Film Review: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

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(source: tmdb.org)

People today associate liars with mainstream media. Until recently a single historical figure served for that symbolic purpose. Baron Munchausen, 18th Century German aristocrat, became European celebrity for his entertaining and often embellished tales about his military service in Russia. His fame was immortalised by 1785 book by Rudolph Erich Raspe which further embellished its exploits, adding fantastic elements like riding cannonballs and travelling to Moon. Book became quite popular and in subsequent centuries served as inspiration for art, music, literature and films. One of the most famous among the latter is The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, 1988 epic fantasy adventure directed by Terry Gilliam.

The plot begins in late 18th Century, ironically named “The Age of Reason” in opening titles. An unnamed European city is besieged and mercilessly bombarded by huge Ottoman army. Among people stuck in the city is the travelling acting troupe led by Henry Salt (played by Bill Patterson) who is performing their own adaptation of Baron Munchausen’s fantastic tales. The performance is interrupted by elderly gentleman (played by John Neville) who claims that he is real Baron and that the content of the play is incorrect; instead he begins telling his own tale, claiming that he actually started a war by having a wager with Sultan Mahmud I (played by Peter Jeffrey). Munchausen is later convinced by Henry’s young daughter Sally (played by Sarah Polley) to set things right by gathering his old associates and recruiting them for mission of saving the city. Sally joins Baron when he leaves the city in hot air balloon.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is known as one of the most notorious flops in history of 1980s Hollywood. The film was actually quite well-received by critics and, like many 1980s flops, later enjoyed good afterlife in the domain of home video. Gilliam blamed much of film’s initial fate on studio interference and corporate intrigues at Columbia Pictures, but The Adventures of Baron Munchausen was also beset by insanely high budget and chaotic set, the latter validated by statements of Sarah Polley, which called her experiences traumatic and Eric Idle, Monty Python veteran and Gilliam’s friend (who appears in the role of Baron’s sidekick Berthold), who later refused to take part in subsequent Gilliam’s films. All those sacrifices, however, weren’t completely in vain because the finished film looks visually impressive, partly due to Gilliam’s unrestrained imagination, aided by special effects that were quite good for late 1980s standards, as well as sets in two legendary studios – Pinewood and Cinecitta – being designed by Dante Feretti. Even when some of those sets look obviously fake, it perfectly plays into the main motive in script co-written by Gillliam and Charles McKeown (who also appears in the film in the role of Baron’s sidekick Adolphus) – conflict between cold sterile reality and imagination.

The cast is very good, especially in case of John Neville, veteran stage actor who until this film never had any major starring film role. He plays Munchausen very well, both as charming and unstoppable daredevil and as an old and frail man facing the age of mortality (symbolised literally by Grim Reaper figure that stalks him for much of the film). The supporting players do good job, especially great stars like Oliver Reed (playing the ancient god Vulcan) and Robin Williams (in uncredited role of insane King of the Moon). Some performances are slightly confusing, because of Gilliam’s decision to cast same actors as the members of Salt’s troupe and as the characters they embody in the play-within-the-film. Uma Thurman in her screen debut plays both actress Violet and goddess Venus, with her entrance, inspired by famous Botticelli’s painting, being one of the most memorable scenes in the film.

Gilliam obviously invested a lot of passion and talent in this film, but his ambition is at times thwarted by lack of focus. One of the problems for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is pacing, especially in the opening, which also happens to be too dark and potentially discouraging for children and other viewers who expect family-friendly entertainment. This includes scenes of decapitations and references to castration. The ending is also confusing at times, and the references to Age of Reason and the over-rationalist semi-villain played by Jonathan Pryce would mean little to audience not familiar with 18th Century European history. Despite that, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a very good film that represents could be recommended even to the viewers who aren’t big fans of Terry Gilliam.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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5 comments
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I was afraid when you mentioned the pacing problem lol!
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