Terry Gilliam Is Not, in Fact, Dead

I am upset that this is such a good interview. It makes it much more difficult for me to continue belittling Ana Marie Cox as I have for the past two columns of hers. So I will say that it isn't because she was well-prepared and asked good questions, it is only because Terry Gilliam is such an interesting person.

How is it possible that "the...larch" is not on his list of top 5 favorite trees? #montypythonreferences

quixophean

Quixsisypheantic

"Rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated" would have been a much better column title, IMHO
Or perhaps, 'The Dead Parrot Sketch" -- "'E's not dead, E's only Restin'...!"
Or even "I'm not dead yet....!" (Bring out Yer Dead !)

Imagine being the only American member of the all-Brit Monty Python troupe? Whom they trusted for behind the scenes scheming, every single creepy/hilarious illustration shown on Flying Circus and the full-length features? What an honor!

Michael Palin was probably the best Python, but Terry Gilliam is right up there!

I honestly don't know what Gilliam was thinking here. Doesn't he know who Ana Marie Cox IS?

Somebody has to say it: He's not dead, he's only pining for the fjords.

Where would we dreamers be without Terry Gilliam, bless his pantheistic heart? Tongue-in-cheek courage, unblinking realism, subtle and not-so-subtle humor - what a guy!

George Bush was not re-elected. He was elected once. The first time he was president he was appointed by the horrible supreme court. Why do journalists persist in this idiocy?

Sisyquixotiphan.

If no one else is going to say it, I will: "syphilitic."

When it comes to critics, Terry Gilliam suffers from a problem several other brilliant directors suffer from: he disagrees with the unquestioned assumptions that lie behind 95% of Hollywood scripts. And so when he makes a film, critics who have totally internalised the Hollywood rules (to the point where those rules are assumed to be natural laws), think he has somehow "failed" to make a standard picture, rather than succeeded in making something structurally and tonally quite different, with profoundly different virtues (and vices), generating different pleasures.

He is also one of the most original and important visual artists America has produced. His impact, his influence, is up there with Warhol. The cartoon foot of God, descending from a Renaissance cloud, is a key 20th century image, up there with the Campbell soup cans.

Even if you don't enjoy all of Terry's work, one cannot deny that he is seminally creative and thoughtful. Gosh, when you think about our culture turning into the movie "Brazil," you stop for a moment, horrified, and say, "He was right."

Three years ago, Terry appeared on the BBC/PBS documentary about the film, "Magical Mystery Tour." His comments were insightful. He puts things in perspective for baby boomers, that is, how we came out of WWll and the Cold War, our cultural reactions to it, and where we are now.

I am not enamored with Gilliam's canon. But he is so darn interesting that you are compelled to listen to him.

Terry Gilliam is a genius, and his worst movies are still more creative than 90% of the other dreck that's out there. His work is never less than visually stunning, and he is the lone American member of one of the greatest comedy troupes in the history of mankind. Please keep making movies, Terry!

I love (most of) Gilliam's work, and adore The Zero Theorem. Many reviewers don't seem to understand his subtexts particularly well, beyond the "paranoia" aspect. But Gilliam also (subtly) refers to many deeper philosophical systems such as Gnosticism, and unless you watch his work through such filters, many of the messages will pass you by. He is undoubtedly, I think, one of the great auteurs of our time.

Sisyphotic.

Or, if you prefer, "Quixyphean."

Brilliant! Terry Gilliam for President! After he becomes a citizen again..

Had he successfully combined the words Sisyphean and quixotic, it would have sounded like a sexually transmitted disease