personal services (1987)

in celebration of the career of terry jones, full time member of monty python and part time solo film-maker, the bradford international film festival ran a thread of his work, leading up to an evening of conversation with the man himself. the wind in the willows and eric the viking featured, along side personal services.

aside from the work of terry gilliam (and cleese's outstanding and underrated clockwise), i have never really explored the work of the former pythons. comedy is a genre that doesnt really grab me generally, especially most british comedy, and a bad experience with a fish called wanda as a boy has left a bad taste so lingering that it appears to have left a subconscious warning somewhere in my psyche. anyway, as personal services was showing as part of the terry jones micro-season i decided to give it a shot, and im rather pleased i did.

very much in the vein of the archytypal british 1980's comedy, personal services tells the story christine painter, and her rise from put upon waitress to madame of successful brothel. it really does take a look at a by-gone era, a world which no longer exists in the same way. i remember as a kid seeing inuendo laden advertisements for the likes of 'french polishing' in phone boxes and on notice boards, a concept which is explored in this film, albeit in a lighthearted manner.

having never been a fan of julie walters i wasnt expecting much from her turn. memories of her over the top gurning and whatnot alongside the likes of victoria wood mean that i find it difficult to like her as an actress, but she was great as the lead character of christine. without ruining anything, the 'revelation' of the character of dolly's true identity was nothing short of hilarious, and genuinely surprising. the star of the show, as it were, has to be the character of 'wing commander morten', perhaps the most likeable pervert to ever grace the cinema screen. alec mccowen's performance is one of the most genuinely hilarious i have ever seen, his presence and mannerisms alone were enough to raise a chuckle.

the adventures of baron munchausen (1989)

terry gilliam's long considered flop is a much more interesting and therefore successful film than one would have presumed. the films is an obvious follow up to time bandits, both visually, narratively and content wise. ''the adventures of baron munchausen" is much more ambitious though, which is presumably why its supposed failings are amplified. the film takes place, like "time bandits", in many different locations, and while that may not seem out of the ordinary when the locations include the moon (taken straight out of melies) and the inside of a fish that looks like an island, then obviously that matters. the sheer scale of the film is rather breathtaking. in a new transfer on dvd the film looks barely a year old, it hasnt aged at all. the fact that the film is 20 years old is beyond my comprehension! while the film is a fantasy comedy at heart there are traces of science fiction and serious drama throughout. the whole subplot regarded death catching up with the baron, while ultimately rather pointless adds a serious weight to proceedings. and while its not a genre per se, the film at times reminds of a cartoon, with the exagerated nuances that one would expect with such things showing through (the feet whilst running etc)

john neville leads a solid cast, featuring appearences from gilliam mainstays jonathan pryce, jack purvis and valentina cortese alongside early roles for sarah polley and uma thurman. gilliam's monty python partner eric idle also features as do robin williams and, most bizarrely, oliver reed.

the special effects are of note, with the combination of all manners of technique, from stop frame animation and computer generated imagery to real mechanical props all making an appearance. theres even an early version of ''bullet-time''! amazing cinematography compliments the special effects, with some genuinely beautiful scenario's on display.

with a film like "the adventures of baron munchausen" in his oeuvre its difficult to understand why gilliam didnt get the oppurtunity to work on some of the bigger fantasy franchises of late. gilliam's style would have been perfect for the harry potter films, alas im under the impression that he turned the producers down. gilliam's influence can be seen in the work of guillermo del toro though, through the use of clockwork, mechanical props alongside old-fashioned, man in costume-type solutions when creating larger than life characters, see the grim reaper design in "the adventures of baron munchausen" as an example.

in all, while its not my favourite of gilliam's films its still an incredibly beautiful looking film that has a heart to match. this all bodes rather well for the recent announcement that gilliam is back working on his don quixote project, i expect the two projects will have much in common.