The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Director:

Terry Gilliam

Writer (WGA):

Ehren Kruger (written by)

Release Date:

26 August 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

Eliminating Evil Since 1812

Plot:

Will and Jake Grimm are travelling con-artists who encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires genuine courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms.

Plot Keywords:

Creature | Castle | Village | Torture Chamber | Mythical

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Petr Ratimec	...	Young Will
Barbora Lukesová	...	Mother Grimm (as Barbara Lukesova)
Anna Rust	...	Sister Grimm
Jeremy Robson	...	Young Jacob
Matt Damon	...	Wilhelm Grimm
Heath Ledger	...	Jacob Grimm
Radim Kalvoda	...	Gendarme
Martin Hofmann	...	Gendarme
Josef Pepa Nos	...	German War Veteran
Harry Gilliam	...	Stable Boy
Miroslav Táborský	...	Old Miller
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	Mayor
Marika Sarah Procházková	...	Miller's Daughter (as Marika Prochazkova)
Mackenzie Crook	...	Hidlick
Richard Ridings	...	Bunst

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

UK | Czech Republic | USA

Language:

English | French | German | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Norway:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Finland:K-11 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Hungary:16 | Sweden:11 | Ireland:12A | Slovakia:12 | Malaysia:U | Hong Kong:IIB | Portugal:M/12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Belgium:KT | Canada:G (Quebec) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | UK:12A | Germany:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:12 | Czech Republic:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Ledec nad Sázavou, Czech Republic

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

Goran Bregovic was Terry Gilliam's original choice for composer. When Gilliam decided to go with a more traditional score, Bregovic was replaced by Dario Marianelli.

Goofs:

Factual errors: "Jack and the Beanstalk" was not written down by the Brothers Grimm, it is an old English tale which isn't very well-known in Germany.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sister Grimm: Mama, it's so cold.
Mother Grimm: It's very, very cold. Will. Put another log on the fire, lad.
Young Will: There isn't any more firewood, mama.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Getting Gilliam (2005)

Soundtrack:

Waltz #15 in A flat major ('Lullaby'), Op.39

Gilliam does Hollywood ...

Being a fan of both good old-fashioned fantasy movies and of director Terry Gilliam, I was really looking forward to this one. I was slightly put off when I heard Gilliam's complaints about the constant interference of the Brothers Weinstein, but the director does have a history of being dissatisfied with the production of projects which actually turn out pretty good in the end, so my hopes were still pretty high.

Rather than being a historical biography of the famous authors, this is a fantastic make-believe story of the possible inspirations behind the stories of the Brothers Grimm. The brothers travel around Europe working as con artists, fooling simple peasants into believing they are witch-hunters and monster slayers. However, when they are captured by a French general and sent to investigate a town which is believed to have been targeted by similar con-men, they discover that there may be some truth behind the fairy tales. The very woods surrounding the town seem to be alive, a big, bad wolf stalks through the darkness and an evil power seems to emanate from a mysterious ancient tower ...

So, Gilliam tries his hand at doing a commercial summer blockbuster. And the results are, well, interesting. Primarily he shows that he can produce some great action sequences, and there are some really great visual ideas here, many of which I'll admit are entirely thanks to top-notch CGI work. These are the moments when the director's creative magic appears to shine through, and there's enough of them to make this movie worth watching. Overall it does feel strangely derivative for a Gilliam movie, but I suppose that's to be expected when he sacrifices creative control to the studio. In the past I've heard that Gilliam simply sees himself as a "hired hand" on such projects.

However, where it fails is in the mixture of action and drama, in repeatedly placing it's characters in peril whilst also making us care about them. Unfortunately this has been a problem in a lot of these big-budget fantasy/action movies lately, including last years equivalent -- "Van Helsing". The other movie with which this shares a lot in common is Tim Burton's Gothic horror "Sleepy Hollow", which was far superior to either. The main problem with the "Brothers Grimm" is that there's little to no character development in the first hour of the movie, and then almost all of the conflict between the characters is suddenly introduced in one scene. This is what we call bad pacing. And the way the characters are written seems somewhat inconsistent (although both Damon and Ledger manage to turn in decent performances all the same), and we never really get a "feel" for their personalities.

For your average light-hearted Hollywood fantasy, this is perfectly fine. But from a director with a history of making fascinating, important works of surreal art, this is somewhat short of what you'd expect.