“THE FUTURE ISN’T HISTORY, IT’S NOW”

By Raymond Benson

As related by Ian Christie, author of Gilliam on Gilliam, the filmmaker Terry Gilliam has forever had an uneasy relationship with Hollywood studios. He is “difficult” or “problematic” or whatever, because sometimes he runs over budget or the films don’t make back the cost, or whatever.

This is unfortunately true, no matter how hard Gilliam tries to “play the Hollywood game.” That said, any afficionado of cinema can appreciate that Terry Gilliam is always interesting. Even when his pictures tend to jump the shark, they’re always worth seeing. And when he’s good, he’s often great.

Such is the case with the 1995 science fiction oddity, 12 Monkeys. It’s one of the great ones. It is arguably one of Gilliam’s most accomplished achievements, along with Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991), and, with some reservations, Time Bandits (1981).

When Gilliam, the only American member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, entered the 1990s, he was coming off the “disaster” that was The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which, while admired by many, was a money loser and troubled production. It sealed his reputation in Hollywood as the aforementioned “problematic” director. He set out to make The Fisher King under the strict Hollywood guidelines and succeeded, and then proceeded to do the same with 12 Monkeys—and he triumphed with that, too. The studio (Universal), however, attributed the film’s success to the cast, especially the presence of Brad Pitt, and not to Gilliam’s imaginative vision. What a shortsighted bunch of bureaucrats!

12 Monkeys is a time-travel/apocalyptic tale about James Cole (Bruce Willis), a man from the future who is sent back in time to gather evidence and perhaps the tools needed to prevent the outbreak of a deadly virus that wiped out much of humanity in the year 1996. At first, he is mistakenly dropped into 1990, where he is perceived by all, including psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe), as insane. In a mental institution, he meets Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), a total wacko with environmentalist/activist leanings. He is the leader of an underground, possibly terrorist, group called the Army of the 12 Monkeys. Goines’ father, Leland (Christopher Plummer), is the biologist who ends up creating the virus. The scientists in the future realize their mistake, bring Cole back to their present, and then send him back to the correct year, with the brief hiccup of him landing on a battlefield during World War I. Once again, he connects with Dr. Railly, but this time she begins to believe his story. With his third journey back to correct the mistakes he’s made, Cole and Railly work together to prevent the release of the virus—and fall in love, too.

The movie is a twisty-turny mind-boggler written by David and Janet Peoples, based on a short film, La Jetée (1962), by Chris Marker (which Gilliam claimed to have not seen until after he completed 12 Monkeys). The intelligent script, along with the superb performances by the main cast and the inspired direction by Gilliam, combine to make 12 Monkeys one of the highlights of the 1990s decade in cinema.

Brad Pitt, especially, shines in the film, playing against type as a crazed, hyper-energetic weirdo (wearing brown contact lenses, and one eye that manages to operate independently of the other). He was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance, and this reviewer is hard pressed to pinpoint a better turn through the rest of Pitt’s career to date. Willis, too, plays up his “sensitive” side—something new for audiences then—and comes across extremely well.

Most significantly, 12 Monkeys plays today as ironically potent, given what the world has been going through since the spring of 2020. It’s a film dealing with a deadly global pandemic that was made 25 years earlier. The tag line at the time was “The future is history.” Today, we could say, “The future isn’t history, it’s now!”

Arrow Video’s exquisite Blu-ray edition was released in 2018. Cinema Retro received the new Limited Edition Steelbook for review, and it’s a gorgeous package. The disk is the same as the 2018 release, it’s just encased in the keepsake steelbook with newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin and a booklet containing a piece on the film by Nathan Rabin and an excerpt from Gilliam on Gilliam. The feature is presented in High Definition with both DTS 5.1 Master Audio and 2.0 stereo soundtracks, plus optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired. There is an entertaining and informative audio commentary by Gilliam and producer Charles Roven. Supplements include a feature-length documentary on the making of the film, a vintage interview with Gilliam by film critic Jonathan Romney, and a superlative “appreciation” of the picture by author Ian Christie. There is also a collection of archive material and the theatrical trailer.

While 12 Monkeys is worth the trip just for Brad Pitt’s out of the box performance, it is also Terry Gilliam at the height of his powers. Don’t miss it.

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