Terry Gilliam, whose romantic sci-fi thriller Twelve Monkeys (1995) opens
nationwide in January, will be the subject of a comprehensive retrospective
at the American Museum of the Moving Image from January 6 through 21, 1996.
Fairy Tales for Adults: A Terry Gilliam Retrospective will include a personal
appearance by Gilliam, screenings of all six of his feature films as director,
and a selection of Monty Python movies and early animation. The retrospective
will also include a look at two CD-ROM projects featuring Gilliam 5 animation:
the acclaimed Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time, and a new work, Animations
of Mortality (forthcoming fall 1996).
Gilliam himself will kick off the series on January 6, introducing a screening
of Twelve Monkeys. After the film he will participate in a Close-Up discussion
of his career and present a selection of scenes from his films. Among other
series highlights will be a rare screening of the original 142-minute version
of Brazil (1985), which was cut by eleven minutes after a bitter dispute
between Gilliam and Universal Pictures. (Ironically, Universal is financing
and distributing Twelve Monkeys, starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe,
and Brad Pitt, exactly ten years after the release of Brazil.) The retrospective
will also include a Director's Choice screening of one of Gilliam's favorite
movies, One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Marion Brando's eccentric Western.
"Terry Gilliam is one of cinema's premier fantasists," says David
Schwartz, series curator and the Museum's head of film and video programs.
"Working as a director, writer, performer, animator, and production
designer, he has created films notable for their stunning visuals and a
deeply felt vision of a world where the forces of magic and nature are in
constant battle with man's laughable attempts to impose order."
A former magazine illustrator and comic book artist, Gilliam rose to fame
as a cartoonist and occasional performer for Monty Python's Flying Circus.
His animated collages for the legendary British television show were more
than whimsical transitions between the show's nonsensical skits. They were
also the products of an imagination capable of constant surprise. Gilliam
was co-screenwriter, actor, and animator for the first Monty Python movie,
And Now for Something Completely Different (1972). He co-directed Monty
Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and, two years later, made his solo debut
as a director with the medieval fantasy, Jabberwocky (1977).
"I wanted to make filth beautiful," said Gilliam of his visual
approach in this dark and ribald view of the Middle Ages. The film revealed
Gilliam's ambition and willingness to take risks, with his inspiration seeming
to come from equal parts Mad magazine and Hieronymus Bosch.
After designing and creating animation for Lift of Brian (1979), Monty Python's
irreverent religious spoof, Gilliam directed the wildly inventive time travel
fantasy Time Bandits (1981), which was a surprise box-office hit around
the world. His next movie, after contributing to Monty Python's The Meaning
of Lift (1983), was Brazil (1985), a lavish, harrowing comic vision of the
near-future, which he described as "Walter Mitty meets Franz Kafka."
The film was only released after bitter fights between the director and
the studio, which found the movie to be totally uncommercial. Brazil won
Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay honors from the Los Angeles Film
Critics Association.
With his next movie, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989), Gilliam
completed an epic trilogy (along with Time Bandits and Brazil) about time
travel, fantasy versus reality, and growing old. Gilliam's lavish treatment
of the classic 18th-century children's tale was his most astonishing movie
to date.
The Fisher King (1991) brought Gilliam's fanciful vision to modern-day New
York City in a fantasy romance starring Jeff Bridges as a mean-spirited
radio star who finds redemption thanks to a derelict played by Robin Williams
who is convinced that he's a medieval knight.
Like The Fisher King, Gilliam's new movie, Twelve Monkeys, is a fairy tale
for adults, combining a sense of magic and fantasy with an intimate romance.
IN THE R!KLIS THEATER all films are screened in 35mm unless otherwise noted.
SATURDAY JANUARY 6
2:00 p.m. INTRODUCED BY TERRY GILLIAM
Twelve Monkeys Universal, 1995, 130 mins. With Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe,
Brad Pitt. Written by David Peoples, Janet Peoples. Produced by Charles
Roven.
Gilliam's new movie is a romantic thriller about a reluctant and psychologically
tormented traveler who believes he comes from the nearly uninhabitable Earth
of 2035 and is sent back to 1996 to unravel a haunting image from his childhood
and help reclaim the future.
5:00 p.m. CLOSE-UP WITH TERRY GILLIAM
Gilliam will discuss his remarkable career, present a selection of scenes
from his films, and provide a look at two CD-ROM projects (including a preview
of the upcoming Animations of Mortality).
Close-Up events require a special ticket -- $15 per day ($10 for Museum
members). For purchase information see below.
SUNDAY JANUARY 7
2:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m. SPECIAL SCREENING OF LONG VERSION
Brazil Universal, 1985, 142 mins. Written by Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard,
Charles McKeown. With Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Bob Hoskins, Michael
Palin.
Inept bureaucracy and faulty plumbing are at the heart of Gilliam's harrowing
comic vision of the near-future, which he described as "Walter Mitty
meets Franz Kafka." This print contains eleven minutes cut from the
film's initial release.
SATURDAY JANUARY 13
2:00 p.m. EARLY ANIMATION
TV viewers first discovered Gilliam's animation on Monty Python's Flying
Circus and other British programs. This screening includes such classic
shorts as The Miracle of Flight, Beware of Elephants, and Christmas Card.
Running time: approximately 40 mins.
3:00 p.m. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975, 89 mins. Directed by Terry
Gilliam, Terry Jones. With Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry
Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin).
A quest for the grail loosely holds together a series of classic Python
sketches and whimsical asides in this medieval romp co-directed by Gilliam
(and featuring his animation).
5:00 p.m. Life of Brian Warner Bros./Orion, 1979, 93 mins. Directed by Terry
Jones. Written by and starring Monty Python. Design and animation by Terry
Gilliam.
This brazenly irreverent religious spoof about a reluctant messiah stirred
up controversy with such scenes as the production number "Bright Side
of Lift, " sung by a chorus of crucified men.
SUNDAY JANUARY 14
2:00 p.m. Jabberwocky 1977, 100 mins'. With Michael Palin. Directed by Terry
Gilliam. Gilliam 's first solo film as director,; loosely inspired by the
Lewis Carroll poem,
reverses the clichés of Arthurian romance, combining wild satire
with a murky vision of the Middle Ages. Of his visual approach, he said,
"I wanted to make filth beautiful."
4:00 p.m. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Universal, 1983, 103 mins.
Directed by Terry Jones. Written by and starring Monty Python. Animation
by Terry Gilliam.
The most freewheeling of the Python feature films takes a scatological tour
of human existence, from an Oliver-like musical number about birth control
to a memorable encounter with the Grim Reaper. Includes a brilliant Gilliam
short, The Crimson Permanent Assurance.
SATURDAY JANUARY 20
2:00 pm. Time Bandits Handmade Films, 1981, 110 mins. With Sean Connery,
Shelley
Duvall, John Cleese, Ralph Richardson.
Mischievous time-traveling dwarves take an eleven-year-old boy on a villainous
voyage through the ages. This richly inventive epic fantasy was a huge international
success.
4:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE
One-Eyed Jacks Paramount, 1961, 141 mins. Directed by Marlon Brando. With
Marlon Brando, Karl Malden.
Gilliam selects Brando's only film as a director: a fascinating, visually
inventive psychological Western in which he stars as an outlaw seeking revenge
on his former friend.
SUNDAY JANUARY 21
2:00 p.m. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Columbia, 1989, 126 mins. With
Eric
Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Robin Williams.
This lavishly mounted treatment of the classic 18th-century children's tale
is the culmination of an epic trilogy (along with Time Bandits and Brazil)
about fantasy versus reality.
4:30 p.m. The Fisher King TriStar, 1991, 137 mins. Written by Richard LaGravenese.
With
Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes RuehI, Amanda Plummer.
Gilliam brings his fanciful vision to modern day New York City in this extravagant
yet intimate fantasy romance about the redemption of a mean-spirited radio
star thanks to a derelict who is convinced that he's a medieval knight.
CLOSE-UP TICKETS
Tickets for Close-Up events are $15 per day ($10 for Museum Members). Advance
ticket purchase is strongly recommended. To purchase tickets by credit card
call 718-784-4520 during office hours (Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m.). Tickets may also be purchased at the information desk during
regular Museum hours.
MUSEUM INFORMATION
Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 12
p.m. to 6 p.m.
Program Admission: Admission to film screenings is $5, $4 for persons over
65, and $2.50 for children and students with valid I.D.
All times: Members are admitted free. Reservation privileges are available
to
members only.
Admission to Close-Up events requires a special ticket (see above).
Location: 35 Avenue and 36 Street in Astoria.
Subway: R train to Steinway, use the 34 Avenue exit.
Phone: Program information: (718)784-0077. Travel directions: (718)784-4777.
Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. No strollers are permitted.
The Museum is wheelchair accessible.
The American Museum of the Moving Image occupies a building owned by the
City of New York. With the assistance of the Queens Borough President and
the Queens Delegation of The New York City Council, the Museum receives
support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New
York City Economic Development Corporation. Vital support is also provided
by The New York State Council on the Arts, The Natural Heritage Trust (administered
by The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation),
the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of Museum Services, corporations,
foundations, and individuals.
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