So who is my favorite director? Terry Gilliam. Why? Well… sit back with a nice hot cup of cocoa and let me tell you…
We are told to grow up. We are taught that life isn’t fair. We are given a set of rules and forced to obey them without question. We are expected to understand. The problem wasn’t that I did not understand. I did understand. I just didn’t accept it. Some of these rules made no sense. They had nothing to do with the “good” of the people or the rights of all living things. They catered to the selfish wants and needs of specific groups and self-important individuals. Time to face the real world.
Reality, apparently, was like a hungry, unwavering animal and I was expected to just stand there and let it rip me apart, chew me, swallow me, digest me and poop me out. And be grateful. F**k that!
How’s that hot chocolate?
It started with a question. When I was a young lad (lets say around 10 or 11) I asked my mother, “What is the funniest movie you have ever seen?” She thought about it for almost two whole seconds and answered, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” I was intrigued. Who was this Monty Python guy and why was he searching for the cup of Christ? Even more intriguing… why was that so funny? I had to know. I begged and I pleaded to go to the video rental place. We went, she rented and we drove back home. I had, in my hands, a copy of what my mother believed to be… THE FUNNIEST MOVIE IN THE WORLD. We placed it in the VCR. Tracking was adjusted. Warnings were read and understood. It began. What the hell is this crap? My mother was in tears. Her whole body was convulsing with laughter. I didn’t get it. Aside from the Black Knight scene and the killer bunny, I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever watched. That was my introduction to English humor. It was also my initiation into the twisted world Monty Python. And I had just witnessed the work of the man who would later become my favorite director.
In 1991 or thereabouts, I had gone to the movies with a group of friends from high school. We were all big Robin Williams fans at the time and decided to go see his latest film… The Fisher King. I thought it was amazing. It was a very dark film but somewhere within that chaotic story of guilt, redemption, loss, insanity and the conflict between fantasy and reality, there was something else. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I could feel it but I couldn’t name it.
It also marked the moment where I first got into an analytical discussion about a movie. I can’t remember all the people who went with me that day but I do remember walking outside of the theater and discussing one of the most potent images in the film with my good friend Angella. We talked about the symbolism behind the apparition of the red knight and it’s psychological impact on the Williams character, Parry. We didn’t have all the vocabulary but we had enough. It was fun.
I looked up the director’s name and found a list of his previous endeavors. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Brazil, Time Bandits, Jabberwocky and… huh? Monty Python and the Holy Grail? By that age I was already more familiar with the Pythons. I didn’t know all of their names and I definitely had no idea, which one Terry Gilliam was. After doing a little research, I discovered that, while he did make a few appearances on the show, he was mainly responsible for all the weird animations. I loved those!
After diving into his limited but potent filmography, I was hooked. Munchausen had been based on the legends of an actual German baron. Visually breathtaking, it made me realize that this guy was a technical genius and a master storyteller. Time Bandits had an equal effect. I was devouring every bit of it. As prepared as I thought I was, I was nowhere near ready for… Brazil. This thing blew me out of the water. Too young to truly understand the Kafkaesque criticisms of modern bureaucracy, I could still tell this was a powerful piece of work. I would come to appreciate it in full as an adult. The sickening ballet between zombified public officials and redundant paperwork felt like I was participating in a distorted version of Swan Lake being performed by a group of crippled orangutans on crack.
Needless to say, I awaited each of his subsequent movies with great anticipation. I still do. As an avid moviegoer, I appreciate the fact that he never underestimates his audience. He tells his stories with a matter-of-factness allowing fantasy to merge with reality in the most unconventional ways. He doesn’t spend thousands of hours explaining how the “machine” works, simply that it does. That is a level of trust and respect seldom found in directors nowadays. Granted, there is a certain complexity in the presentations themselves but once you get past the “weirdness” and see the movies as a whole, you begin to feel their underlying message. That said, I would never presume to know what goes on in his brain. I can only speak of what I see, how I interpret and what I feel when I watch them.
Be it an escape through drugs in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or the back and forth race through time in 12 Monkeys, it was always about the struggle; the struggle for happiness within the confines of the “real” world. Even in the documentary Lost in La Mancha you saw Gilliam’s own war against the inevitable as everything, from illness to natural disasters, led to a whole slur of legal banter which ultimately impeded the completion of his Don Quijote film.
When The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was announced, I was thrilled. When Heath Ledger died halfway into production all I could think of was… “Crap!” It was a tragedy to say the least. Ledger was turning out to be a fine actor. It was a brutal loss. Gilliam just seemed to be surrounded by s**t. Here was another film about to be lost to the relentless beast. Thankfully, I am not the only Terry Gilliam fan and Heath had a few good friends as well. Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell stepped in to help complete the movie; a testament to Gilliam’s abilities and Ledger’s talent. But how in the hell was he going to justify four guys playing the same role? The answer… flawlessly. Reality can be a difficult place. It is vicious at times and most people are as insane as the rules they follow. So why bother? Why fight it? Why not just turn my head to the ground and assimilate? Because of the other element in his films. The other soldier in that great war and the reason why fantasy plays such a predominant role in his features. It was that thing I’d felt when I had watched The Fisher King so long ago and the only weapon against the onslaught of the unwavering animal…
Hope.
For his unique vision of the world, his untiring devotion to his craft and for inspiring me to not take life too seriously lest it consume me… he was and still is my favorite director.
So, finish your cocoa and check out his movies when you get a chance. Let me know what you think.
Storytime (short)
The Miracle of Flight (short)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Jabberwocky
Time Bandits
The Crimson Permanent Assurance (short)
Brazil
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Fisher King
Twelve Monkeys
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Brothers Grimm
Tideland
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Legend of Hallowdega (short)
And coming soon… The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Oh and… who are your favorite directors? My cocoa is ready.
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