Watching a Terry Gilliam film is always an adventure. The plot may be nonsensical, the characters may lack actual depth, there may be a misogynistic overtone running throughout the film, and it may be so visually chaotic that it’s impossible to keep up. However, despite all the flaws of a Gilliam picture, there’s something magical and spectacular about one of his films. His 1988 film, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, is full of wonder and awe. It’s a visual treat for the eyes. That said, this piece isn’t a celebration of the film or a deep analysis into its ideology. No, this piece is about the film’s chaotic production and exploring the reason why the film bombed at the box office.
“You don’t ever [want to] be in them. Go and see them by all means – but to be in them, fucking madness!!!” These are the words uttered by Eric Idle, who had worked closely alongside Gilliam for many years when they had both been a part of Monty Python. Idle wasn’t the only actor who found the entire filming experience traumatic. Sarah Polley, who was nine years old at the time of filming, was brutally honest about her experience. “[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.”
It seemed only natural that Gilliam would eventually make The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. In 1979, George Harrison showed Gilliam his collection of Munchausen stories, and later, Ray Cooper gave Gilliam a book on the Baron and challenged the director to make a film of them. Gilliam began developing the concept for the film, and it became apparent that Baron Munchausen would become part of Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination” – which started with Time Bandits, with the second entry being Brazil.
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According to Gilliam, these three films are all about “the craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible.” Gilliam explains that, “The one theme that runs through all three of these pictures is a consistently serious battle between fantasy and what people perceive as reality.” All three films focus on these struggles and attempts to escape them through imagination: Time Bandits, through the eyes of a child, Brazil, through the eyes of a man in his thirties, and Munchausen, through the eyes of an elderly man.
Following their collaboration on Brazil, Gilliam began to develop Baron Munchausen with screenwriter Charles McKeown. At the time, Arnon Milchan was interested in producing the movie. However, the movie was produced by Thomas Schuhly, a German producer based at Rome studio Cinecitta. According to Schuhly, Milchan was impressed that he had produced The Name of the Rose under budget, and asked Schuhly if he would like to produce Munchausen, with Milchan as executive producer. Gilliam loved the idea of making Baron Munchausen in Rome, and got on well with Schuhly when they met. At this time, Milchan became less and less interested in the project and decided to exit. So, Schuhly officially became the film’s producer.
Schuhly insisted that the film’s budget would be $25 million, but by the end of the film’s production the budget had ballooned to $46 million. A deal was struck with Columbia, (David Puttnam happened to be in charge at that time), which gave the studio distribution rights for most of the world, and the video distribution rights too. A completion guarantor was employed, to insure against the movie going over budget. Gilliam’s expert modelling skills meant that he was able to deliver expensive looking films cheaply. However, despite all Gilliam’s trickery, he couldn’t stop the budget from spiralling out of control.
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Problems began plaughing the director before he’d even shot a single frame. Gilliam had difficulty casting someone in the title role, but he kept being drawn to the actor John Neville. At the time, Neville, a veteran British stage actor whose heyday was during the 1960s but had faded from the limelight over the years. Gilliam approached Neville’s agent and was turned down. All hope wasn’t lost. A makeup lady working on the film knew Neville’s daughter personally, called her up, and arranged a meeting. It turned out that the veteran stage actor was a big Monty Python fan and he agreed to do the film.
The problems didn’t stop there. Gilliam was forced to start shooting before he felt ready. After seven weeks of filming, the production was shut down for two weeks with rumors that Gilliam would be replaced if he didn’t get back on track. He had to convince the film’s completion bond insurer, Film Finances, that he was in control of the project’s increasing budget. Two days before the deadline, Film Finances threatened to sue Gilliam for fraud. Both Gilliam and McKeown had to rewrite sections of the script in less than an hour and came up with revisions that appeased the financiers.
Gilliam had wanted to film Baron Munchausen in Rome as it gave him the opportunity to work with Fellini collaborators, production designer Dante Ferretti and director of photography Giuseppe Rotunno. However, filming in Rome proved to be a hellish experience rather than the dream he’d envisioned. “This film was terrifying difficult, even before those other pressures from the studio began. The fact that the film was falling apart at the seams was bad enough – the organization was terrible,” Gilliam said in the film’s DVD feature (Madness and Misadventures). The crew were ill-equipped to do special effects films. There was also the language barrier, with his crew speaking four different languages: English, Italian, German and Spanish. Naturally, this resulted in miscommunication among crew members. Gilliam and Ferretti redesigned the film several times with certain locations in mind, only to find out after several weeks that no one sought permission to use them. They had to start all over again.
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Due to delays and studio demands, the King of the Moon character had to be recast with Robin Williams replacing Sean Connery. The budget constraints had forced Gilliam and McKeown to reduce the Moon sequence from a world of 2,000 people with detachable heads to only two people. By this point in time, Connery lost interest and left the project. Eric Idle was good friends with Williams, who just happened to be in Rome at the time promoting Good Morning Vietnam.
Sadly, this wasn’t the end of Gilliam’s woes. For months, the production trained horses for the film and then, just before going to Spain to film, there was an outbreak of horse fever which meant they were unable to bring those trained horses. In addition, the two dogs playing the Baron’s pooch came down with liver complaints at the same time. Once the production team had finally arrived in Spain, they discovered that the costumes hadn’t arrived because there wasn’t enough room on the plane to take them.
In Madness and Misadventures, Gilliam confesses how it was Eric Idle who kept him going by giving him some much needed inspiration. “At one point, we were out in Spain, and things were at their very, very worst. I was ready to quit. I knew there was no way we would get through the film. Eric really came in there, saying, ‘You’ve got to, if for no other reason, you must make this film to spite John Cleese!’ That got me going!”
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When Baron Munchausen was finally completed, David Puttnam, who had obtained the film’s US distribution rights for Columbia Pictures, had been replaced as CEO of Columbia; coupled with Gilliam’s prior quarrels with major studios over Brazil, the film saw only very limited distribution in the US, earning $8 million in US box office. In fact, only 117 prints were made for America which explained why the film was hardly seen. The film got some decent reviews, but bad press had soured the audience’s perception of the picture. The negative rumours had been the result of a leak from Film Finances. In a 2000 interview with IGN, Gilliam said about the contemporary press perception of the film being a financial disaster as “It seemed actually appropriate that Munchausen–the greatest liar in the world–should be a victim of some of the greatest liars in the world.”
In the end, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen remains a marvelous visual treat that has aged really well. When reading up about the film’s production disasters, it’s amazing to believe that the film actually turned out as well as it did. The story behind this extraordinary film is something that even the Baron couldn’t dream up.