Fisher King, The (1991)
The Fisher King (1991), directed by Terry Gilliam.
A shock-jock radio dj falls apart and hits bottom after one of his fans commits mass murder. He feels responsible and it has shattered his life. Redemption is a long, hard road back: "If there was just some way I could pay the fine and go home".
Oh, no. Not that easy. His atonement lies through an insane street person he harmed. Insanity: you've got to get in to get out.
Another Holy Grail film! Gilliam says the subject does fascinate him.
I saw this only once before, probably on a video tape. I've shied away from a rewatch because of a traumatic, gut-wrenching scene of violence: the origin of the Red Knight nightmare image. Gilliam says everyone wanted him to cut that scene, but he held firm: trauma must be made real.
Our players:
Jeff Bridges: one of our essential actors. When he is gone we will see an effusive outpouring of praise for his amazing range of roles. Gilliam chose him after seeing The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) and realized he could do darker characters. He used the actor's middle American persona as a way of universalizing a New York story.
Robin Williams: I always first think of his wild-and-crazy coked-up performances, but he is so much better when dialing it back and letting the comic's sadness come through. He is really excellent here as the crazy/crafty broken street person.
Mercedes Ruehl: I haven't seen as much of her but she is appealing as the passionate loving and mothering video store owner.
Amanda Plummer: She seems to specialize in eccentric behavior. Here she is awkward, difficult and just right for our crazy man.
Notes:
The legend of the Fisher King has a wounded man who must be healed by an act of divine grace. In the current story both men serve in that role. They heal each other.
He doesn't explicitly say so, but I am sure crazy Parry recognizes Jack when they first meet.
Unexpectedly, in the middle of the story we have both a romantic comedy -- trying to get the awkward couple together -- and a serious romance between Jack and Anne, as we wonder if he can stop being such an arrogant jerk.
A funny bit: the moments of tenderness between the later two always have a rack of porn titles in the background.
This is a "high and low" story. The magic happens down in the dirt, which is sweet. Insanity, poverty and magic seem to go together.
Cast and crew overlap with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988): 14.
Photographed by Roger Pratt.
Available on Blu-ray from Criterion.
Terry Gilliam gives his usual happy commentary track, brought forward from the DVD. He describes how he broke his rules -- don't make a movie in the US, or for a studio, or from anything other than his own script -- and created a film he likes quite a lot. He has this great ability to see his own film the way someone in the audience sees it for the first time.
