On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Kristine J Butler (Kristine Butler) wrote:
 
>
> It would be interesting to look at the three films by Gilliam as a
> "trilogy" (Brazil, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys).  Gilliam has definitely
> developed an oeuvre that is worth examining.
 
That is an interesting idea...however, I believe that Gilliam already has
a trilogy, made up of _Time Bandits_, _Brazil_, and _Baron Munchausen_,
all grouped together by the shared theme of blending of reality and
fantasy (the operative definition for fantasy being that the action takes
place solely within a person's mind).  In each film, the characters (and
audience for that matter) do not know when they are in reality or in a
fantasy world of their own creation, at least until Gilliam chooses to let
us all (characters and audience) know.
 
Still this blending of reality and fantasy has been a consistent theme in
most of his films.
 
Of course, I may be speaking out of turn, as I have not yet seen _12
Monkeys_, and I have been avoiding spoilers.  One thing more to note, is
that with Bandits, Brazil, and Baron, Gilliam took more of a role as
creator/director/autuer, while with Fisher King and 12 he was a hired
director working from someone elses script (which still doesn't preclude
Gilliam from imposing his own distinctive stamp on each).
 
By the way, hello to all.  I'm a new member of this list, and I have
enjoyed reading all of your posts for the past several weeks.  I am a
reference librarian at a public library in Southwest Ohio, and a film
aficionado.  Personal interests include American, foreign language,
and documentary films.  As you might guess, many of my library customers
ask me for recommendations of what to watch.
 
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    * Greg Bryant *
 * [log in to unmask] *
Middletown Public Library
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