The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Year:  1988

Director:  Terry Gilliam

Screenplay:  Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown

Starring:  John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, Jonathan Pryce, Robin Williams, Valentina Cortese

Running Time:  126 minutes

Genre:  Fantasy, adventure, comedy

 

The 18th Century, "The Age of Reason":  A European city is under siege.  As battle rages, the flamboyant, eccentric Baron Munchausen (Neville) offers to rescue the city, but first has to reunite his disparate group of superpowered assistants.  The Baron sets off, along with young stowaway Sally (Polley), on a surreal adventure.

Inspired by a real-life figure from the 18th century, who became something of a celebrity for spinning outlandish tall tales about his various exploits, Baron Munchausen has appeared in books, plays, radio and television shows as well as several other films.  It's easy to imagine that director Terry Gilliam probably saw more than a little of himself in the figure of the outlandish Baron, who refuses to accept reality for what it is.  Best known for his part of the Monty Python comedy troupe, Gilliam had already made a name for himself with bizarre, outlandish fantasy films, and for his refusal to compromise his vision.  Gilliam's epic struggle with Universal over the final cut of Brazil (1985) had already become the stuff of Hollywood legend.  With it's intricate puzzle box structure, tales within tales within tales, and audacious visuals and freewheeling plot, as well as the constant feeling of barely suppressed anarchy, this is a kind of Hollywood filmmaking that we are unlikely to see again, a big budget epic in service to one person's vision and imagination.  Terry Gilliam was a director who really put everything at the service of his film, regardless of the cost and it is unlikely that in modern Hollywood he would be given this much freedom again.  This may not entirely be a bad thing.  Sarah Polley, who was nine years old at the time of filming, has written that she was terrified and exhausted the whole time she worked on the film.  Although she did give her blessing for people to still watch and enjoy the film, and commented that it was still "a great film".  Even Gilliam's fellow Python Eric Idle commented that, in regard to Terry Gilliam films, "you don't want to be in them".  The film itself is a fantastic epic.  It doesn't always work, there are slow passages, and it doesn't always hang together, but there are also indelible images and delightfully bizarre moments, as well as plenty of offbeat cameos, including Robin Williams as the King of the Moon, with a detachable flying head; Oliver Reed at his most satanic as the Roman god Vulcan, depicted here as an arms manufacturer dwelling in a volcano and building a prototype of nuclear bomb; and Uma Thurman making her film debut as Venus. Right from the start where the Baron bursts in upon a theatrical depiction of his story where the cardboard sets become a lavish Sultan's palace, the film is unexpected, and sometimes disturbingly eccentric.   Gilliam saw the film as the third part of a loose "Trilogy of Imagination" beginning with Time Bandits (1981) and continuing with Brazil (1985).  

John Neville and Sarah Polley in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

      

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Year of Release:  1975
Directors:  Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
Screenplay:  Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
Starring:  Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
Running Time:  92 minutes
Genre:  Comedy

England, 963 AD:  King Arthur (Chapman) searches for the bravest and most noble knights to join him at his court at Camelot.  After eventually deciding not to go to Camelot after all because "it is a silly place", Arthur and his knights are visited by God who gives them the quest to find the Holy Grail.  On their way they will face rude French soldiers, the Knights who say "Ni", the almost certain temptations of Castle Anthrax and the world's most lethal fluffy bunny rabbit, to say nothing of the deadly Beast of Aaaargh!

This was the second film from British comedy troupe Monty Python, who rose to fame with the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1974).  Their first film, And Now for Something Completely Different (1971), was really a compendium of sketches from the TV series that were reshot on a slightly higher budget.  Holy Grail departs form the sketch format of the TV series by having an actual plot, albeit a very loose one.  The episodic nature of a quest narrative makes it perfect for a string of loosely connected sketches, it gives the Python team an opportunity to riff on and play around with anything they like as long as it is vaguely connected to the Middle-Ages.  This is a film where the gags start right at the opening credits, and keep coming thick and fast throughout.  Full of endlessly quotable lines that have kept schoolkids and office bores going for over forty years, this is one of the best comedies ever made.  It does have slow patches, and some jokes work better than others, but mostly it's an absolute treat.  The film is also visually strong, despite a minuscule budget, with an appropriately filthy Medieval look, and some impressive fight scenes, as well as terry Gilliam's distinctive surreal animations.

Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Michael Palin in Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Monty Python's Life of Brian

Year of Release:  1979
Director:  Terry Jones
Screenplay:  Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Starring:  Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Micheal Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Running Time:  94 minutes
Genre:  Comedy

Led by a star, Three Wise Men come to praise a child born in a stable.  However, they quickly realise they want to praise the baby born in the stable next door.  The first baby, Brian Cohen (Chapman), grows to manhood in Roman occupied Judea.  Fiercely resenting the Romans, Brian joins the hopelessly over-organized People's Front of Judea, who spend more time bickering amongst themselves and squabbling with rival revolutionary factions than fighting the Romans.
Meanwhile a series of accidents lead to Brian being proclaimed as a Messiah, much to his distress.

This was hugely controversial in it's day, and still is in some places, with the film being accused of blasphemy, although while the film does poke fun at organised religion, as well as political groups, it actually treats Biblical figures fairly respectfully.  The Pythons themselves have frequently said that the film is not blasphemous nor was it ever intended to be.
What it is, is very funny.  It's often regarded today as one of the best comedies ever made.  As is frequently the case with Monty Python the humour ranges from juvenile, schoolyard humour (a character called Biggus Dickus) to the quite sophisticated (the Romans criticising Brian's Latin grammar when he graffiti tags a building), and some classic lines that have become popular among comedy nerds all over the world (Brian's mother (played by Terry Jones) angrily yelling to his followers:  "He's not the Messiah!  He's a very naughty boy!").  There is also a bizarre sequence where, escaping from the Romans, Brian falls off an unfinished tower straight into a passing spaceship where two, one-eyed aliens take him for a ride, get involved in a brief outer-space battle, before crashing at the base of the tower.  The film also contains the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", which has become quite a hit in it's own right.
The film, shot in Tunisia on a very low budget, mostly put up by ex-Beatle and Monty Python fan George Harrison, is well made.  It has a stronger plot than other Python films, feeling less like a bunch of sketches strung together, and for the first time has some genuine emotion rather than non-stop gags.  Graham Chapman has most of the straight acting to do as the lead, with most of the other characters being played by the Python's in multiple roles, including several of the female parts (most notably Terry Jones as Brian's angry mother).  Sue Jones-Taylor (who would go on to become the Mayor of Aberystwyth)  has the most prominent female role as Judith, Brian's love interest.  The film also has less of Terry Gilliam's distinctive animation, which only appears here in the opening credits sequence, although Gilliam did create the spaceship sequence.
This is Monty Python's finest moment, and one of the greatest comedies ever made.

Graham Chapman in Monty Python's Life of Brian