The Bottom Shelf #121

I loved this movie when I was a kid. My 6 year old daughter took to it as well, more emotionally involved in a movie that was made 26 years ago than many of the films that have been released this summer. The movie, while filled with antiquated special effects, hasn’t lost any of the magic or power behind it. I attribute a great deal of that to Gilliam’s ability to tell a good story and to recognize that certain themes are timeless. The idea that very little changes over the years is something that is represented in not only the film’s storyline but in its appeal more than a quarter of a century after its release.

Following an 11 year old boy’s run-in with a band of little people who have possession of a map of the universe and are claiming to be partially responsible for its creation, the movie zig-zags across popular stories in time, from the middle ages and Robin Hood (played with glee by John Cleese) to Greece and King Agamemnon, a character oddly enough described in the script as “looking exactly like Sean Connery” and played by Sean Connery. (This was something that was unplanned by Gilliam and carried out by Connery who got ahold of the script and had his agent contact the filmmaker to state his interest in the role.) There is Evil in the form of David Warner, smirking as he lures the group into his web in order to get the map and take over the world.

There’s something about little people that fascinates me, even as an adult. When I was a child it was because I could see a bit of myself in their stature and live vicariously through their triumphs. The movie’s underlying message that it is the little man who must fight against the bigger, corporate evil (the fact that Kevin’s parents are killed by their affection for consumerism and their deaths signal the end of the flick, highlighted with a George Harrison song, says it all) is one that still resonates to this day. The fact that Craig Warnock, the boy who plays Kevin, isn’t all precociousness and cutesy-pie dimples and shining teeth is also a favorite aspect for me. I long for the day when children are used in movies like this more. To be the temporary hero figure and not to become yet another product for us to consume. This movie is certifiably Gilliam, odd figures and fanciful images, yet free of foul language or other scintillating aspects, making it the perfect starter Gilliam for your kids. Because the world needs more fantasy and imagination in it and the only way to infuse it is to start doling it out to the kiddies when they’re young.

Favorite Scene:

When the Bandits come back for Kevin in Greece and are dancing for the king and his court, pretending to be magicians.

Favorite Line:

“God isn’t interested in technology. He cares nothing for the microchip or the silicon revolution. Look how he spends his time, forty-three species of parrots! Nipples for men!”

Trivia Tidbit:

Terry Gilliam supposedly wrote a screenplay for a TIME BANDITS 2 movie, but decided to forgo the project owing to the deaths of Jack Purvis and David Rappaport – the two little people in the Bandits featured the most in the first film.

See if you liked:

LEGEND, ICE PIRATES, WILLOW