Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam, Director of ‘Brazil,’ Dies at XXX
Director Terry Gilliam, the only American member of the Monty Python comedy troupe and an Oscar nominee for the screenplay to his film “Brazil,” has died. He was << born 11-22-40>>.
Gilliam directed 12 feature films, often with a baroque look and surreal themes, including “Time Bandits,” “Brazil,” “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” “The Fisher King,” “12 Monkeys,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” His films inspired intense reactions; several were cult classics with devoted followings, but they were generally flawed enough to inspire loathing from those not on the same bawdy, anarchical comedy wavelength.
Gilliam was a part of Monty Python’s Flying Circus from its launch and was first credited as an animator, with his cartoons linking the show’s sketches and defining the group’s image — often moving cutouts from antique photographs. He appeared in several smaller parts such as Cardinal Fang in “The Spanish Inquisition” episode of the series; Patsy in 1975’s “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which he co-directed with Jones; and the jailer in 1979’s “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.”
The first film he directed solo was 1977 cult favorite “Jabberwocky,” adapted from the poem by Lewis Carroll. The Britmovie blog said: “Depending on your mood, this is either a pretentious incoherent mess or a piece of art bristling with images of stark beauty. Although the immortal poem is embraced at the outset, this is more like Lewis Carroll after a very heavy night out with the lads, projecting a totally bizarre, other-worldly quality with the fresh-faced, charming innocence of Michael Palin plonked in the centre like a refugee of sanity tossed into bedlam.”
Following “Life of Brian,” Gilliam became a screenwriter and director, starting with the high-budget “Time Bandits,” which he co-scripted with Michael Palin, in 1981. The starry cast included Sean Connery, Ralph Richardson. Roger Ebert said that the film is “amazingly well produced. The historic locations are jammed with character and detail,” but “the movie’s repetitive, monotonous in the midst of all this activity. Basically, it’s just a kid and six dwarfs racing breathlessly through one set piece after another, shouting at one another.” Said dwarves apparently possess a map showing the location of several holes in time — holes through they can travel so they can pop in on the adventures of Robin Hood, Napoleon, and King Agamemnon, as well as to sail on the Titanic. All this was rendered with superb art direction, even if there was essentially no plot.
“Time Bandits” was the first film in a trilogy Gilliam that would cover childhood, middle age (1985’s “Brazil”) and old age (1988’s “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen).
For 1983’s “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life,” Gilliam directed the animation sequences.
Gilliam shared an Oscar nomination for original screenplay with Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown in 1985 for “Brazil,” whose title alludes not to the country but to a song popular in the 1930s, and the gorgeous production design of the film also references this period even though the dystopian film is set in the future. The New York Times said “Brazil,” “a jaunty, wittily observed vision of an extremely bleak future, is a superb example of the power of comedy to underscore serious ideas, even solemn ones. It’s a remarkable accomplishment for Mr. Gilliam, whose satirical and cautionary impulses work beautifully together. His film’s ambitious visual style bears this out, combining grim, overpowering architecture with clever throwaway touches.”
The director’s next film, 1988’s “The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen,” starring John Neville in the title role, drew a lot of negative publicity for running millions over budget, having production shut down by a bond company and generating little box office when it finally hit theaters. (The production budget ended up at around $46 million, while the film’s B.O. was $8 million — but the movie drew Oscar nominations for its art direction, costume design, visual effects and makeup, and on MetaCritic it has a critics’ score of 69 and an excellent users’ score of 8.2). The story, set in a city under bombardments by the Turks, follows an acting troupe performing “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” on stage, interrupted by the actual Baron Munchausen, who declares that only he can end the conflict. In 2008, when the 20th anniversary DVD was released, the New York Sun declared, “It is clear that ‘Baron Munchausen’ is one of the most visionary and accomplished movies of the 1980s.”
His top-grossing film was “12 Monkeys” with over $160 million in worldwide box office.
Gilliam also attemped to film “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” in 1999 but the movie was cancelled after the lead actor Jean Rochefort suffered a herniated disc and a flood damaged the set. He attempted several times to re-start production but was unable to do so.
Terry Gilliam
Writer | Actor | Animation Department
Terry Gilliam was born in Minnesota near Medicine Lake. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of Mad magazine. In his early 20’s he was often stopped by the police who often suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertisement. Gilliam said these experiences made him … See full bio »
Terence Vance Gilliam was born in Minneapolis, and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1952, when he was 12. At Birmingham High School Gilliam was class president, senior prom king and voted “most likely to succeed” by his classmates. Gilliam graduated from Occidental College in 1962.
He became a naturalized British citizen in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006.
He started his career in show business as an animator and strip cartoonist with one of his early photographic strips featuring future Python cast member John Cleese. He moved to England, he animated sequences for the children’s series “Do Not Adjust Your Set,” which also featured future Pythons Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
Gilliam married to British make-up and costume designer Maggie Weston in 1973. They have three children — Amy Rainbow Gilliam, Holly Dubois Gilliam and Harry Thunder Gilliam — and all also appeared in and/or worked on several of Gilliam’s films.
In 1968, Gilliam obtained British citizenship, then held dual American and British citizenship for the next 38 years. In 2006 he renounced his American citizenship as a protest against then-President George W. Bush.
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