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[REVIEWS
> JABBERWOCKY]
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| 09/29/2001 |
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| 'Twas
brilling: And a low budget look is perfect for this not-so-happily-ever-after
fable very loosely adapted from Lewis Carroll's "The Jabberwocky",
reputedly the greatest English nonsense poem ever written. |
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Reviewed by D. Dammet
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| An old rumor has it that Terry Gilliam's
"Jabberwocky" would have never been made if Gilliam had
enough scratch to use a dragon in "Monty Python and the
Holy Grail," his first big screen collaborative effort
as director along with fellow Python alum Terry Jones.
Instead, what would have been a fierce dragon became a
killer rabbit, a cheaper and funnier alternative. If the
rumor is true, it's lucky for us that Gilliam had to opt
for a rabbit his first time out of the gate. A year after
"Holy Grail" was made in 1975, he set to work on "Jabberwocky,"
his first solo outing as a director. Although the production
of "Jabberwocky" looks no more imbued with capital than
did "Holy Grail," we do get to glimpse a beast that is
undeniably Gilliamesque, to coin a term. |
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| And a low budget look is perfect for this not-so-happily-ever-after
fable very loosely adapted from Lewis Carroll's "The Jabberwocky",
reputedly the greatest English nonsense poem ever written.
Anyone familiar with Gilliam's work understands that nonsense
is the perfect source material for the former Python who
has vastly grown beyond the comedic sketches of his early
years as a member of that troupe to become a director
of contemporary classics like "Brazil" and "The Fisher
King." |
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| In "Jabberwocky," Gilliam has crafted a bleak human
comedy set within the dreariest of environs, a Dark Ages
burg where outside the city walls lurks a blood-thirsty
monster and inside the walls one can fall prey to gouging
merchants, sadistic priests, drunken guards or a despotic
chamberlain. Michael Palin haplessly traverses this hopeless
landscape as Dennis Cooper, an ingenuous cask-maker's
son who hopes to make good within the walls of the big
city to prove he is worthy of the glowering and unattractive
object of his affection, Griselda Fishfinger. Throughout
his travails, Cooper proves to be the unluckiest lucky
man alive, who by dumb luck alone narrowly escapes thrashings
and floggings and certain incarceration only to find himself
in ever more dismal scenarios. |
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Michael
Palin as the reluctant hero in "Jabberwocky"
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| The camera work is especially effective in establishing
"Jabberwocky's" desolate atmosphere, with several shots
in silhouette that evoke Middle Age woodcut imagery and,
perhaps intentionally on Gilliam's part, seem reminiscent
of Bergman's "The Seventh Seal." But "Jabberwocky" is
no more a brooding meditation on death a la Bergman as
it is a schtick-laden offering from Monty Python. This
film falls somewhere in between those two poles, with
absurdist hijinks and scatological themes that will appeal
to die-hard Python fans as well as a melancholic tone
with a dash of cynicism that adds some depth to the humor.
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A new 35-mm print of Terry Gilliam's "Jabberwocky" will
be on limited release through Mystic Cove Entertainment
in theaters around the U.S. from September 21 through
November 1. Accompanying the feature is Gilliam's rare
animated short "Storytime". In Los Angeles, you can see
"Jabberwocky" at the
NuArt Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., between September
28 through October 4. Check with the NuArt for showtimes..jpg)
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Now
in theatrical release
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| LOS ANGELES:
Now playing at Landmark's NuArt Theatre |
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Director
Terry Gilliam
hudling in a cove on the set of "Jabberwocky"
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"Jabberwocky"
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by Lewis Carroll
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| 'Twas
brillig, and the slithy toves |
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Did
gyre and gimble in the wabe:
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| All
mimsy were the borogroves, |
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And
the mome raths outgrabe.
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| "Beware
the Jabberwock, my son! |
| The
jaws that bite, the claws that catch! |
| Beware
the Jubjub bird, and shun |
| The
frumious Bandersnatch!" |
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| He
took his vorpal sword in hand: |
| Long
time the manxome fow he sought— |
| So
he rested by the Tumtum tree, |
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stood awhile in thought. |
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| And,
as in uffish thought he stood, |
| The
Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, |
| And
whiffling through the tulgey wood, |
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burbled as it came! |
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| One,
two! One, two! And through and through |
| The
vorpal blade went snicker - snack! |
| He
left it dead, and with its head |
| He
went galumphing back. |
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| And
hast thou slain the Jabberwock? |
| Come
to my arms my beamish boy! |
| O
frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! |
| He
chortled in his joy. |
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| 'Twas
brillig, and the slithy toves |
| Did
gyre and gimble in the wabe: |
| All
mimsy were the borogroves, |
| And
the mome raths outgrabe. |
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