Either I am one of the darkest people ever or this was not one of the darkest movies ever made as its own packaging claims. I have vowed to myself not to use the following words: Orwellian or futuristic, though I had to use that sentence to get them out and make room for free, original thought.
First, of course, thoughts on Gilliam (again, just to make room). When I first saw anything of his it was on Monty Python when I was twelve so obviously it was an animation and more than a little off-putting (only because I was twelve though). It was not until I was eighteen that I realized what I had been seeing was something I should have put more focus on and paid more attention to as I had recently had a revelation of wanting to be a filmmaker myself. I cursed myself when I found out he had directed actual things and found myself two years later watching Brazil for the first time after succumbing to a new-found love of Gilliam’s directorial style and creativity (which I can find some of my own style in from time to time) and after freaking out quite a lot (quietly) in a used bookstore (sorry, Terry no money for new stuff now) about an obscenely cheap price I thought I would never get after being disappointed that same day about not having Time Bandits in my hands at the moment.
The first thing which always strikes me about any Gilliam film is the soundtrack because music is one of the major distractions which took my mind off things like him when it shouldn’t have all those years ago. They are always totally original and never what I had expected while being completely not what I would have used or even thought of (all these statements are bearing in mind that I know this particular soundtrack is original anyway). I am thinking also of 12 Monkeys when Blueberry Hill was playing in the car which is a constant source of contemplation since the day I saw it first.
I know I should say that the visuals should strike me most because of the sheer volume of them but quite frankly, I don’t notice volumes of pictures flashing as rapidly in front of me as much as others might because I tend to get bored very easily if there are not constant changes and therefore I found the visuals to be just right for me. I loved them of course, very colourful and clever and a world in which I got lost in very, very easily. I did have to think quite a bit about some of the jokes but, luckily for me, I have the special edition and on the second disc one of the writers said that Gilliam had to think about one of the same jokes! And that it was one that the other writer had put in so I felt very much better.
Storyline was another story so to speak compared to visuals. I had a lot more…actually I’m still having trouble figuring it out. I always find that the best time for writing anything is right after a film of his because it really wakes me up. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the story or what it is--just energy I think. I did like the character of Jack (Micheal Palin) and how he kept popping back in when I thought I wouldn’t get to see him anymore. That’s just about all I can say about the story if anybody else has any thoughts on this point I would love an e-mail.
About The Author: Whitney Moore is a writer from 1984 who has come to the future to write her first book “Glitter and Diamonds: The Rise of David Wilde,?which this article does not appear in. Find out more: http://committed.to/whitneymoore or e-mail her at: new_killerstar@yahoo.com