Opening 6 Oct 2005
Directed by:
Terry Gilliam
Writing credits:
Ehren Kruger
Principal actors:
Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, Lena Headey, Jonathan Pryce
Often seen running around the town of Hanau, Germany, with pen and paper, were two sons of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (Matt Damon) and Jacob (Heath Ledger). These boys were fascinated with the multitude of ear-burning folklores engaging in magic, danger, true love, adventure and much more. At an early age, the brothers began transcribing whatever story was told, including some of their own creations to preserve part of their German heritage. In addition, they recognized that if they were to use their imagination to animate a tale, the town folk enjoyed the telling of tales even more. After the passing of their mother and Will’s promise to her to care for his brother Jake, the brothers set out to make a living as traveling entertainers. Others might call them traveling, storytelling con-artists. The rise of superstition among the common folk paved a way for the brothers to use the angle that they could scare the evil away from a situation. They became famous for their ability to scare away evil spirits and were in high demand for their services. They pretended to be protectors of the common folk; however, they only succeeded by using special tricks which were unbeknown to their clients, in exchange for cash. When Napoleon got wind of the brothers’ swindling schemes he was outraged. To avoid the guillotine, the French commissioned the brothers to live near the haunted forest between the German-French borders, in order to uncover the responsible party for a series of recent mysterious murders of the town’s people.
Director Terry Gilliam’s fictional storyline of the two brothers is a tale within a tale adding breath-taking magic, head-spinning romance and terrifying fear, keeping true to a realistic accounting of a Grimm fairy tale. Gilliam uses many of the brothers’ own fairy tales to make an interesting twist to the plot which only accents an awesome creativity. As The Brothers Grimm begins with the mesmerizing words Once upon a time, the special effects and humor in the film make the tale of the brother’s death sentence truly a personal adventure, working through their own fears and reaching for a moral lesson in order to live happily ever after….The End! (Karen Pecota)
