brazil... without whatever it was that made Brazil brilliant.

Not quite Gilliam but I can recommend Lost in La Mancha a documentary that followed Gilliam's first attempt to get Don Quixote in the can. A catalogue of disasters, hope, and wishful thinking that makes a fascinating watch.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I wish Gilliam had filmed Alice in Wonderland instead of Tim Burton. It would have looked much more interesting and we wouldn't have had to put up with Johnny Depp.

We might well have done. Gilliam worked with Depp on the aborted Don Quixote film, Fear and Loathing, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus .