Gilliam does Grimm! (1 Viewer)

[Scott Weinberg]

In what seems like a perfect match, Terry Gilliam looks to be directing a film based on the tales of The Brothers Grimm.
Full article available at CHUD.com .
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Sounds pretty cool so far!

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Scott,

Definitely sounds cool! I loved his style in Munchausen so here's to hoping he gets in the director's chair!

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

One word: Wow!

This is a marriage made in heaven.

Bruce

 

[Peter Kline]

Sounds interesting. A slightly skewed version of the MGM-Cinerama film "The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm".

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

But isn't everything Gilliam does "slightly skewed"?

 

[Vickie_M]

Sounds good, but after having seen the excruciatingly sad Lost in La Mancha, I won't believe it until I'm sitting in the theater and the credits are rolling.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Scott Weinberg wrote:

I get the impression that none of you people has any real familiarity with Grimms' Fairy Tales in the original, un-Bowlderized form, not what most English-speaking audiences have grown up with.
"Grim(m)" is right! Let Mr. Gilliam try to adapt the "Juniper Tree" for the screen in his "quirky" style without making a mockery of it!

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Nope. I know the 'family-friendly' new versions. Me dummy.

If it makes you feel any better, I'd also applaud a Paul Verhoeven- directed version of the ORIGINAL tales...even though I've never even read 'em.

 

[Vickie_M]

I get the impression that none of you people has any real familiarity with Grimms' Fairy Tales in the original, un-Bowlderized form, not what most English-speaking audiences have grown up with.

Maybe not, but I'd bet my eyes that Terry Gilliam is intimately familiar with it all.

To reiterate, this is a marriage made in heaven.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Rex,

I'm very familiar with the original stories, having read a collection of the tales a number of times. I think he could do a great job with them.

 

[Graeme Clark]

Maybe not, but I'd bet my eyes that Terry Gilliam is intimately familiar with it all.

He'll probably claim to have never read it.

 

[Vickie_M]

He'll probably claim to have never read it.

Why in the world would you say something like that??

 

[Randall Dorr]

I get the impression that none of you people has any real familiarity with Grimms' Fairy Tales in the original, un-Bowlderized form, not what most English-speaking audiences have grown up with.

When you say Bowdlerized, are you talking about Disney versions and the like, or are most of the actual published texts altered in some way? I've been eying a few of the various Brothers Grimm collections for some time.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Randall Dorr wrote:

I'm referring to the popular versions of the stories usually read to children (from picture books) and based on standard "Bowdlerized" Victorian translations of the German. (If you find a version of "Little Red Riding Hood" where the huntsman kills the wolf and "retrieves" grandma alive from his belly, and "they all live happily ever after", BEWARE.)
If your idea of "Grimm's Fairy Tales" is The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) and the like, then are you in for a shock! Many, many of these tales have horrible, horrible endings (people being deliberately cut to pieces or burned alive), and are totally unsuitable to the "Monty-Pythonesque" jokiness to which Terry Gilliam seems to be terminally and permanently addicted. They were meant as cautionary tales told by rural peasants to their children, and they weren't at all concerned about causing "childhood trauma".
A Google search of "Grimms fairy tales" reveals a huge number of sites, some with the tales themselves translated and posted, some with information on the history of the collection of and folkloristics behind the translation of these tales. You should find enough reliable information to help you make an informed choice in purchase decisions.

 

[Vickie_M]

are totally unsuitable to the "Monty-Pythonesque" jokiness to which Terry Gilliam seems to be terminally and permanently addicted.

Have you seen Brazil? What Terry Gilliam films have you seen? Just wondering.
Who would you like to see make a film based on Grimms, and how do you plan on getting the money to give them to make it? Really, you sound like Lord of the Rings fans who can't stand to see their icon be filmed in any capacity by anybody.
From what I read, the movie isn't one or more of the Grimms Fairy Tales anyway, it's a fantasy about the Brothers themselves, that will incorporate bits from their writings.
Gilliam knows dark, he knows fantasy and he knows funny. I say again, he's PERFECT for the job.
If it ever actually gets made, which I'm not going to hold my breath about.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Vickie_M wrote:

Quote:

Well, it does depend, of course, on the nature of the given project, but . . . . I say he's NOT.

 

[Vickie_M]

And he'll probably mix them all together in his usual overcooked recipe of inappropriate ingredients. (I don't like dill in my angel-food cake!)

Geez, I'm sorry Gilliam killed your brother. My condolences.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

(sniff sniff) Thread crap alert!

Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!

 

[Damin J Toell]

I could(n't) care less.

You sure cared enough to post your thought that Gilliam wasn't the right person for the job.
BTW, I haven't seen Gilliam do much ""Monty-Pythonesque" jokiness" to any degree since The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. I'm not sure which films of his, exactly, you've been watching.
DJ

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Well, for me, it was the movie 12 Monkeys that made me think Gilliam would be the perfect choice for a film on The Grimm Brothers. I guess I was thinking along a specific style of filmmaker, rather than one who is devoted to a particular genre. Gilliam is diverse and makes films for all types of subjects, that's what I feel a story on The Grimm Brothers would need...that type of ability to cross species. One thing that I am sure of, is that Gilliam wouldn't go for the superficial. He wouldn't film a Grimm Bros. movie with the sole intention of making it a graphic horror film, as would probably be the case of so many of the young directors working today. This is why I want Gilliam to direct a film like this. It's the layers.

I get the impression that none of you people has any real familiarity with Grimms' Fairy Tales in the original, un-Bowlderized form, not what most English-speaking audiences have grown up with.

I guess I don't understand how you make that assertion with so little info. My own personal story is thus: my grandmother was a direct German immigrant. She spent her first 35 years in Germany and one of her most prized possessions was an untranslated Grimm Brothers collection of stories. On rare occasions, I would get to sit and listen as she would crack open the book and read me the stories. She didn't censor anything, I can tell you that and the stories are very graphic. But, they do have a style that is offbeat and quirky-it's not straightforward horror, as I recall and that's why I stand behind Gilliam.
The closest I've come to that was a book given to me as a gift when I was 15. It was translated, but it was the Complete Grimm Brothers Collection, not Bowdlerized or made pretty. Unfortunately, that book cannot be accounted for and I haven't found another copy. But, I do feel as though I have a passing familiarity with Grimm Bros. work and what it might take to bring that vision to the big screen.
Bruce