The Fisher King
1991 Directed by Terry Gilliam
Synopsis
A Modern Day Tale About The Search For Love, Sanity, Ethel Merman And The Holy Grail.
A turbulent mix of tragic comedy and myth told by director Terry Gilliam. Two troubled men face their terrible destinies and events of their past as they join together on a mission to find the Holy Grail and thus to save themselves.
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Part of Dastardly Difficult December: film nr.10
Leave it to Terry Gilliam to weave and visualise one of the best modern fairytales ever.
What is a fairytale? It is usually a fantasy with a moral lesson hidden between the lines, often aimed at children. It is only natural that these lessons are distilled from a certain zeitgeist, a frame of reference or a moral code to pass on to a younger generation.
A modern fairytale therefore needs to encompass all these elements and by default has to be updated to fit the time it is told in. The Fisher King understands that perfectly and not only does it appeal to a sense of wonder and amazement, it also carries a…
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Fucking hell.
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This is a lot like a modern fairy tale...
Charming, wacky, quirky, filled with eccentrities, a bit poetic, a bit chaotic, and just plain touching.
Plus, a small appearance from Niles Crane makes for an added bonus in my book.
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One hell of a fairytale with 2 great actors involved.
Robin williams is perfect for the role as he has to be funny,loud and crazy throughout. -
The Fisher King is a wacky comedy about love, loss, radio hosts, madness, homeless people, imaginary (or are they?) knights and a quest for the holy grail. Directed by Terry Gilliam.
It's a great movie though. Touching, sweet, funny, sad and dark - but also cozy, light and hopeful. It's one of those movies that has a little bit of everything.
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Terry Gilliam was judged unsuited for Hollywood, especially considering the problems, budget over-runs, studio interference with and box-office failures of his previous works Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. There were many who were dismayed when the unquestioned visionary director agreed to helm a studio-initiated project, The Fisher King. Attracted to the mythic, fairy-tale qualities of the contemporary-set film, Gilliam admitted later that he changed his directorial methods on this movie – not relying on storyboards as much, encouraging the actors more and arguably restraining himself. When the film became a hit (his first) with the critics and the public, garnering five Academy Award nominations in the process, it indeed seemed that Gilliam was poised to become an A-list…
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I was young when I first watched this one. Re-watching this one will probably be necessary. I remember it being slow, full of dialogue and action-less scenes.
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pretty great
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A heartfelt study on loneliness and the invisible people of society. It loses its way when it diverges from that and Bridges-Williams relationship. Unfortunately, the last 15 minutes are rushed and do not work at all. Saccharine happy ending bull.
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Fucking hell.
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I had been meaning to watch The Fisher King for years... Just hadn't got around to it. Glad I've finally seen it. What a delightful story and great performances. I'm always a bit underwhelmed by Terry Gilliam's films (aside from Twelve Monkeys) but this one was really very good...
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A strange and wonderful film. Outstanding performances and a gleeful twist on many different genres from Gilliam.
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Fun House Drama…
The visionary brew of Terry Gilliam’s mini epic fantasy films is incredibly unique. After finally seeing “The Fisher King,” I’d love to see him fuse his fun house head to more dramas. Keeping the fantasy in the background, Gilliam leaves room for more heart, soul, love, truth, redemption and subtler storytelling. Though, he still brings to the table his trademark punch for dreamlike genius and Holy Grail soul searching.
The choice to cast Robin Williams as a homeless man on a quest for love with nightmare visions, makes sense even if his first few scenes are too obvious. But, just when you think Robin Williams is being too much like Robin Williams, he sheds his skin (and clothes too) and gives you a complex character to fully absorb in. In fact, the entire movie is another absorbing gem for Gilliam. I can’t believe it took me so long to see it.
-djg
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Wow.
So, I had seen this film before, circa 1992, and, as an 8 year old child, seemingly lacking in cognitive capacity, I had believed this film to be a mediocre affair about the king of the homeless people and his quest for the holy grail.
In one way, I was right. In many, many other ways, I was way off.
This is why Gilliam is seen as a great director. He drags us through his modern fairytale, unknowing as to which direction he'll turn next.
Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges both put in the performances of their lives, with some of the best back and forth I've ever seen (sorry, coen brothers), and Mercedes Ruehl is startlingly effective as…
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Okay. I love Brazil. But I think that this will now become my personal favorite Terry Gilliam film. Next to Brazil and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (strange that both MP and TFK involve the Holy Grail) that is.
I loved everything about this movie. I loved Jeff Bridges. I loved Mercedes Ruehl (in an Academy Award winning performance? Huh..strange).
But i LOVED Robin Williams. I mean..god damn. This is just my kind of movie. Unabashed romanticism with a dab of Gilliam.
The scene in which a homeless gentleman storms into an office building in full drag and serenades Amanda Plummer with tunes from Gypsy is hilarious.
This movie is just fantastic. I loved it. Two and a half hours went by in a snap.
If you haven't seen this, you're crazy. If you have seen it and you don't like it --- that doesn't bother me.
I loved it.