Thursday Movie Picks: Fantasy

 

For the 22nd week of 2022 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We go into the subject of fantasy as it is a place that is removed from reality as a way to create a different reality that is completely different from the darkness of the real world. Here are my three picks as they’re all based on Terry Gilliam’s 1980s film thematic trilogy known as the Trilogy of Imagination:

1. Time Bandits

Gilliam’s sophomore feature revolves around a young boy who goes on an adventure with a group of time traveling dwarves as a way to escape his appliances-obsessed parents where he ventures into many different periods of time. The film follows this adventure with this young boy who dreams of adventures with notable figures whether it’s King Agamemnon or Napoleon Bonaparte while also dealing with an evil sorcerer. It’s a film that Gilliam co-wrote with his Monty Python cohort Michael Palin who plays various roles with Shelley Duvall as a couple who keeps being interrupted by these dwarves.

2. Brazil

Gilliam’s 1985 film is definitely his crowning achievement as it explore a man working a bureaucratic-dystopian society where he often dreams of a life where he’s flying and going after his dream woman. Yet, he works in a terrible job where machines don’t work well while having to investigate the death of a man all because of a computer error. It is a film that is just full of wit and lots of subtle commentary on dystopian society with a hilarious small supporting role from Robert de Niro as a guy that just likes to fix things and not deal with paperwork.

3. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The third and final film of Gilliam’s thematic trilogy of imagination is also known as a notable box office bomb upon its U.S. release in early 1989. Yet, it is a film that does manage to have a loyal audience as it explore the many tall tales of an 18th Century nobleman and his wartime exploits during the Ottoman Empire. It does play into a man trying to maintain his own idea of heroism although he is also someone that caused a lot of trouble. John Neville’s performance is definitely full of charisma and sells these many fanatical stories that he’s trying to tell with a young Sarah Polley being this young girl who joins in his exploits and often questions them.

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