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A Grimm Tale
22 January 2006
[indent]Taken from one perspective, The Brothers Grimm is a cute challenge for trivia buffs to try and uncover the references to all of the fairy tales mentioned or otherwise refered to in the movie.
From another perspective, it's yet one more example of how Hollywood bastardizes and fictionalizes history. But then, it's Terry Gilliam, so one has to give him some room to maneuver.
The Brothers Grimm is actually an entertaining, albeit sometimes bizarre and somewhat confused movie. It tells the story of the two Grimm brothers - Jacob (b. 1785) and Wilhelm (b. 1786) - who begin the story as a couple of young charlatans shucking the superstitious locals by pretending to exorcise their demons for cash.
It's easier if you think of this tale as synchronicity rather than history. The two characters in the film just happen to have the same names as their historical counterparts, live in a similar part of the world, and share a curiously similar interest in fairy tales, but after that the similarities (or the historical realities) end.
The brothers live in what today is Germany, but then was merely a collection of independent states, duchies and kingdoms until 1815, after Napoleon's defeat. It is the period of the French occupation (which puts it somewhere between the invasion of 1806 and the defeat at Leipzig in 1813... The real Jacob was studying law 1802 to until 1808 - when he was in Paris - and Wilhelm was also in law school from from 1803. Since the brothers published their first volume of tales in 1812, that further narrows the time-frame).
The tale opens with a little moral teaser: their sister is dying and Wilhelm is sent with the family cow to purchase medicine. He returns with a handful of magic beans instead (fairy tale reference number one). What is unsaid here is that the Grimms actually did have a sister - and six other brothers, none of whom are mentioned. Of course the sister dies, fast forward to now and the pair of charlatans fleecing the peasant flock. The real sister, by the way (Charlotte) lived until 1833.
Also in the tale are archetypal bad guys - the French conquering army, with an evil, arrogant general and a more evil - yet in typical Gilliam fashion also darkly comic - greasy Italian executioner-torturer-spymaster doing his best John Cleese imitation of bumbling cruelty.
Anyway, the French catch the brothers and threaten to execute them for fraud, but instead send them out to a small town to solve the mystery of the disappearing children. The assumption is, of course, that the children are disappearing by some flim-flammery that can only be discovered by sending in other con artists to sniff it out.
Both Grimm brothers (Matt Damon, Jacob, and Heath Ledger, Wilhelm) are curiously active, fit and socially active - given that in real life the brothers at this time were both librarians and ended up as professors.
The juxtaposition in the film is between fake and real enchantment, between tale and truth. But unlike other Gilliam films, it's cut from cardboard, with little depth. Special effects abound (generally but not always well done), strange and curious characters too, and the film is saved from being just another Hollywood clunker by some witty (and mercifully dry) dialogue and some very amusing scenes that create character depth.
It's a fun film, if not a great one and not very memorable compared to Gilliam's other pieces (Brazil was superb). Despite the extravagant sets and effects, it seems half-hearted much of the time, and after a good start, it limps towards the inevitable end.
The Brothers Grimm is often ragged and the plot stumbles with seeming randomness. There are tensions suggested between the brothers, a love interest not quite realized, and a lot of potential that never quite breaks through. And there are some odd gaffes, too - Wilhelm writing with a quill pen but never an inkpot. Lanterns carried by racing horsemen that never flicker or dim in the wind. But thanks to Gilliam, it has sparks of inventiveness, it's never corny, and it does keep you watching (even if the ending is predictable and contrived).
Overall, it's a 2.5 out of 5.[/indent]
From another perspective, it's yet one more example of how Hollywood bastardizes and fictionalizes history. But then, it's Terry Gilliam, so one has to give him some room to maneuver.
The Brothers Grimm is actually an entertaining, albeit sometimes bizarre and somewhat confused movie. It tells the story of the two Grimm brothers - Jacob (b. 1785) and Wilhelm (b. 1786) - who begin the story as a couple of young charlatans shucking the superstitious locals by pretending to exorcise their demons for cash.
It's easier if you think of this tale as synchronicity rather than history. The two characters in the film just happen to have the same names as their historical counterparts, live in a similar part of the world, and share a curiously similar interest in fairy tales, but after that the similarities (or the historical realities) end.
The brothers live in what today is Germany, but then was merely a collection of independent states, duchies and kingdoms until 1815, after Napoleon's defeat. It is the period of the French occupation (which puts it somewhere between the invasion of 1806 and the defeat at Leipzig in 1813... The real Jacob was studying law 1802 to until 1808 - when he was in Paris - and Wilhelm was also in law school from from 1803. Since the brothers published their first volume of tales in 1812, that further narrows the time-frame).
The tale opens with a little moral teaser: their sister is dying and Wilhelm is sent with the family cow to purchase medicine. He returns with a handful of magic beans instead (fairy tale reference number one). What is unsaid here is that the Grimms actually did have a sister - and six other brothers, none of whom are mentioned. Of course the sister dies, fast forward to now and the pair of charlatans fleecing the peasant flock. The real sister, by the way (Charlotte) lived until 1833.
Also in the tale are archetypal bad guys - the French conquering army, with an evil, arrogant general and a more evil - yet in typical Gilliam fashion also darkly comic - greasy Italian executioner-torturer-spymaster doing his best John Cleese imitation of bumbling cruelty.
Anyway, the French catch the brothers and threaten to execute them for fraud, but instead send them out to a small town to solve the mystery of the disappearing children. The assumption is, of course, that the children are disappearing by some flim-flammery that can only be discovered by sending in other con artists to sniff it out.
Both Grimm brothers (Matt Damon, Jacob, and Heath Ledger, Wilhelm) are curiously active, fit and socially active - given that in real life the brothers at this time were both librarians and ended up as professors.
The juxtaposition in the film is between fake and real enchantment, between tale and truth. But unlike other Gilliam films, it's cut from cardboard, with little depth. Special effects abound (generally but not always well done), strange and curious characters too, and the film is saved from being just another Hollywood clunker by some witty (and mercifully dry) dialogue and some very amusing scenes that create character depth.
It's a fun film, if not a great one and not very memorable compared to Gilliam's other pieces (Brazil was superb). Despite the extravagant sets and effects, it seems half-hearted much of the time, and after a good start, it limps towards the inevitable end.
The Brothers Grimm is often ragged and the plot stumbles with seeming randomness. There are tensions suggested between the brothers, a love interest not quite realized, and a lot of potential that never quite breaks through. And there are some odd gaffes, too - Wilhelm writing with a quill pen but never an inkpot. Lanterns carried by racing horsemen that never flicker or dim in the wind. But thanks to Gilliam, it has sparks of inventiveness, it's never corny, and it does keep you watching (even if the ending is predictable and contrived).
Overall, it's a 2.5 out of 5.[/indent]
