A hardy welcome to all for Day 3 of A
Week of Gilliam. I will explain that I am glossing over or simply
skipping Brazil. I found it pretentious at best. I know many a
Gilliam fan will state I didn't get it and that is fine. Moving on
to today's film brings us tall tales, absurd notions and odd
happenings so we are guaranteed to be entertained. Our story tells
the tale of an 18th century aristocrat, his collective
henchmen and a little girl attempt to thwart the Turks. This is The
Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
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| Surely a men among men. |
With a small town under siege from the
Turks shelling them day after day, food shortage and next to no arms
to defend themselves, the good people retreat to the theater. Yes
that does sound a bit daft but come on, these people are depressed,
drained and possibly dying. They could use the distraction. The
town is war torn thanks to "The Age of Reason" as the
Turkish army is merely outside the city gates poised to overthrow the
governing body, the mayor, The Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson
(Jonathan Pryce of Roger Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Something
Wicked This Way Comes, Brazil, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Selling Hitler,
Glengarry Glen Ross, Tomorrow Never Dies and Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), a man who is such a
tit, he orders the death of a soldier performing feats of heroism
worthy of legend and song so not to undermine the rest of morale
amongst the troops. What!?! WHAT!?!! FYI, our brave soldier was
played by Sting. Moving on, the performance continues until it is
interrupted by an elderly man claiming to be the true Baron
Munchausen (John Neville of A Study in Terror, The Company of
Five, The First Churchills, The Adventures of Gerard, Grand, By Way
of the Stars, Little Women, Silver Surfer, The X-Files and Crime and
Punishment) and he establishes that the Sultan and he were
very close at one time where only his incredible luck is what saved
his life time and time again.
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| Uh-oh Eric Idle has poop face. |
Among his own abilities he has some
astounding assistants such as: Berthold (Eric Idle of Monty
Python's Flying Circus, The Odd Job, Life of Brian, Monty Python Live
at the Hollywood Bowl, The Meaning of Life, Yellowbeard, The
Transformers: The Movie, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Nearly
Departed, Discworld, Discworld II: Mortality Bytes!, Hercules,
Suddenly Susan and Ella Enchanted)
the fastest man alive, Adolphus (Charles McKeown
of Brazil, Erik the Viking, Life of Brian, American Friends, The
Young Indiana Chronicles and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus)
a rifleman with extrordinary eyesight, Gustavus (Jack
Purvis of Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Crystal, Return of
the Jedi, Brazil, Labyrinth, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,
Oingo Boingo: Skeletons in the Closet and The Silver Chair)
a dwarf with super hearing and enough lung power to drop an army on
its back with one deep exhalation and the superhuman strength of
Albrecht (Winston Dennis of Wolcott, Time
Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Nuns on the Run
and The Commitments).
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| Allons-y!!! |
Gunfire
disrupts the Baron's story and Jackson has the contract for the
acting troupe canceled due to the Baron. The Baron is about to end
it all when the troupe and theater company's daughter Sally Salt
(Sarah Polley of Blue Monkey, The Adventures of
Baron Munchausen, Ramona, Exotica, Avonlea, eXistenZ, Go, The Life
Before This, Dawn of the Dead, Slings and Arrows and Splice)
pleads for him to end this war and bring down the Turks. With a
rogue cannonball flight later, it is off to make a hot air balloon
out of ladies' knickers. Thankfully loads of bloomers rather than
some silk or satin thongs or you would be sewing for months.
A
quick trek to the moon to find Berthold as we find he has angered the
King of the Moon (the late, great
Robin Williams of Mork & Mindy, Moscow on the
Hudson, The Fisher King, Hook, Aladdin, The Birdcage, Good Will
Hunting, Happy Feet, Night at the Museum and The Big Wedding)
giving Berthold got a wee bit frisky the Queen of the Moon, the
unlikely trio land safely on Earth after a few issues in time to
attend a party where the Roman God Vulcan (the
late Sir Oliver Reed of Oliver!, The Three Musketeers, The Four
Musketeers, Tommy, Condorman, Funny Bones, The Bruce and Gladiator)
and he and his lovely wife Venus (Uma Thurman of
Pulp Fiction, Gattaca, Batman & Robin, Beautiful Girls, The Truth
About Cats & Dogs, Tape, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Paycheck, Kill Bill:
Vol. 2, Be Cool, The Producers, Motherhood, Percy Jackson & the
Olympians: The Lighting Thief and Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair)
finding Albrecht and off they go again due to Vulcan's insane
jealousy towards any man dare give a second glance to Venus.
Dropped in the South Seas and swallowed by a massive creature of the
sea, our heroes find Gustavus, Adolphus and even the Baron's horse
Bucephalus. A bit of snuff later as the lot are sneezed free of the
leviathan, the crew tells the Baron they are far too old and tired
for such adventuring nonsense and he gives them an earful about diligence and duty to no avail. There is nothing more he can do
but surrender directly to the Sultan. Can the amazing associates
save the Baron??? Will the Angel of Death visit the Baron for the
final time???
With
a budget of $23 million bumped to $35 for final costs and
post-production this odd film of an older man reminiscing about
adventures long since past out for one more journey to death and
glory. Sadly with special camera effects, explosive pyrotechnics,
scale modeling and trick photography it only managed $8 million in
the US box office due to Columbia Pictures very limited print
release. They apparently were fed up with the complaints of Gilliam,
the budget jumping back and forth, his negligence to Sarah Polley who
was nine at the time stuck in ice cold water for prolong periods of
time for better footage and working his people through the wringer to
establish that one perfect performance or shot. Pythoner Eric
Idle's thoughts were very simple. Go see the Gilliam movie for its brilliance, DON'T be in them because it is f**king madness!!!
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| Seem to be lacking a bit of plumage, sir. |
