The Brothers Grimm (DVD)

The Brothers Grimm is a typical Terry Gilliam film. It is full of totally disconnected fantasy and has the usual lack of narrative discipline that creeps into all Gilliam's films. In other words you couldn't tell the story in a few lines. You have to see the film to appreciate the brilliance of it. The film transports brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, of Grimm's fairy tales fame, into a weird fictional mix of historical fact, mythology and Gilliam's imagination. There are cackling, evil witches, deadly devilish curses and trees that are just waiting for a chance to carry out their wicked plans. The Grimm brothers' tales of spells, magic and ...  Read the complete review

Loosely based around the authors of Grimm Fairy Tales who wrote Little Red Riding Hood and The ginger bread Man, this film follows the brothers as they embark on an adventure in their very own grim fairy tale. Jacob and Will Grimm have grown up to be con artists in order to make lots of money and get the girls. To do this they travel from village to village in Germany and play on the fears of the local people. With a couple of friends they stage events such as a local ghost, and then ‘rid’ the town of it for a small fee of course. All is going well until they are kidnapped by General Delatombe and his henchman Cavaldi. It transpires that they have been ...  Read the complete review

Terry Gilliam makes remarkable movies. In most of his post-Python celluloid ventures he’s proved time and again that he operates on a different plane to the rest of us. I’m particularly fond of “Brazil” with its “1984” influenced tale of man’s struggle in a dystopian world, wonderfully imagined and beautifully executed. “Brazil” was hardly a flash in the pan; with amazingly convoluted stories locked up in “The Fisher King”, “Twelve Monkeys” and “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” to cite more examples. So when I started to pick up on all the tell-tale signs of another hallmark movie from Gilliam, I couldn’t help but reflect on “The Brothers Grimm” in a “Once Upon A ...  Read the complete review

The Brothers Grimm is a little heard-of 2005 film from director Terry Gilliam; the man responsible for such films as Time Bandits, Tweleve Monkeys and dystopian fantasy, Brazil. Starring Matt Damon and the late Heath Ledger in the title roles, the film attempts to be a dark pastiche of all the familiar classic fairy tales with plenty of comic fantasy moments thrown into the mix! Jakob Grimm (Ledger) is a collector of urban legend and folklore; his brother, William (Damon), is an elaborate scam artist who sets the pair up as a pair of monster-hunters in order to fleece villagers of their gold. But the brothers come unstuck when they come to the attentions of a ...  Read the complete review

Terry Gilliam seems to be able to be involved in stuff like this that I like. Take Jonathan Price (from Brazil and Baron Munchausen which he also directed) and cast him as a maniac French general. Heath Ledger (no, I don't know what else he's been in either, who is he?) and Matt Damon (who doesn't look 11 years old in a film finally!) playing the brothers Grimm in a film that uses ideas from their stories and fairy tales to bind a common theme. The 2 brothers are con-men and use folk tales to hoodwink stupid villagers out of their money for almost no work on their part. They are assisted by Mackenzie Crook (mostly known for The Office in the UK) and the other ...  Read the complete review