The netpaper about Elftowners, by Elftowners, for Elftowners.
Dark Woods and Bad Jokes - The Brothers Grimm
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Review by [All_Most PUNK]
The story: The Grimm brothers are storytellers. No, no, that doesn’t mean that they write fantastical stories about little girls with red hoods being chased by wolves or amazingly long braids used as stairs but that they are con-men. Or something like that. Essentially, they create a whole situation from zero, with witches, monsters and legends come to life (with all those parts played by their not so loyal associates) and then ride into town to “save” the village from the horror... for a modicum amount of money, of course. They can probably be considered the first FX artists in history... and they are a lot better than a lot of those working these days in Hollywood.
But not everything is easy in the Germany occupied by the illuminist French. Magic and supernatural aren’t words liked by the thinkers of the revolution... nor by those in power. That means that they are under watch and that when in a small town kids start to disappear in mysterious, legendary circumstances, they are the people to be hired... or, better said, to be sent under the promise of a very painful and slow death in the case that they don’t manage to discover what’s going on.
Of course, nothing is as simple as a trick with mirrors and smoke and between walking trees, shapeshifters, enormous amounts of bugs, bread crumbs and hysterical french captains, Will (the skeptic, the head of the business, the one that won’t allow himself to be confused by the especial effects obviously being used in the woods to trick them) and Jake (the believer, the head from where the stories come, the one that won’t allow himself to be confused by the magic obviously being used in the woods to trick them) will have to find the solution to the mystery before they become a legend themselves (How’s that for the final line of a synopsis? I bet it only has been used a zillion times before).
The Good Points: Have you seen the name of the director? Then, do you really wonder which could be the good points?
Terry Gilliam is probably one of the most imaginative directors out there. Maybe not so much in the scripts or the topics that he chooses (although those are really something especial) as in the way he puts them on screen. All his films have a particular visual look, they are an universe in themselves. Just take a look at movies like “The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen”, “Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas” or “Brazil”. They all work with the visual aspect in a different aspect, but in all of them there’s a mix between fantasy an reality, both things are one and the same, at least in the perspective that is offered to us. A perspective that is always slightly altered, as if seen through a kaleidoscope that makes everything monstrous and normal, strange and easily recognisable at the same time.
That said, the strongest point of the movie is, of course, the visual representation
. We are not talking FX here (even though they aren’t bad at all) but the way things look. Even since his times with the Monty Pyton that was unique in Gilliam. The influences from the expressionism are clear and always present (there are many points in common with “Sleepy Hollow”). The town and the woods look perfect. But what really makes a difference is the representation of the tower and the machines. All the machines in Gilliam’s work are creatures full of limbs, gigantic and complex and this movie is not an exception.
Finally, it’s fun to try to spot all the references to classical fairy tales.
The bad: There’s something that screams Hollywood in the script. It’s not that it is bad, it’s just that it has some aspects that make it “cheaper” than it could have been. The many gags that aren’t really necessary, the relation between the brothers, the character played by Peter Stormare... they aren’t really things that destroy the movie, but manage to make it loss a few points. There may be people that will love it because of that but, in my opinion, there was no need to make the movie lighter when a darker approach would have worked perfectly, without making it less fun.
And the last half an hour is a little too much. Not because of what happens in it, but because by that moment everything could have been solved in a faster and less tiring way.
Best Moment: The toad shows the way. So, now Matt Damon does drugs? And licks toads? Ok, that makes the whole movie worth it. And to think that he blames his brother Jake for exchanging the cow for magical beans.
Most Stupid Moment: If I want to enter a closed tower I won’t, lemme repeat it, I won’t use a catapult. I’m sure that it is not as easy as it may seem in a movie.
All In All: Is it enjoyable because of the movie or because of Gilliam? Does it matter?
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