Director Terry Gilliam makes the unattainable occur. A harmless-looking rabbit can flip right into a vicious, man-eating monster. A gaggle of time-traveling dwarves might burst out of a kid’s bed room closet whereas being pursued by a God-like Supreme Being. An 18th-century folkloric German nobleman might waltz with the goddess Venus via the clouds.
That spirit of surrealism defines Gilliam and his movies, emboldening them with a sense that something and the whole lot is feasible. His motion pictures explode with creativeness, bursting with artistic concepts, characters, dialogue, and imagery the likes of which audiences have seldom seen earlier than or since.
With what number of incredible movies Gilliam has made over time, we thought it solely becoming to discover his dense filmography, rating each Terry Gilliam film from greatest to worst.
1. Brazil
In a dystopian future, Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a low-ranking, unambitious workplace drone vulnerable to daydreaming as a type of escape. After seeing a lady in his desires (Kim Greist), Sam wades via his oppressive world in an effort to find her.
Paying homage to the dystopian works of Huxley, Kafka, and Orwell, and the absurdist type of Monty Python, Vonnegut, and Fellini, Gilliam put the whole lot he had into this movie, a triumphant feat of creativity, as seen with the surreal setting, costumes, characters, and story.
On this movie, Gilliam takes intention at the whole lot from expertise, capitalism, and the company office to fascism and hyper-surveillance. It is a good instance of a satirical work, and although it could have underperformed upon its launch in 1985, it has since gone on to attain excessive acclaim in subsequent years, with critics rightfully praising Brazil as the greatest Terry Gilliam film.
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Maybe probably the most quoted film in existence, there is a motive individuals nonetheless discuss Holy Grail 50 years after its launch. It is intelligent, sharp, sarcastic, and gives continuous laughs all through — all traits you’ll look forward to finding in a Monty Python mission, and definitely on show right here.
Set within the Center Ages, King Arthur (Graham Chapman) recruits his Knights of the Spherical Desk to embark on a protracted, epic quest to seek out the Holy Grail, encountering quite a few obstacles within the type of man-eating rabbits, socialist peasants, insult-hurling French rivals, and the unrelenting, overconfident Black Knight.
In a film that appears like a number of Python sketches stitched collectively via a number of overarching plot threads, Holy Grail is Monty Python at their peak, stuffed with side-splitting meta-humor and surreal set items.
Co-directed by Gilliam with Python member Terry Jones, the film might really feel extra like a Python or Jones movie than it does a Gilliam mission (maybe it is becoming that Jones assumed solo directorial duties within the two subsequent Python movies, Lifetime of Brian and The Which means of Life). Nevertheless delicate Gilliam’s directorial contact is, his stylistic affect is unmistakable, together with scenes that characteristic his distinct animation carried over from Flying Circus.
Regardless of his co-directorial standing, Holy Grail by the way stays maybe Gilliam’s hottest work, and one you’ll be able to’t assist however take pleasure in for his light-hearted humor and satirization of Arthurian legend.
3. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Within the 18th century, an unnamed European metropolis faces endless bombardment whereas beneath siege by the Ottoman Empire. Their solely hope of survival rests with the titular Baron Munchausen (John Neville), who joins a younger lady (Sarah Polley) in an effort to reform his previous band of former comrades that takes them on a incredible odyssey throughout seas, via mountains, and actually to the moon and again.
Like different Gilliam protagonists (Robin Williams in The Fisher King, Jonathan Pryce in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote), Gilliam manages to painting the in any other case larger-than-life, overly-imaginative Baron as profoundly human — an aged man a bygone period of fantasy that has no place on this new “Age of Cause” he finds himself in.
For a family-friendly film, it has its share of disappointment and sentimentality but in addition explodes with Gilliam’s signature creative absurdity, bolstered by a incredible forged (together with the abilities of Neville, Pryce, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, Robin Williams, and Eric Idle) and spectacular visuals that make every scene really feel like an 1800s political cartoon.
4. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Regardless of his fame and fortune, promoting director Toby Grummett (Adam Driver) nonetheless is not happy from a creative or private standpoint. Exploring a close-by village the place he filmed his scholar mission — an adaptation of Don Quixote utilizing locals as forged members — Toby meets the previous man he forged within the main function (Jonathan Pryce), who believes he’s Don Quixote and errors Toby for his loyal squire, Sauncho Paza.
Taking a look at Gilliam’s previous filmography, it looks as if his ardour for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote leaked into his different initiatives, given the thematic similarities between Quixote and Gilliam’s quite a few different movies all through the ’90s and 2000s’ (The Fisher King, Tideland, and Physician Parnassus). You can additionally see a robust resemblance between Quixote and Gilliam’s beloved “Creativeness” trilogy, that includes a personality (Pryce’s Quixote) who escapes into his personal fantasies with the intention to escape from a sobering, miserable actuality.
All in all, Gilliam’s Quixote is probably not the perfect Terry Gilliam film, however it’s gratifying to know that Gilliam managed to satisfy his longtime dream of ending his mission — one thing he’d been working in direction of for over 30 years.
5. Time Bandits
Imaginative eleven-year-old Kevin (Craig Warnock) lives a life ignored by his idiotic, technology-obsessed mother and father. Eager for journey, Kevin joins a band of time-traveling dwarves who stumble out of his closet. Collectively, the group embarks on an journey throughout quite a few time intervals, encountering quite a few figures just like the height-obsessed Napoleon (Ian Holm), an air-headed Robin Hood (John Cleese), and the personification of Evil (David Warner).
Written by fellow Python member and frequent collaborator Michael Palin (who additionally seems on this film), Time Bandits is Gilliam at his best — a film brimming with ingenuity, nonstop motion, spectacular animation and particular results, and agreeable characters. It has wit, coronary heart, and a narrative that attracts in viewers of all ages, in addition to containing social critiques touching upon expertise and paperwork (frequent targets in any Gilliam film).
The primary movie in Gilliam’s “Creativeness” trilogy that might later embrace Brazil and The Adventures of Munchausen, Time Bandits earned reward upon its launch, drawing favorable comparisons to the work of Roald Dahl for its humor, originality, and offbeat, darkish ending.
6. The Fisher King
Following his career-high within the Nineteen Eighties, Gilliam kicked the ’90s off along with his Arthurian fantasy drama, The Fisher King.
Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) is a once-promising, Howard Stern-esque disc jockey who faces a private {and professional} disaster when he not directly causes a tragedy in New York. Years later, as Jack struggles to rebuild his life, he meets a homeless man (Robin Williams) who believes he’s a knight on a quest to seek out the Holy Grail.
With a number of overarching themes and similarities, The Fisher King appears like a dramatic precursor to Gilliam’s later The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. (Since Fisher King is the mission Gilliam labored on as he struggled to make Quixote, the similarities is probably not so incidental.)
Each movies characteristic a narcissistic however profitable character (Bridges on this movie, Adam Driver in Quixote) going through a disaster that halts their profession, and who encounters somebody they influenced in a roundabout way to stay out medieval fantasies to flee from a somber actuality. Nevertheless comparable the 2 plots are, Gilliam nonetheless takes pains to make every movie distinctive in their very own manner, with The Fisher King mixing parts of magical realism, a romantic comedy, and a heist film multi function, in addition to offering social commentary on New York’s class construction.
The film additionally provides a humane and heartfelt depiction of New York Metropolis’s homeless, with the wealthy, profitable Yuppies showing sad or able to unbelievable cruelty in direction of the homeless, the homeless themselves being their ethical and moral superiors in each manner.
7. Concern and Loathing in Las Vegas
Gilliam has taken parts and inspiration from a number of pre-existing sources earlier than — the obvious being Cervantes’s Don Quixote — but he by no means tailored a pre-existing work earlier than till his 1998 psychedelic comedy, Concern and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Taken roughly faithfully from Hunter S. Thompson’s well-known ebook of the identical title, eccentric sports activities journalist and Thompson stand-in, Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp), travels to Las Vegas to cowl an task. Joined by his unstable legal professional, Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro), the 2 embark on a collection of drug-fueled misadventures as they discover their environment.
On the floor, you would not suppose such a drug-centric ebook about two oddball characters vulnerable to matches of violence is appropriate to Gilliam’s abilities — given the topic, setting, and his previous filmography, somebody like Martin Scorsese might have been a extra supreme alternative for director.
Nevertheless, given how off-the-wall insane Thompson’s two foremost leads are, Gilliam might have been the proper alternative for adapting such a wierd, psychedelic novel for a movie adaptation. Translating the hellish panorama and already off-kilter nature of each Las Vegas and Thompson’s unique ebook onto the display, Gilliam managed to to retain Thompson’s chaotic scenes, characters, and setting and mix them along with his signature uncommon type of filmmaking.
8. The Imaginarium of Physician Parnassus
From 2003 to 2016, Gilliam made a number of makes an attempt to launch his dream mission, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, with every effort ending in failure. His ambition and enthusiasm for Don Quixote might have blunted Gilliam’s creative sensibilities throughout this era, leading to movies (The Brothers Grimm, Tideland, The Zero Theorem) that did not stay as much as the esteem of his earlier work.
One of the best film from that interval stays Gilliam’s 2009 mission, The Imaginarium of Physician Parnassus, a return to kind and the surreal ventures Gilliam had constructed his status making.
A struggling touring theatrical troupe led by the magician Physician Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), rescues a disgraced philanthropist named Tony (Heath Ledger) hanging beneath a bridge by his neck. Taking him in, Tony joins the troupe of their efforts to gather 5 souls to avoid wasting Parnassus’s daughter (Lily Cole) from the Satan (a suave, pencil-mustachioed Tom Waits).
The film itself provides an entertaining sufficient story, with loads of intelligent twists, thriller, and incredible visuals (a spotlight of any of Gilliam’s movies). It may be upsetting figuring out the movie comprises Ledger’s closing efficiency, however Physician Parnassus nonetheless stays top-of-the-line, most unique movies in Gilliam’s complete profession, and ranks amongst his strongest efforts for the reason that flip of the century.
9. Jabberwocky
After Monty Python’s Flying Circus led to 1974, the comedy troupe turned their consideration in direction of their particular person careers, reforming once in a while to collaborate on a mission collectively. Within the interim between their first two movies (Holy Grail and Lifetime of Brian), Gilliam — like each Python — set out on his personal, pursuing a directorial profession after assembly success co-directing Holy Grail with Terry Jones.
In Gilliam’s solo debut, Jabberwocky, a clueless, harmless younger cooper’s assistant (Michael Palin) is shunned by his father and relocates to a medieval metropolis. As soon as there, he turns into the unwilling hero of the townspeople, pressured to battle a fearsome monster plaguing the countryside.
In its subject material and tone, Jabberwocky feels extra as very similar to a Python movie as a Gilliam film, full with appearances by Python members and frequent collaborators like Terry Jones, Neil Innes, and naturally, Palin. Although the Darkish Age setting is harking back to Holy Grail, the film seems to be totally different and has a much less nonsensical humorousness as Holy Grail.
Whereas Holy Grail does a very good job satirizing Arthurian legend, Jabberwocky additionally appears extra involved with portraying the extra lifelike, dirty elements of dwelling within the Darkish Ages — with characters having brown tooth, defecating and urinating out home windows, and everybody (together with the King) showing unkempt filthy.
In quite a few methods, Jabberwocky appears like an vital bridge in Gilliam’s profession, a stepping stone from the lighthearted humor of his Monty Python days into the extra satirical thematic territory of his later movies. Lots of the parts Gilliam later explored are all there — the social criticism of sophistication and energy — and although it is probably not as humorous or have the identical magical realism as Gilliam’s later work, it stays an attention-grabbing sufficient debut effort.
10. 12 Monkeys
Within the close to future, the world will probably be devastated by a man-made virus that has worn out many of the human inhabitants, forcing the survivors to stay underground. As a part of his parole, a prisoner (Bruce Willis) is assigned to return in time to 1996 to gather details about how the virus started, tracing it again to an unstable environmental terrorist (Brad Pitt).
Far and away Gilliam’s highest-grossing movie of his profession, 12 Monkeys appears like it could have probably the most viewers attraction, riffing on the recognition of time journey post-Terminator and mixing with it a few of Gilliam’s favourite themes (authoritarianism, ravaged pure ecosystems, and people struggling to stay beneath bureaucratic societies).
Gilliam’s creativeness shines via in some scenes — all the post-apocalyptic future is dripping with Gilliam’s creative design — however for probably the most half, this looks as if the type of film a director makes that he is aware of will probably be a industrial success and that he is in a position to capitalize on for future initiatives. It’s not a foul or unremarkable film by any means, but it surely lacks the identical appeal and distinct imaginative and prescient as Gilliam’s different initiatives, therefore its low score on his listing.
11. Tideland
Say what you’ll about Terry Gilliam and his work, however even the harshest critics can admit that every of his movies burst with creativity. Regardless of his movie’s imaginative high quality and distinctive path, nevertheless, not all of them lead to altogether incredible movies, with Gilliam’s 2005 movie, Tideland, being an ideal instance of this.
Deserted by her household, a precocious younger lady (Jodelle Ferland) survives on her personal in an deserted Texas mansion, escaping her grim actuality by venturing into her vivid creativeness.
Although possessing the identical vivid artistry and sense of creativeness as Gilliam’s different movies, Tideland buckles beneath the load of Gilliam’s considerable themes (psychological well being, familial relationships, and substance abuse, amongst others). Overstuffed and overlong, it’s a movie the place Gilliam might’ve achieved extra with much less, slicing the runtime right down to a manageable hour and a half and nonetheless retaining the Alice in Wonderland-esque ambiance he tries so laborious to ascertain.
12. The Brothers Grimm
Gilliam’s most underwhelming movie, The Brothers Grimm is little greater than a sensationalized monster movie bearing little of Gilliam’s signature creativeness. Strive as he would possibly to ascertain a magical tone, Gilliam’s lack of appeal is obvious in The Brothers Grimm, which is about as hole and empty a movie as Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters or 2011’s Purple Using Hood.
Having made their profession as supposed “monster hunters,” the sibling con artists generally known as the Brothers Grimm (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger) should fight a mysterious creature answerable for kidnapping dozens of youngsters.
At first look, The Brothers Grimm looks as if an appropriate premise for Gilliam’s strengths as a director. Whereas the film might’ve been a fantasy epic on par with Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, the ensuing movie relied on too many conventions and cliches, establishing itself as one in every of Gilliam’s most underwhelming movies so far.
13. The Zero Theorem
In 2013, Gilliam concluded his unofficial trilogy of movies with The Zero Theorem, finishing Gilliam’s dystopian collection beginning with Brazil and persevering with with 12 Monkeys (generally known as the “Orwellian triptych”). In comparison with the trilogy’s earlier installments, nevertheless, The Zero Theorem may be seen as a disappointing closing chapter in Gilliam’s loosely linked sci-fi saga.
In a dystopian future, a lone pc scientist (Christoph Waltz) makes an attempt to decipher a troublesome mathematical formulation to find out whether or not life holds any that means or not.
Posing a wide range of introspective questions, The Zero Theorem retains the identical philosophical themes and quirky ambiance as Gilliam’s earlier movies. For all its originality, the film does little to set itself other than Gilliam’s rather more partaking movies from the primary half of his profession.