TERRY GILLIAM
Born in Medicine Lake, Minnesota in 1940, Terrence Vance Gilliam, called Terry, grew up in the countryside, watching films by Walt Disney, Tex Avery, and Chuck Jones. Early in his childhood, he shows an interest in his future passions: comics, that he starts to draw as a hobby, adventure novels and TV shows. In 1951, he moves with his family to Panorama City, California. In an environment that is completely different than the one he grew up in, teenage Gilliam develops new interests and passions, in particular regarding films. An extremely important moment was marked by the discovery of Stanley Donen's films - from which he drew inspiration for The Fisher King - and of works by young Kubrick, who will always be a touchstone for him.
Among the casual jobs he had during his youth, the work on the assembly line at Chevrolet left its mark on him: machines and machinery will be a constant presence in his films and animations. While successfully attending college, he became keen on Harvey Kurtzman's magazines, such as Mad and Help!. His determination also brought him to work for Help!, thus avoiding being drafted for the Vietnam war. He then moved to Southampton, where he managed the European branch office of the magazine and joined the National Guard reserves. Actually, Gilliam took advantage of those six months to travel around Europe.
During the 60s', Gilliam got interested and involved in the pacifist movement. Meanwhile, he worked in advertising and made his first animations. In 1968 he settled in London and reunited with his friend John Cleese, whom he had met in New York a couple of years earlier. Along with Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, John was then working for a BBC show called Do Not Adjust Your Set; they would soon create The Monty Python group, together with Cleese and Graham Chapman. Gilliam managed to be hired as a cartoonist for the TV show. Afterward, he also worked on the show We Have Ways of Making You Laugh, making caricatures of the guests, on the TV series Marty, featuring Marty Feldman, and on The Christmas Card. During these years, he developed his typical cut-out animation style: using paper cutouts to create animations.
In 1969, the first episode of the successful series Monty Pyton's Flying Cyrcus was broadcasted. Gilliam collaborated to its realization, not only as author of the animation sketches, but also as a costume designer and make-up artist. The programme ran until 1974 and it got to be one of the historical shows on British TV. The success of this series also led to a film version of the sketches: And Now For Something Completely Different, which unfortunately turned out to be a flop at the box office.
In 1974, Gilliam and Terry Jones co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail, produced with the financial support of Led Zeppelin, Elton John, and Pink Floyd, who were rather unhappy with the result. In 1977, Terry Gilliam made his directing debut with Jabberwocky, another medieval fable. Since then, his wish to become a film author started to collide with the comedy style of the Monty Python.
In 1981, Gilliam also directed Time Bandits, achieving great success at the box office. In 1983, Gilliam should have also directed one episode featured in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, but The Crimson Permanent Assurance became a separated short film to be screened before the feature. This will be Gilliam's last film experience with the Monty Python.
In 1984, Gilliam resumed work on the second film of his time trilogy, whose first part had been Time Bandits. Yet, Brazil soon turns out to be an exceptional project. Looking for Brazil...
In 1985, Gilliam wrote the script for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, but the film was only completed in 1988, after a long and hard search for funds, also carried out in Italy. In 1991 he released The Fisher King, followed by Twelve Monkeys - for which he took inspiration from Chris Marker's La jeteé - and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, based on the famous novel by Hunter S. Thompson.
The 90s marked a turning point for Gilliam, who dedicated himself to big - and exhausting - American productions. He had always had a turbulent relationship with distributors, and this films were not different.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, starring Johny Depp, is remembered in film history as one of the most famous uncompleted films, and its production disasters are effectively told in the documentary Lost in La Mancha. After stopping the production of the film, Gilliam lost the rights to the film, that he acquired again in 2008. Therefore, the project will soon be relaunched. The Brothers Grimm was quietly released in 2004, after a dispute with the distributors, and meanwhile, Gilliam independently filmed Tideland, on a low budget. He is now post producing The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, but even in this case, Gilliam's misadventures exceed all expectations. During its filming, actor Heath Ledger passed away, and a few months later, the producer also died.
The 2008 Milano Film Festival will feature a comprehensive retrospective on Terry Gilliam, including his complete filmography, film rarities, TV shows and animations.
