Film of the Week #15 - Twelve Monkeys

Karl Hungus

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114746/

Awesome science-fiction thriller from the masterful film-maker Terry Gilliam. Probably the first film to show off Bruce Willis's acting skills too. Dark, visually striking and bleak, I'm not too sure there's much I can say about this film. It's definetly one of the stand-out films of the 90's.

Discuss.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

anything with monkeys in it is a sure fire win

dr.bollocko

But.... Escape to Vistory?
What happened to Escape to Vistory?
It was its week Hungus. You know it was. And I sent you that bribe via Paypal.
Pele is gonna make sure you have erectile issues in later life now.
And me too probably after this disaster.

DAMN YOU GILLIAM! Ruining things for crappy vehicles for past-it footballers with your making of brilliant, absorbing, unique movies.

projectmayhem

amazing film. i honestly didn't like it at first but went back to it a long time afterwards (probably after fight club) and loved it enough to buy it. bruce willis is pure class as the lead, and lil cwayzee brad pitt pulled off a fantastic performance in it...

probably my favourite gilliam film (i know i'll probably get a roasting for that)

johnny_ultimate

projectmayhem wrote:

probably my favourite gilliam film (i know i'll probably get a roasting for that)

Brazil ftw!
Havent watched this properly in ages. I remember not being too impressed first time around, but that was years ago, when I was young and attention challenged. I have the old VHS at home so might watch it again over the weekend if I get the chance.
My opinion on Gilliam tends to be very positive, but looking back Brazil is the only film I truly adored from first watch. Fear and Loathing is as good an adaptation as you will get. Tideland was one of the weakest films Ive seen in a long time. My opinion on Tweleve Monkeys proper will be aired following a repeat viewing.

Necronomicon

Deserved winner! Great film. Been a while since I've seen it actually, must blow the dust off the cover and give it another watch

Jello

I too wasn't the biggest fan of this when I saw it first, mainly cos I was quite young and hadn't a clue what the hell was going on. But over the past few years I've realised what a masterpiece it is. Brilliant directing from Gilliam and some great acting too.

qwertplaywert

saw this the other night[bbc 3], wasnt that great,quite cheesy writing

Lemming

I endorse this product and/or service!

Great film - Bruce Willis actually had to act (and wasn't bad). Although, Brad Pitt was superb in it as a complete fruit-loop

Vokes

Superb film.

Like others above, I first seen this in the cinema when I was 14 but didn't like it - bored me to tears.

But after repeated viewings years later it grew on me.

Bruce Willis is excellent. And I always think Pitt makes for a much better supporting actor (Se7en) rather than a lead (Troy).

So what do ppl think about the end - the Insurance Lady - does she eliminate the Virus Guy thereby changing the future, or does she bring a sample back to the future to help cure mankind ?

Lemming

SofaKing wrote:

So what do ppl think about the end - the Insurance Lady - does she eliminate the Virus Guy thereby changing the future, or does she bring a sample back to the future to help cure mankind ?

I seem to have the impression from somewhere that they didn't want to prevent it (given that would then change history - and consequently themselves - into an unknown), so I imagine she'd have taken a sample of the pure virus back to the future to find a cure.

ActorSeeksJob

awesome movie, loved the final scene in the airport.

johnny_ultimate

Just watched it again and was much more impressed this time around. Extremely well plotted, with some great turns from all the leads. Gilliam as usual injects the whole thing with vibrancy and lunacy. Liked the very ambigous ending. Still prefer Brazil though
I also remembered why I hate VHS. My copy had this dreadful popping sound that almost ruined the film. And this was the official VHS version. DVD ftw!

ObeyGiant

On the one hand, this is Terry Gilliam's most unfortunate film. This was the film that showed 'the Hollywood system' that while Terry Gilliam's original films are not to be trusted, Terry Gilliam the Director-for-hire could supply them with critically and commercially successful films. The success of Twelve Monkeys basically ensured that Terry Gilliam would be stuck in the world of adaptations and his truly original works (like The Defective Detective) would never see the light of day.

On the other hand, it's just a really good, clever film.

Sad Professor

Another Gilliam masterpiece with an excellent script by David and Janet Peoples, who based the film on Chris Marker's La Jetée. Marker in turn had been greatly inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, specifically one of that films most lonely and existential scenes in which Scotty and Madeleine examine the rings of an old tree trunk and she remarks, "Here I was born, and there I died. It was only a moment for you; you took no notice." In 12 Monkeys as Cole and Railly both watch this scene while taking refuge in a movie theatre, Cole muses, "I saw this movie when I was a kid... The movie never changes. It can't. But every time you see it, it's different, because you're always a different person." Such is the past, it never changes but our memories of it do.

There are many similarities between 12 Monkeys and Vertigo, both protagonists are obsessed with the past and their dreams of a woman, a ethereal beauty who may not exist but in their heads. Scotty falls in love with Madeleine (really Judy an actress hired to con Scotty); Cole is haunted by childhood memories of an airport and a blond woman's burning gaze as she embraces her dying lover (really his future self). And while clueless Scotty recreates Judy as Madeleine and the circumstances that led to her "death," Cole is sent back in time to save the future. Like Scotty he makes the terrible mistake of trying to change the past, a desire which only dooms him to repeat it.

Gilliam pays another tribute to Hitchcock as Cole wakes from his dream and runs from the theatre to see Railly in a blond wig, now the woman from his dream, leaving a restroom and Cole realises (too late) there's no escaping fate, the past can't be changed. But 12 Monkeys is no more about time travel than Vertigo is a murder mystery, it combines the best of Hitchcock, Marker and Gilliam in a meditation on memory, love, fate and madness. It's one of my favourite films.

The dvd documentary "The Hamster Factor" is also excellent, especially for it's insight into the ridiculous test-screening process films are put through.

Pigman II

Classic film alright. Highlight for me has to be the piece of music by Astor Piazzolla that plays througout.

BTW, all this has reminded me of something I spotted. Bruce Willis seems to have somewhat of a pattern to his movie choices. Just stick a number in the title and he'll probably do a job for you.

1 Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), The First Deadly Sin (1980)
2 Look Who's Talking Too (1990), Die Hard 2 (1990)
3 Die Hard 3
4 Die Hard 4, Four Rooms (1995)
5 The Fifth Element (1997)
6 The Sixth Sense (1999)
7 Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
9 The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
10 The Whole Ten Yards (2004)
12 Twelve Monkeys (1995)
16 16 Blocks (2006)