You know, I consume a lot of media in my life. Lots of movies, comic books, TV shows, etc. So much so that I often forget why it is that I do it. It is just something I do out of habit, having done it since I was a kid? Something I do to distract myself from my inevitable death, and with the kind of brain I have that’s a necessity? Or is it that each time I watch or read something new, it’s done with the hope I’ll stumble onto something truly great? A story which envelopes me completely within its world, bringing me into a place where all the hardships and bigotry and misery of life melt away and I am able to see it as it truly should be, full of heroes and villains and monsters and high adventure. A world where the good guys always win, where there’s a smile on every face and death is never the end. Something that makes me feel as free and happy as a child, like I never could when I was that age.
There’s been a several films over the years that have been able to elicit those emotions, and even fewer directors, but one of the most consistent is Terry Gilliam. A couple Marathons ago I covered his 1981 film Time Bandits, in which a young boy joins a troupe of time traveling dwarves as they used a map of the universe to commit robberies, and Sean Connery is a Roman for some reason. Since then I haven’t touched another Gilliam movie, although I have watched a couple episodes of the surprisingly decent 12 Monkeys TV series (not to mention the Gilliamesque Erik the Viking), so it’s time to dip my toes back into those waters. Back to the 80s, the age of Time Bandits, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
In the late 18th century, during the Austro-Turkish War (the other late 18th century Turkish War), a small seaside city is being besieged not only by the Turks, but by oppressive and arrogant government officials. Their only source of entertainment in these trying times are an acting troupe known as The Henry Salt and Son (who is actually a daughter known as Sally) Players, who are performing a play known as The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, detailing the fantastical and absurd tales of the titular Baron. At least they are until an elderly man arrives at the theater, waving a sword about and interrupting the performance. The man claims that he, in fact, is Baron Munchausen, that all of these stories did, in fact, happen, and that apparently he isn’t much of a theater fan. The Baron explains that it was he, along with his servants the quick Bertholt, the strong Ulbrecht, the keen-eyed Adolphus and the blustery Gustavus, that embarrassed the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and thus lead to this war, but he doesn’t get very far. He’s just a old man spouting fairy tales, and there’s no room in this Enlightened world of laws and logic for someone like him.
Sally isn’t content with either the war or seeing the Baron lay down and die however, and after running off to the battlements to berate the soldiers, an uncanny situation with cannon balls reveals that the old man wasn’t lying after all: He really is Baron Munchausen, capable of derring-do beyond the realms of mortal men. Sally (and some beautiful women) convince the Baron to help end the war, and after constructing an airship out of women’s underwear he (and Sally) escape the city and go off to find the Baron’s servant so they can finally defeat the Sultan and his army, and perhaps even Death. A journey that will take them beyond Austria, beyond Earth, beyond the limits of time and space itself.
As a film, Munchausen bears a couple similarities to Gilliam’s previous fantasy film, Time Bandits. Both movies feature a child wise beyond their years (Sally is more savvy but gets less focus than Bandits protag, but still) who joins a group of adults who act far more childish than the actual child on a magical and bizarre journey. However, where Time Bandits is almost a satirization of a fairy tale, even throwing in an unhappy ending, Munchausen is the opposite. Munchausen deals in big ideas; Big characters, big locations, big villains, it’s that gloriously wide scope that all the great stories of old dealt in, like the Odyssey and the Voyage of Sinbad. Yet it never loses its warmth or its sense of humor, both visual and otherwise (the benefits of having a Python behind the camera), and it’s what really makes this film. You just feel happy watching it, and I rarely feel good doing anything.
The cast is great. John Neville is about the best looking Baron you could ask for, possessing a wizened charm and childlike vitality that resembles classic literary character Don Quixote. Eric Idle and Jonathan Pryce put in good work, Robin Williams does some classic Robin Williams antics, Uma Thurman seems incredibly well suited to be a love goddess, and so on. Even the kid who plays Sally ends up coming across as endearing more often than not, and that can be a make or break moment for movies that rely so much on child characters. Not every movie can be Stand By Me.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen hits pretty much every mark for me. I love the combination of the modern and the antique, I love the grimy beauty of the sets, it all fills me with the same passion and excitement that filled me when I watched my first Disney movie, or cracked open my first copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. A time of possibilites. Anyway, strong recommendation from me for this Halloween, if you’re anything like me at all in your movie tastes, this is definitely one to check out.
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