• 12 Monkeys finds Terry Gilliam back in the world of retro-looking future dystopias (Brazil) and this dense (and genius) narrative is a perfect match for the Gilliam aesthetic

    like Brazil- Gilliam looks back to the past for the design of his dystopia

inventive and detailed- this is cinematic world-building at its finest

  • That aesthetic includes his hoarder/garbage art production design detail and his wild choices with camera angles and lenses- including the canted/dutch angle

near constant use of the canted/dutch angle– Gilliam is surely a student of Welles– even more than most

this is both a wide-angle lens and a tilted angle– disorientation, surveillance and paranoia– a perfect stylistic visual choice for the narrative and larger Gilliam aesthetic

look to the ceiling as a reference point- Gilliam puts the world of 12 Monkeys at an angle again and again

  • The quirky looking hazmat suit, the exposed duct/pipe design set up in the credits like we’re in Antonioni’s Red Desert. It is worth noting that as we go through the time zones (it is a complex set-up)—which include 1917, 1990, 1996 and 2035 it isn’t just the 2035 future that is meticulously designed. Gilliam’s Philadelphia in 1996 is a nightmare. There’s a powerful scene of Tom Waits screaming on the radio as they enter the city in disorienting low-angle shots of the high rises

The quirky looking hazmat suit, the exposed duct/pipe design set up in the credits like we’re in Antonioni’s Red Desert– one of the best shots of the film here takes place early on– happy I found it here so we could luxuriate in the world-building. Tarkovsky comes to mind as well as the tilting of the camera focuses you on the ground (look how much of the screen it takes up) with water

  • Gilliam shows the high and low angles of the empty city in the opening- constant canted angles – an acolyte of Orson Welles
  • Bruce Willis is admirable in the lead- it isn’t his best work—but he proves worthy of the casting when many had their doubts in 1995 (he’s obviously a huge star at the time but not known for his acting chops—his back to back 1994 and 1995 with this and Pulp Fiction largely put that to rest). It is Brad Pitt who steals every scene he’s in playing Jeffrey Goines- a man riddled with ticks and monologues (diatribes on sanity and germs). He’s on the screen for maybe 10 minutes and goes nuts 3-4 times— it is a very good role

    Gilliam doesn’t pause on the painting and the blocking isn’t on the level of Kurosawa- but phone (and other objects) in the foreground as the focal point

  • There is constant doubling in the narrative and the visuals- repeatedly questioning the reality of what we’re watching. We get the shower/cleaning/delousing both underground in the mental hospital. We get the panel of doctors in a row just like the panel of scientists/leaders in the underground future. There’s the blurring of characters, objects and lines from the screenplay over the timeline that is very well done. The Cassandra complex, the Vertigo tree rings scenes– there’s a puzzle factor to the film but it holds up to repeat viewings after the mysteries are revealed. It is based on Chris Marker’s La Jetée (Gilliam claims to have never seen it) — an impressively intelligent and ambitious Hollywood undertaking

    There is constant doubling in the narrative and the visuals- repeatedly questioning the reality of what we’re watching– the scientists in the future mirror the panel of doctors in the contemporary setting

  • Like Brazil’s fantasy cutaways, and the red knight cutaways in The Fisher King we have the white-out slow-motion dream sequences here intercut into the main narrative. This is obviously a trait of Gilliam’s at this point.

    Like Brazil’s fantasy cutaways, and the red knight cutaways in The Fisher King we have the white-out slow-motion dream sequences here intercut into the main narrative. This is obviously a trait of Gilliam’s at this point.

  • Marx Brothers reference again in Gilliam’s work- Monkey Business – there’s a quick nod to The Andromeda Strain in the monkey testing scene in the mental hospital
  • Gilliam’s reoccurring overhead shot here- overhead in a solitary cell—same as Brazil and Fisher King

    Gilliam’s reoccurring overhead shot here- overhead in a solitary cell—same as Brazil and Fisher King

  • Paul Buckmaster score is a sort of blend of the Seinfeld jingle and the zither score from Anton Karas in The Third Man
  • Gilliam’s angles play out again in the spiral staircase confrontation between Willis and Pitt’s characters in the mansion owned by Pitt’s father in the film- played by Christopher Plummer
  • A Must-See film- top five of the year quality film