Interview Terry Gilliam

Gilliam bemoans Grim brothers’ exit



‘I am at that terrible stage – that limbo between projects. I get more and more depressed during these times, because I know too much. I know how hard it is to raise money.’ In Rotterdam this weekend for the Kings & Aces screening of TIDELAND, Terry Gilliam reflected on the struggles he still faces to finance his movies, spoke of his passion for the work of master Czech animator Jan Svankmajer and explained to The Daily Tiger’s Geoffrey Macnab just what it felt like being in at the death of Harvey and Bob Weinstein’s Miramax.

Terry Gilliam’s $80 million THE BROTHERS GRIMM was one of the last features released by Miramax during the Weinstein brothers’ prolonged divorce proceedings from parent outfit, Disney. Almost inevitably, Gilliam says now, GRIMM was caught up in the wrangling surrounding the old Miramax’s demise. ‘The whole thing was falling apart. We were among the lucky ones. We were one of the only films that came out of that clearance sale – it was like all stock must go!’ Gilliam recalls.

A month before GRIMM opened in the USA, Gilliam was startled to learn that Miramax hadn’t yet devised a release campaign. ‘Miramax was a big organization and things would happen very quickly,’ he recalls of the company in its prime. By the time Grimm was released, the back-up had all gone. The company bosses would snap their fingers… and nothing would happen.

‘They (the Weinsteins) seemed to be so trapped in their own exit. They walked away with a lot in their pockets. But all these films were abandoned.’ He cites the example of THE GREAT RAID, which cost more than GRIMM and yet has still not been released. GRIMM opened at second place in the US box-office, making just over $15 million during its opening week.

Disney, which had been expecting at least $20 million, promptly pulled the plug. ‘There was not a penny spent after that,’ the director laments. ‘That’s what happens, but all I can say is we made some noise. The film is at $103 million at the moment, so we’re not a fl op. It just didn’t do what it should have done. But there must have been 20 other films and you’ve never heard of them. That’s disgraceful. I hope Bob and Harvey are spending their pocket money happily… in almost every country in the world where the Weinsteins or Disney aren’t involved, it opened at number one. That is the irony!’

Gilliam currently has various features on the boil. He still harbours hopes of reviving his dream project THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE – once producer Jeremy Thomas finally wins back the rights to the script. He is developing GOOD OMENS and may work with Dave Mckean (Mirrormask) on another cherished project, DEFECT DETECTIVE. Intriguingly, he is also attached to direct ANYTHING FOR BILLY, from a book and script by Larry McMurtry (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN), loosely inspired by Billy The Kid.

TIDELAND can’t help but evoke memories of Jan Svankmajer’s ALICE. ‘There is nothing specific, but I am a product of what I watch’, the die-hard Svankmajer fan acknowledges. Perhaps ironically, given his own struggles to bankroll his films, Gilliam was able to help the Quay Brothers make THE PIANO TUNER OF EARTHQUAKES (screening in IFFR’s Kings & Aces). Once he was on board as exec-producer, the financing quickly fell into place. Why can he open purse strings for others and yet not for himself? ‘It’s to do with the amount of money,’ he suggests. ‘My problem is that a lot of the films I want to do cost $40 or $50 million and that’s the number you can’t get. You can get $150 million and you get $10 million but it’s the bits between that are really hard now.’

Terry Gilliam presented Jan Svankmajer with a special copy of the script of the film last night at the International première of LUNACY in Pathé 1.