Sarah Polley Recounts Terry Gilliam Experience in New Book

[AndyDursin]

Interesting if not disturbing reading. One of many reasons I'd imagine why people just stopped working with Terry Gilliam over time.

The Guardian's excerpt is here:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/ ... -interview

[Paul MacLean]

Agreed, a disturbing account. Filmmakers can sometimes be so fixated on getting that "awesome shot" they neglect safety standards.

Munchausen was also shot in Italy, where films of that complexity (with that level of pyrotechnics) were rarely made. I imagine had it been shot in England (with crews more used to working on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Bond movies, etc.) it probably would have been a safer set.

It's saddening to me that Gilliam turned-down The Princess Bride in order to make Munchausen instead. Imagine The Princess Bride with Pythons in supporting roles, a Michael Kamen score -- and an actually interesting visual style!

[AndyDursin]

That's an excellent point Paul. One imagines this would never happen with CGI today but shooting overseas where the restrictions back then would've been certainly less, umm, "restrictive" undoubtedly contributed to the overall scene. Gilliam was indulged with a massive budget and apparently few controllers on Munchausen. Did anyone line produce this movie or pay attention to what was happening? Judging from the money expended and the safety issues, doesn't seem like it. He was the whole show it seems.

[Paul MacLean]

Gilliam was indulged with a massive budget and apparently few controllers on Munchausen. Did anyone line produce this movie or pay attention to what was happening? Judging from the money expended and the safety issues, doesn't seem like it. He was the whole show it seems.

I'd have to dig it out but I recall reading an article about Munchausen in an old issue of Premiere, and it mentioned the endless number of producers who were hired, and either quit or got fired because it was impossible to manage the spiraling budget.

Polley's account also points further to the way Gilliam can be out of touch with reality, as previously shown by the whole Brazil fiasco, where he cried foul that "they're ruining my movie!", when in fact he could have has his cut released -- had he kept it to the running time stipulated in his contract (which he refused to do).

I also found it interesting that Columbia so despised David Puttnam that they killed the release of Munchausen simply out of spite.

[AndyDursin]

Its curious but I dont think the movie would have ever done that well without a major star anchoring it. I find it amazing that previous Columbia regime put that movie into production and spent all that money without having a bankable star. John Neville was definitely not Sean Connery and the cast really had no commercial appeal at all. An unbilled but prominently promoted Robin Williams cameo wasn't going to cut it.

It's like they thought just being Gilliam's next big movie was going to be enough to market it!