I still remember reading in the "trades" back in the 80s about how much money was spent on this production in Italy, and I just have to say right off the bat that all of it is up there on the screen. This is just a gorgeous movie, with color contrasts that remind me of the MGM fantasy musicals of the 40s and 50s like "The Pirate" and some of the best matte work you will ever see -- all of these expensive effects are raised to a higher level by director Terry Gilliam's unique sense of proportion and his skills in animation. One of the more striking aspects of Gilliam's art is that he's one of the few directors to work in fantasy/sci-fi films in the last 30 years who has a really unique and identifiable visual sensibility that if anything is enhanced by rather than smoothed out by the effects work. Taken as a whole (story and visuals) I think it's one of the most entertaining and intelligent fantasy films ever made.
John Neville makes a striking central figure as the Baron Munchausen, a figure of legend come to life in the setting of an apocalyptic battle between a German city and the Turkish army. Sarah Polley's performance is far better than Craig Warnock's in "Time Bandits", and it's particularly interesting now in light of Gilliam's announcement that his "inner child" is a little girl (on the DVD for "Tideland"). There's so much of Gilliam in the character -- she is at the same time the most realistic and practical person on the mission who must remind the Baron constantly of the purpose of the mission and yet she is also the one with the most irrepressible belief in fantasy. Eric Idle's work is really exceptional in this film also; he has a unique way of saying his lines that just always brings me a laugh, like the way he says "oh, all right" after the Baron admits that he abandoned him on the moon and only came to rescue him because he needed him. He brings the "Python sensibility" to this movie that matches so well with Gilliam's style. Oliver Reed and Uma Thurman also did great work in their section of the movie. I've never been hugely into Robin Williams' performance here, much too broad as usual as if he was working for Blake Edwards, though his work was better when he and Gilliam did "Fisher King" a few years later so maybe he just needed some time to adjust to the pace and proportion of Gilliam's world.
Gilliam has said that this movie forms a loose trilogy with "Time Bandits" and "Brazil", those films dealing with fantasy/reality in the eyes of children and adults respectively and "Munchausen" closing the cycle by exploring the role of fantasy in the lives of people who are aging into the last stages of life. That's clear enough from the film, and it's also interesting how he uses the opportunity to satirically comment on the whole concept of "modernity" and the scientific revolution, much in the tradition of Swift's masterpiece "Gulliver's Travels." Not having read the original "Munchausen" book I can't say how much of that is from the book and how much is from the film, but it does tie in rather strongly to the anti-bureaucratic perspective of "Brazil" (Jonathan Pryce even plays a character who could be said to symbolize the connection). It's interesting that Gilliam is so attracted to these types of characters who sort of cling to the romantic past and refuse to recognize rationalism -- in addition to "Brazil" he also has attempted several times to make a post-modern "Don Quixote" film. His brilliant "Tideland" shows how fantasy could be a more effective escape from trauma than reality, and his "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is a heart-felt tribute to the idealism and hope of the 60s "youth movement" that was crushed by the cynicism and "reality" of the 1970s. There's a beautiful speech that Hunter Thompson wrote for the book which Gilliam really latched onto and emphasized, where he talks about "the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back." I think "Baron Munchausen" is about the same moment but in a broader sense of the domination of science and rationalism over the ancient world of wonder and significance. Munchausen laments there is no place in the modern world for "oceans made of wine" -- his sadness is not just for our culture losing its ability to believe in dreams but also on a more personal level as an old man who no longer believes in his own dream.
On a totally separate note, I'd like to just mention a few elements of this film that J.K. Rowling has paid tribute to in her instant-classic "Harry Potter" fantasy series. First of all there is the image of death as a hooded reaper, a fairly generic image but in this case we see death removing Baron Munchausen's soul as a glowing orb through his mouth just as the "dementors" do in the Potter books. There's also Jon Pryce's character, mayor Jackson, who reminds my girlfriend and I very much of Lucius Malfoy -- in very much the same way he rails against "exceptional" people who go out on a limb to help others, and Rowling has even lifted Jackson's line about such people facing "a very sticky end." Of course the depiction of Potter's family and neighborhood are also very reminiscent of "Time Bandits" and Rowling is a vocal Gilliam fan -- she advocated him as director for the Potter films but the producers never took her seriously... a shame because most of them lack the rare kind of imagination and humor that Rowling and Gilliam share.
John Neville makes a striking central figure as the Baron Munchausen, a figure of legend come to life in the setting of an apocalyptic battle between a German city and the Turkish army. Sarah Polley's performance is far better than Craig Warnock's in "Time Bandits", and it's particularly interesting now in light of Gilliam's announcement that his "inner child" is a little girl (on the DVD for "Tideland"). There's so much of Gilliam in the character -- she is at the same time the most realistic and practical person on the mission who must remind the Baron constantly of the purpose of the mission and yet she is also the one with the most irrepressible belief in fantasy. Eric Idle's work is really exceptional in this film also; he has a unique way of saying his lines that just always brings me a laugh, like the way he says "oh, all right" after the Baron admits that he abandoned him on the moon and only came to rescue him because he needed him. He brings the "Python sensibility" to this movie that matches so well with Gilliam's style. Oliver Reed and Uma Thurman also did great work in their section of the movie. I've never been hugely into Robin Williams' performance here, much too broad as usual as if he was working for Blake Edwards, though his work was better when he and Gilliam did "Fisher King" a few years later so maybe he just needed some time to adjust to the pace and proportion of Gilliam's world.
Gilliam has said that this movie forms a loose trilogy with "Time Bandits" and "Brazil", those films dealing with fantasy/reality in the eyes of children and adults respectively and "Munchausen" closing the cycle by exploring the role of fantasy in the lives of people who are aging into the last stages of life. That's clear enough from the film, and it's also interesting how he uses the opportunity to satirically comment on the whole concept of "modernity" and the scientific revolution, much in the tradition of Swift's masterpiece "Gulliver's Travels." Not having read the original "Munchausen" book I can't say how much of that is from the book and how much is from the film, but it does tie in rather strongly to the anti-bureaucratic perspective of "Brazil" (Jonathan Pryce even plays a character who could be said to symbolize the connection). It's interesting that Gilliam is so attracted to these types of characters who sort of cling to the romantic past and refuse to recognize rationalism -- in addition to "Brazil" he also has attempted several times to make a post-modern "Don Quixote" film. His brilliant "Tideland" shows how fantasy could be a more effective escape from trauma than reality, and his "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is a heart-felt tribute to the idealism and hope of the 60s "youth movement" that was crushed by the cynicism and "reality" of the 1970s. There's a beautiful speech that Hunter Thompson wrote for the book which Gilliam really latched onto and emphasized, where he talks about "the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back." I think "Baron Munchausen" is about the same moment but in a broader sense of the domination of science and rationalism over the ancient world of wonder and significance. Munchausen laments there is no place in the modern world for "oceans made of wine" -- his sadness is not just for our culture losing its ability to believe in dreams but also on a more personal level as an old man who no longer believes in his own dream.
On a totally separate note, I'd like to just mention a few elements of this film that J.K. Rowling has paid tribute to in her instant-classic "Harry Potter" fantasy series. First of all there is the image of death as a hooded reaper, a fairly generic image but in this case we see death removing Baron Munchausen's soul as a glowing orb through his mouth just as the "dementors" do in the Potter books. There's also Jon Pryce's character, mayor Jackson, who reminds my girlfriend and I very much of Lucius Malfoy -- in very much the same way he rails against "exceptional" people who go out on a limb to help others, and Rowling has even lifted Jackson's line about such people facing "a very sticky end." Of course the depiction of Potter's family and neighborhood are also very reminiscent of "Time Bandits" and Rowling is a vocal Gilliam fan -- she advocated him as director for the Potter films but the producers never took her seriously... a shame because most of them lack the rare kind of imagination and humor that Rowling and Gilliam share.