Terry Gilliam in Conversation with Jason Solomons

Terry Gilliam joined film critic, presenter and producer Jason Solomons on stage at The Garden Cinema after a screening of his film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) for a live discussion about the acclaimed director's life and career.
Employing a unique blend of magical realism and anarchical wit, Terry Gilliam might be regarded as the king of cult cinema, his films ever-growing in status and adoration. In February 2023, The Garden Cinema screened a selection of these extraordinarily imaginative and ambitious films.
Recorded on 25 February 2023 at The Garden Cinema
39-41 Parker Street London WC2B 5PQ
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[@4-dman464]

Terry Gilliam is good for the soul.

[@johngore5127]

My favorite interview with Terry.

[@wmmvrrvrrmmmmrrvrrvmmw3470]

Thankyou for sharing this with everyone!

[@invest42morrow]

We need TIME BANDITS 2

[@JamesVytas]

He’s so comfortable in his own skin even though he seems to want to jump out of it at times.

[@FrancoisDressler]

Fantastic

[@ROOKTABULA]

My Monty Python book is missing Terry's signature. I've got Mike and John's but I _seriously_ want the scribble of me fave writer/director.

[@hankworden3850]

Der Gilliam

[@katskillz]

At about 42 min in Terry talks about the ups and downs and some films being successes and others not. He says there are a number of factors and gives distribution as the main example.
I think this is dead wrong. He is a very uneven filmmaker who getting overly enamored with the image and the fanciful (characters, sets, etc)... he never really grasped the systemic, narrative "architecture" that needs to be there for a a film to be a great film. It's why he could create certain sets and shoot cinematography as grandiose and awe inspiring as Welles or Kurosawa, but the whole film never being in the same category as a Welles or Kurosawa.
Then what distinguishes great Gilliam films from poor/forgettable Gilliam films? It mainly boils down to how much the material, the script, is commensurate to Gilliam himself, his personality, strengths, weaknesses and obsessions, being a filmmaker-as-a-character. Which further explains his good run in the 90s, peaking at Fear and Loathing. He was the best fit for folding his visuals and kinetic energies on those specific stories that required outrageous visuals being storytelling devices in themselves, glued together by all those specific kinds of kinetic energies.
That's my theory at least !

[@GrayCrosby]

Agree 100%.

[@ferociousgumby]

1:01:38 minutes of complaining.

[@NoMastersNoMistress]

When he dies, and I so hope it's quite a few more years hence, I will have to paint a giant bipedal middle finger riding a six legged horse in his honor. This man has always been my own personal anti-hero.

[@GrayCrosby]

Ironic to hear Terry rallying against long films. Brazil is a bit too long, and many people told him so, but he did not want to listen. As great as it is, a bit less length and some "tidying up" of the story would have made it even more of a classic.