Throwback Thursday: ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’

I have found few fantasy films that appeal both the children and adults as intelligently and successfully, with such creativity and flair as ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’. It is true, I am a devout follower of the cinematic God known as Terry Gilliam, but there’s a reason for that… he’s freaking brilliant. I have my own personal pantheon of filmmakers that I admire to the point of being borderline obsessive… Coen Brothers, Darren Aronofsky, Zhang Yimou and (of course) Terry Gilliam, to name a few.

But I digress. On with the show, a marvelous array of whimsical theatrics known as ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’. The film opens with an immediate dose of Gilliam’s own unique style and flair for the ironic and absurd. As the score by Eric idle and Michael Kamen throws us directly into the time and place of the film, white titles appear on screen indicating the era known as the Age of Reason – Late 18th Century… BOOM! Violent and destructive war ravages the land as cannon balls plunge into stone and flesh alike. No worries mum and daddy, the scene is not nearly as graphic as I indulge.

The play of this opening scene against itself sets the tone of the film, the clashing of reality with the perceived reality of the most amazing Hieronymus Karl Frederick Baron von Munchausen (John Neville), seasoned adventurer turned old and feeble weaver of intricate tales. Through the chaos of war, Gilliam pulls us into the intimate and misleading safety of the theater, filled with patrons temporarily withdrawn from the horrible reality which surrounds them as they allow themselves to be entertained by performers interpreting the life and experience of one Baron Munchausen.

Struggling to survive while aching to perform, the thespians find themselves suddenly put upon with a scolding the one and only, very real and alive true Baron Munchausen. Appalled by the mere suggestion that this performance does anything but disgrace and insult his very life, Munchausen sets in motion an epic flashback to his younger and more aptly mobile years as he spins a yarn of eccentric characters and fantastic encounters that make the most vivid fairy tales seem dull.

Gilliam’s film is a lyrical endeavor, both visually and orally. Designed and photographed to illicit the unmistakable appeal of childhood fairy tales, sets, props, costumes and especially lighting are combined creating a version of reality that exists within Munchausen’s mind, but whether it ever truly existed and to what extent is left for the viewer to decide on their own. This story is Munchausen’s life as he remembers it, much like we look back on on interpret our own lives as we grow older. We all prefer to focus on the positive parts of years past, over time diminishing the power of the negative parts we once found ourselves mired within. ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchuasen’ is a celebration of this conflicting yet transition of one man’s former self to his realization of his current self.

Legendary Italian cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno delivers a marvelous display of rich and vivid color, a teaming of contrast and camera movement that blurs the lines between reality and fiction along with a perfectly realized collaboration of Gilliam’s genius with working in shadows and color accompanied by bold angles and descriptive depth of field. Rotunno frequently worked with Federico Fellini, but has also been an integral part of other successful films including Sydney Pollack’s SABRINA, Dario Argento’s THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, ALL THAT JAZZ, POPEYE and RED SONJA.

While most of the film is bright and vivid, playful and perhaps at times even a bit sexual in a suggestive manner, a major turning point for Munchausen comes early in the film when he nearly dies from multiple cannon blasts converging upon the theater. In this one, especially dark and menacing scene, Gilliam’s interpretation of Death descends upon Munchausen, but just as Death is upon him, a brave young peasant girl named Sally Salt comes to his rescue.

Sally, played by a young Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter, Dawn of the Dead), becomes an inspiration to Munchausen as a sliver of his former self emerges just as he is about to give up and surrender to Death, disgusted with how the world has turned out. In a glorious moment of reclaimed youth and dignity, Munchausen commands a battalion of soldiers to silence the very enemy cannons that nearly ended his life moments ago. Despite his sudden valor, his actions fail to convince his skeptical audience and Munchausen endeavors to round up his former motley crew of companions to join forces one last time to help end this terrible war.

“Kindly be so good as to remove your knickers.” — Baron Munchausen, requesting the cloth from some fair ladies to construct a makeshift hot air balloon by which to locate and collect his loyal companions, Berthold (Eric Idle), Adolphus (Charles McKeown), Albrecht (Winston Dennis) and Gustavus (Jack Purvis). Reminiscing the glory of the old days, Munchausen recalls their great skills of speed, strength, accuracy and disproportionately powerful lungs. Once aboard the undergarment aircraft, Munchausen discovers Sally has stowed away and he reluctantly takes her on what will become the most dangerous yet memorable journey of her life.

Munchausen finds difficulty at first reconciling his memories of his talented companions with their current tired and aged reality, but eventually finds a way to muster that spark buried deep within their defeated souls to once more emerge to save the day. With Sally at his side, Munchausen manages to give his old friends (and himself) one last chance at being heroes and proving the tall tales within their memories had some validity.

‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’ features an irrefutably talented ensemble cast of supporting characters. Jonathan Pryce plays The Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson, Uma Thurman delivers an early and innocently seductive performance as the goddess Venus, Oliver Reed plays Venus’ brutish and temperamental husband Vulcan, Robin Williams plays the King of the Moon whose intellectual head separates from his mindlessly horny body, and even Sting appears in a small supporting cameo as a heroic military officer.

Originally released in the US in March 1989, the film that cost an estimated $46.6 million dollars to make opened with a meager box office tally falling just shy of $600,000 and grossed an even less impressive domestic box office of just over $8 million. A financial disaster for Columbia Pictures, ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’ would also prove potentially disastrous for Terry Gilliam’s career as the first film after the epic battle he endured with 20th Century Fox over BRAZIL in 1985, which nearly convinced Gilliam to stop making movies altogether. Much of the turmoil was a result of numerous production setbacks combined with a change of regime within Columbia’s corporate studio structure. In an effort to undermine any potential glory for the previous regime, the new powers that be virtually buried ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’ giving the film an extremely limited domestic release.

‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’ is the final installment of an informal trilogy, serving as a metaphor for the three stages of human life. TIME BANDITS (1981) represents the stage of youth, BRAZIL (1985) represents middle-aged life and this film represents the elderly, or “golden” age. Unfortunately, due mostly to decisions outside of Gilliam’s control, TIME BANDITS is the only of these three films that is considered a financial success and it barely surpassed the break-even point.

Having two consecutive cinematic nightmares under his belt, Gilliam could have simply thrown in the towel, but he’s an artist obsessed with his vision and knack for visual storytelling and I am glad he stuck with his passion for movies. Fortunately, Gilliam’s vision and artistic brilliance was not lost on the critical community and his peers. The film was nominated for four Oscars, winning none, and nominated for 15 other awards, winning six. This, as with nearly all of Gilliam’s films have triumphed over the hardships and prevail as time-tested favorite films of movie geeks the world over and maintain a loyal and understanding appreciation from fans.