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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/terry-gilliam1.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:I will destroy you with my fantastical and science-fictional movies! [[TroubledProduction If I manage to complete them...]]]]
3->''"The problem with movies is that you're in with the most bizarre group of people."''
4-->-- as quoted in ''Losing the Light: Terry Gilliam and the Munchausen Saga''
5
6Terrence Vance Gilliam (born November 22, 1940) is an American-born British cartoonist, animator and film director, best known as the token American member of the very British Creator/MontyPython (although he held a dual US/UK citizenship during his years with the troupe and renounced his US citizenship in 2006).
7
8Born in Minneapolis and raised in Los Angeles, Gilliam began his career in the 1960s as a photographer and cartoonist for Creator/HarveyKurtzman's satirical magazine ''Help!''. After that publication folded, he moved to the UK; there, he first came to prominence with the children's series ''Series/DoNotAdjustYourSet'', where he worked with several of his fellow future Pythons and for which his primary responsibility was creating the surrealist cut-out animations that he subsequently brought over to ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. As the latter series progressed, Gilliam also did many small roles the other Pythons didn't want to perform for various reasons, and had very few speaking parts, if you forget his voice acting during the animated segments (one of his most notable lines is "I want more beans!"; he was also Cardinal Fang of the Spanish Inquisition). He also helped write a number of the sketches, and from there co-wrote the troupe's three films based on original material with the rest of the troupe, on which he also played much more parts than he usually would in the series. He co-directed ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' and directed the opening segment of ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife'', "The Crimson Permanent Assurance".
9
10From there, Gilliam moved into writing and directing non-Python films, though some of his fellow troupers have appeared in and/or co-wrote them. His specialties are {{fantasy}} and {{science fiction}} films often laced with [[BlackComedy dark humor]]: one could construe his worldview as "We're all doomed! Isn't that hilarious?" He was Creator/JKRowling's choice of director for the ''Film/HarryPotter'' movies -- however, Creator/WarnerBros decided against it.
11
12This is understandable, given that few directors in the history of film have been as prone to ExecutiveMeddling, production delays, budget overruns, and/or just plain bad luck as Gilliam. After ''Film/{{Jabberwocky}}'' (1977) and the hit ''Film/TimeBandits'' (1981), the first great tale of his struggles came with 1985's ''Film/{{Brazil}}''. It put him at odds with Universal Pictures when executives attempted to recut the movie, especially its ending; the subsequent book ''The Battle of Brazil'' tells the tale. His next film, 1988's ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'', went wildly over budget and then bombed in the U.S. thanks to Columbia Pictures undergoing a regime change that kept it from getting proper release and promotion.
13
14In the 1990s, things were looking up for Gilliam with ''Film/TheFisherKing'' (1991), ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'' (1995), and ''Film/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'' (1998). Then at the TurnOfTheMillennium, his films became a parade of bad situations behind the scenes. ''Film/TheManWhoKilledDonQuixote'' took 25 years of on-and-off production to complete thanks to trials and tribulations covered in the documentary ''Film/LostInLaMancha''; ''Film/TheBrothersGrimm'' (2005) was beset by ExecutiveMeddling, this time via Bob and Harvey Weinstein; ''Film/{{Tideland}}'' (also 2005) made it to theaters, but was overlooked and shunned for containing some pedophilia (plus it was set and filmed in a desert, but it ''just kept raining'' during filming); ''Film/TheZeroTheorem'' (2013) was barely released and under-performed; and finally, perhaps saddest of all, ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'' (2009) became Creator/HeathLedger's final film when [[DiedDuringProduction he died before completing his role]].
15
16Bad luck simply doesn't cut it: the man's ''cursed''.
17
18''Website/TheOnion'' once joked that if Gilliam were to have a barbecue, [[https://politics.theonion.com/terry-gilliam-barbecue-plagued-by-production-delays-1819567508 it would still be beset by production delays]]. However, at the end of the day, his perilous productions have resulted in a portfolio of, if not always successful, at least fascinating films.
19
20----
21!! Terry Gilliam's works on the wiki:
22[[index]]
23* ''Series/DoNotAdjustYourSet'' (1968-69) -- Did animated interstitials for the show's second season.
24* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' (1969-74) -- Did many memorable animations for the series, and occasionally wrote and acted in others.
25* ''Film/CryOfTheBanshee'' (1970) -- Animated the opening credits.
26* ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' (1975) -- Acted, co-directed, co-wrote and provided animations.
27* ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' (1979) -- Acted in, co-wrote & animated.
28* ''Film/{{Jabberwocky}}'' (1977) -- Directed and co-written.
29* ''Film/TimeBandits'' (1981) -- Directed and co-written.
30* ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife'' (1983) -- Co-directed and co-written (Primarily the ''Crimson Permanent Assurance'' segment).
31* ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' (1985) -- Directed and co-written (UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination for Best Original Screenplay).
32* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'' (1988) -- Directed and co-written.
33* ''Film/TheFisherKing'' (1991) -- Directed.
34* ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'' (1995) -- Directed.
35* ''Film/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'' (1998) -- Directed and co-written.
36* ''Film/TheBrothersGrimm'' (2005) -- Directed.
37* ''Film/{{Tideland}}'' (2005) -- Directed and co-written.
38* ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'' (2009) -- Directed and co-written.
39* ''Film/TheZeroTheorem'' (2013) -- Directed.
40* ''Film/TheManWhoKilledDonQuixote'' (2018) -- Directed and co-written. See also ''Film/LostInLaMancha'' for the version that never got made.
41[[/index]]
42----
43!!Common tropes found in the films of Terry Gilliam:
44%%
45%% Zero context examples have been commented out. Please provide context before uncommenting.
46%%
47%%* BlackComedy: Oh, defiantly so.
48%%* ButtMonkey: Most of his characters.
49%%* CrapsackWorld: Several of his films involved depraved or outright crumbled societies.
50%%* DerangedAnimation: It doesn't come more deranged than [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVgAzbuKjZY&feature=fvw that]]. %%Weblinks are not examples
51* DownerEnding: Most of his films have this. On the DVD Commentary of ''Film/TheBrothersGrimm'', he says that [[TrueArtIsAngsty he hates happy endings]].
52* TheDungAges: Along with the other Pythons, popularized the trope with ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''; as a solo director, this appears in ''Film/{{Jabberwocky}}''. In general, his period settings are not particularly tidy.
53%%* DutchAngle: Uses it moderately in some of his films.
54* KnightInShiningArmor: Knights and their associated imagery are PlayedWith to varying degrees in a few of his films. There's the obvious parody examples of ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' and ''Joberwocky''. Both ''Fisher King'' and ''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'' feature delusional men convinced they're such a character. A knight shows up early on in ''Time Bandits''. Even in ''Brothers Grimm'', the titular brothers dress in knight-like armor for a few scenes.
55* LifeImitatesArt: One of the great artistic ironies of the modern age, many Gilliam fans have noted, is the story of how in his [[DevelopmentHell never-ending quest]] to finish ''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'', Gilliam has become perhaps the quintessential Hollywood WindmillCrusader. Until he [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome finished it.]]
56* ObstructiveBureaucrat: His entire career has been about flights of fancy, so naturally his films tend to rail against iron-fisted bureaucracies and the narrow-minded jobsworths who staff them. Probably the pinnacle of this trope was the beginning of ''Baron Munchausen'', when city administrator Creator/JonathanPryce -- graduating from playing a BeleagueredBureaucrat in {{Film/Brazil}} -- orders the execution of a soldier[[labelnote:*]]''{{Music/Sting}}, in a cameo''[[/labelnote]]. The offense? The soldier was ''so good at his job he made everybody else look bad''. A title card reveals this as "The Age of Reason".
57* OutOfGenreExperience: Aside from the movies and DerangedAnimation, he's also directed a few {{Opera}}s.
58* PlayingAgainstType: Gilliam likes to challenge his actors; he noted in an interview that one of his main goals in directing ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'' was to force Creator/BruceWillis and Creator/BradPitt, at the time known mostly as a badass action hero and a charismatic pretty boy, respectively, to get rid of all their trademark mannerisms and be as unrecognizable as possible in their roles.
59* ProductionPosse: Creator/MontyPython members frequently get cast, to the point that some fans misguidedly believe Gilliam's own films are Python productions
60* ReCut: The Criterion releases of ''Brazil'' on home video include three different versions, his original cut, a slightly shorter version that Universal ultimately released in the US, along with a drastically shorter and drastically altered version Universal almost released instead (see ExecutiveMeddling).
61* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The Gilliam curse appears to have been broken, as it was reported in June 2017 that had ''[[HeroicResolve finally]]'' finished ''Don Quixote'' after ''eight'' unsuccesful attempts over the course of '''nineteen years.'''
62* SceneryPorn: His films have a very distinct look (highly detailed sets shot with very wide lenses), to the point where cinematographers often call a 14mm lens "the Gilliam lens". Granted, what he's actually shooting [[SceneryGorn isn't always that pretty]].
63* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Range all over the place. Brazil and Twelve Monkey's is more cynical but Time Bandits and The Fisher King are more on the idealistic end, while Baron and Docter Parnassus might be in the middle.
64* SurrealHumor: When he does comedy, it usually falls under this. Being a Python might have something to do with it.
65* ThematicSeries: Some of his movies themselves are not connected by continuity but they share similar themes.
66** He considers ''Time Bandits'', ''Brazil'', and ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' to be his "Imagination Trilogy".
67** Gilliam has also said that ''Brazil'', ''12 Monkeys'', and ''The Zero Theorem'' make up his [[Creator/GeorgeOrwell Orwellian]] triptych.
68** He also made another trilogy, consisting of ''Film/TheFisherKing'', ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'', and ''Film/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'', being his ''Trilogy of Americana.''
69%%* TricksterArchetype: Baron von Munchausen and Mr. Nick in ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus''.
70* WhatCouldHaveBeen
71** J.K. Rowling originally wanted Gilliam to direct ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' but Creator/WarnerBros ExecutiveMeddling led to Creator/ChrisColumbus being hired. Gilliam has stated:
72--->''"I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian."''
73** Nevertheless, in 2005, Gilliam also stated he would never direct a ''Film/HarryPotter'' movie because he would not enjoy working on a project filled with ExecutiveMeddling.
74** Obviously, ''Film/TheManWhoKilledDonQuixote''. The film's first version included a TimeTravel plot and starred Creator/JohnnyDepp and Creator/JeanRochefort. Fast forward to 2018, the film doesn't involve TimeTravel (only in Toby's mind) and stars Creator/AdamDriver and Creator/JonathanPryce.
75** He was approached to direct ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' back sometime in the 1990s, but they took him off the project when he insisted that the only way to do the story justice would be with a big-budget miniseries on a channel like Creator/{{HBO}}. [[Series/Watchmen2019 HBO heeded his words in 2019.]]
76** He also turned down offers to direct ''Film/AmericanBeauty'', ''Film/EnemyMine'', and ''Film/ForrestGump''.
77** Gilliam has been wanting for ages to direct a film adaptation of ''Literature/GoodOmens'' by Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/NeilGaiman, an idea both authors were on board with, but the film had been languishing in DevelopmentHell for ages.
78** Whenever either Gaiman or Pratchett did a Q&A anywhere, it always seems someone asks about the status of the ''Good Omens'' movie. At one point Gaiman replied, "It's the same as it's always been: Terry Gilliam wants to do it, Terry Gilliam has a script, no one will send Terry Gilliam seventy million dollars."----
79''[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail And suddenly, the editor suffered a fatal heart attack]]''
80-->'''[[HollywoodHeartAttack URK!]]'''

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