: The Brothers Grimm
Director: Terry Gilliam
I really wanted to love this film. Unfortunately, I just liked it. I didn’t know what to expect but it was not as charming as I wanted. All I knew going in was that it was about the Brothers Grimm, the guys who wrote all those classic fairy tales and legendary childhood stories. In this movie, those tales are based on truth, and I anticipated something along the lines of Grimm, the fairy tale references are too subtle to evoke much humor (like a person laughing at their own puns no one else quite gets), and the chaotic nature of the story too awkward to provoke much emotional connection with the characters. Everything’s much too serious. For instance, early on there’s a scene of the young Grimm brothers where Jake sells the family cow for some magic beans which are supposed to cure their dying sister. Throughout the movie, the rational older brother berates Jake for killing their sister — that’s certainly grim and not as humorous as it should be. Unfortunately, too much of the film is like that: the humor’s so dark and serious most people wouldn’t even think of it as humor at all, and even those who appreciate such things wouldn’t do more than crack a smile. The actual story itself is rather linear: the brothers make their living as con artists, liberating towns from fictious evil witches of their own creation for pay, and are forced to uncover another similar con artist kidnapping young children in a town. However, this new menace turns out to be real, as the forest is a magical place and a real evil witch is plotting to regain her lost youth with a spell. So there’s comedy in the con artists uncovering real magic — but it’s low key and mixed with realistic death and destruction, it’s not exactly pleasant.
Despite all these flaws, however, the film has some genuine moments of inspiration. The visual look of the film is amazing: it’s a visual feast of extraordinary proportions. The wonderful color palette, flawless special effects, and vivid presentation evoke a world that is both hyper-realistic and surreal, like a beautiful painting. There’s some excellent acting, some fascinating characters, and the occasional delightful surprise. Unfortunately, it is the story that doesn’t live up to expectations: though it tries hard, it has none of the magic of those fairy tales it is based upon, and in the end, it leaves you merely contented but not awed.
Topic: [/movie] |
