The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Terry Gilliam
Produced by	Thomas Schuhly
Written by	Terry Gilliam Charles McKeown
Starring	John Neville Sarah Polley Eric Idle Oliver Reed Uma Thurman Robin Williams Peter Jeffrey
Distributed by	Columbia Tristar
Release date(s)	1988
Running time	126 min.
Language	English
Budget	$23.5 million (actual cost $46.6 million)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a 1988 film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville (as the Baron), Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, and Robin Williams.

Synopsis

The film begins in an unnamed and war-torn European city in the late 18th century (dubbed "The Age of Reason" in an opening caption), where, amidst explosions and gunfire, a fanciful touring stage production of Baron Munchausen's life and adventures is taking place. Backstage, city official "The Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson" (Jonathan Pryce) reinforces the city's commitment to reason (here meaning uniformity and unexceptionality) by ordering the execution of a soldier who had just accomplished a near-superhuman feat of bravery (Sting in a cameo), claiming that his bravery is demoralizing to other soldiers. Not far into the play, an elderly man claiming to be the real Baron interrupts the show, protesting its many inaccuracies. Over the complaints of the audience, the theater company and Jackson, the "real" Baron gains the house's attention and narrates through flashback an account of one of his adventures, of a life-or-death wager with the Grand Turk, where the younger Baron's life is saved only by his amazing luck plus the assistance of his remarkable associates: Berthold (Eric Idle), the world's fastest runner; Adolphus (Charles McKeown), a gunman with superhuman eyesight; Gustavus (Jack Purvis), who possesses extraordinary hearing, and sufficient lung power to knock down an army by exhaling; and Albrecht (Winston Dennis), a fantastically strong man.

When gunfire disrupts the elderly Baron's story, the importance of saving the city eclipses the show. The Baron wanders backstage intending to die, until the exuberance of Sally Salt (Sarah Polley), the young daughter of the theater company's leader, convinces him to remain living. She sees a large black Reaper-like creature approaching the Baron and chases it off, stalling the Baron's death.

Insisting that he alone can save the city, the Baron escapes the city's walls in a hot air balloon constructed of women's underwear, accompanied by Sally as a stowaway. The balloon expedition proceeds to the Moon, where the Baron, rejuvenated to the appearance of a younger man by the preceding adventure, finds his old associate Berthold, but angers the King of the Moon (Robin Williams in an uncredited cameo; listed as Ray D. Tutto in the credits. Note that in Italian "Ray D. Tutto" sounds like "King of Everything", as the King of the Moon claims to be in the film.), who resents the Baron for his romantic past with his Queen (Valentina Cortese). A bungled escape from the Moon leads the trio back to (and beneath) the Earth, where the Roman God Vulcan (Oliver Reed) hosts his guests with courtesy and Albrecht is found. An unwelcome romantic incident between the Baron and Vulcan's wife, the Goddess Venus (Uma Thurman), ends the hospitality and the now-foursome are expelled from Vulcan's kingdom into the South Seas.

Swallowed by an enormous sea creature, the travelers locate Gustavus, Adolphus, and the Baron's trusty horse Bucephalus. The Baron (who again appears elderly after being "expelled from a state of bliss," in his words) becomes depressed and settles down to play cards, ignoring the protests of Sally. The Reaper shows up again, scaring Sally into knocking the cards out of the Baron's hands. At first angry at Sally for not letting him die peacefully, the Baron ends up deciding to escape with "a modicum of snuff," which causes the sea creature to "sneeze" the heroes out through its whale-like blowhole.

Back ashore, the Turkish army is located but the Baron's associates are now too elderly and tired to fight the Turk as in the old days. After a stern lecture from the Baron, who storms off intending to surrender, his cohorts rally to save both the Baron and the city in a fantastic extended battle scene.

During the city's celebratory parade, the Baron is shot by Jackson. A grey, emotionless doctor approaches and only Sally and the Baron can see it as the Reaper. Sally tries to chase it off, but her father, thinking she is upset, drags her away leaving it to take the Baron to finally die. An emotional public funeral takes place, but then is revealed to be only the final scene of yet another story the Baron is telling to the same theater-goers from early in the film. The Baron calls the foregoing "only one of the many occasions on which I met my death" and closes his tale by saying "everyone who had a talent for it lived happily ever after."

A somewhat ambiguous finale reveals that the city has indeed been saved, even though the events of the battle apparently occurred in a story rather than the film's reality. The theater audience and troupe feel a boost of morale from the Baron's story and allow him to lead them to the city gates, ignoring Jackson's threats that anyone who proceeds will be shot. The gates are open and they see that outside of the town is empty, although there is clearly evidence of a battle. Bucephalus appears and his master climbs atop him and attempts to woo a young lady in the theater troupe (also Uma Thurman). He is interrupted, however, by Sally, who comments "It wasn't really a story, was it?" The Baron responds by throwing Sally a scarlet pimpernel (as opposed to the other women he met, whom he gave roses to), rides off on Bucephalus, and the credits roll over a triumphant blast of music.

Background

Baron Munchausen is a character from The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen (or Baron Münchhausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels) by Rudolf Erich Raspe — a collection of tall stories published in 1785, based on the German adventurer Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen, but with many debts to earlier works. The tales were adapted and re-published in German by Gottfried August Bürger in 1786 as Wunderbare Reisen zu Wasser und zu Lande, Feldzüge und lustige Abenteuer des Freyherrn von Münchhausen and became much more popular in this edition.

The stories were also made into films in 1911 (Les Aventures de baron de Münchhausen), 1943 (Münchhausen, script by Erich Kästner), 1961 (Baron Prášil) and 1979 (Tot samyi Münchhausen by Russian director Mark Zakharov). Gilliam's film has many visual similarities to the 1943 version and the production company was legally obliged to add a disclaimer to the film's posters and closing titles to the effect that Gilliam's Munchausen was an original movie unconnected to the earlier version.



Quite unusual for a Terry Gilliam film, the movie ends on an upbeat note, without Gilliam's usual trademark "final dark plot twist."

Status

The film is one of the most famous fiascos in film history. Coming in over budget (originally $23.5 million,^[1] but finishing at $46.63 million^[2]), it put a black mark on Gilliam's career from the studio's point of view. However, the film has gained cult favorite status over time, and Gilliam's career did not suffer substantially. (It should be noted that in the United States, the film was not widely released due to financial issues at Columbia Pictures, which was in the process of being sold at the time. It was reported to have done well with audiences in the places where it could actually be seen.) Box office revenue was approximately $8 Million.^[3]

Young star Sarah Polley, who was nine years old at the time of filming, has described it as a traumatic experience for her. "[I]t definitely left me with a few scars ... It was just so dangerous. There were so many explosions going off so close to me, which is traumatic for a kid whether it's dangerous or not. Being in freezing cold water for long periods of time and working endless hours. It was physically grueling and unsafe."^[4]

Gilliam was left somewhat embittered by the experience and in interviews has often used Munchausen as a shorthand for a fiasco. Among Gilliam's films released on DVD, Munchausen is the only one without a director's commentary track (he did, however, record a commentary track for a laserdisc, which, as of June 2007, has not been re-released on DVD ^[5]). However, in a commentary track on the DVD edition of Tideland, Gilliam now says that Munchausen is one of the films that his fans most often cite as a favorite (along with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brazil, 12 Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). Gilliam noted the irony of the situation, adding that an artist can never really tell what work they produce will actually endure.

References

External links

•  • [ e] Films directed by Terry Gilliam

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) • Jabberwocky (1977) • Time Bandits (1981) • Brazil (1985) • The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) • The Fisher King (1991) • Twelve Monkeys (1995) • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) • The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (unfinished) • The Brothers Grimm (2005) • Tideland (2005) Shorts: The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983) Storytime The Miracle of Flight