"The Fisher King" ((Very few Spoilers. Okay To Read This Before Seeing The Film))
First let me assure you, that this film has so many different layers and goodies in it that even if you THINK I am spoiling it, trust me, I am not. This film has thirty or more great little moving parts in it that me telling you a handful to whet your appetite won't ruin it at all, only help to entice you to see the film if you have not already.
At it's core it the fable of "The Fisher King". For those unfamiliar with it, the story goes as such:
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'It begins with the king as a boy, having to spend the night alone in the forest to prove his courage so he can become king.
Now while he is spending the night alone he's visited by a sacred vision. Out of the fire appears the holy grail, symbol of God's divine grace. And a voice said to the boy,
"You shall be keeper of the grail so that it may heal the hearts of men."
But the boy was blinded by greater visions of a life filled with power and glory and beauty.
And in this state of radical amazement he felt for a brief moment not like a boy, but invincible, like God,
... so he reached into the fire to take the grail,
... and the grail vanished,
... leaving him with his hand in the fire to be terribly wounded.
Now as this boy grew older, his wound grew deeper.
Until one day, life for him lost its reason. ... He had no faith in any man, not even himself.
... He couldn't love or feel loved.
... He was sick with experience.
So He began to die.
One day a fool wandered into the castle and found the king all alone. And being a fool, he was simple minded, he didn't see a king. He only saw a man alone and in pain. And he asked the king,
"What ails you friend?"
The king replied,
"I'm thirsty. I need some water to cool my throat".
So the fool took a cup from beside his bed, filled it with water and handed it to the king.
As the king began to drink, he realized his wound was healed. He looked in his hands and there was the holy grail, that which he sought all of his life. And he turned to the fool and said with amazement,
"How can you find that which my brightest and bravest could not?"
And the fool replied,
"I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty."
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Although the story of The Fisher King is told in the film, it helps because this fable and Pinocchio are two themes throughout the movie.
Okay, We start off with Jeff Bridges playing 'Jack'. He is a very 'Howard Stern like character', shock-jock, minus the interviews with naked women and a side-kick. He is at the height of his popularity in New York, His book is coming out, they are about to shoot a T.V. Pilot starring him, although abrasive and cynical, he is talk radio's Golden Boy. He lives in the most expensive of penthouses in Manhattan, his model gold digging girlfriend is old enough to be his daughter and he has yes-men in his office, in his limo, in his home, and in his world, which he is on top of.
Some of you may know the Director, Terry Gilliam as just that, a great Director. Others remember him as one of the six members of Monty Python. Some know him as both. But his keen illustrator's eye tells us things with lighting and camera placement. For instance, here is a shot from the first few minutes of the film, of Jack's recording studio.
Without saying so, he is suggesting Jack is in a jail of his own making. When shock-jock Jack is at the tippity top of his game and wealth, he has a call from a big fan and constant caller, Edwin. Edwin is a bit of a loser and Jack takes his calls on the air to basically make fun of him without Edwin knowing that was why he took his calls. On this particular day, loser Edwin says he has fallen in love again (he is a guy that crushes easily) and mentions that the latest object of his affection goes to this really chic watering hole for the wealthy players in NYC. As he starts to tell Jack, live on the radio that he's going there to ask her out. Jack does what he does best and goes on a tirade about 'yuppies' and the 'beautiful, rich people' (though he is one himself) and basically says that Edwin needed to come down off the clouds, this girl was *never* going to go out with some grocery story clerk like himself. He ended by saying the city is being run now by these post-80's (This was the early '91) yuppies and the up & comers that in-breed with their own kind and would never let him past the red velvet rope.
"They've taken over!! She will never love a shlub like you!! It's us or them!!"
Edwin says 'You're right, Jack. Okay.' Then Jack ends his show, gets in his limo, shoos away the homeless outside his building and limo as he reads the pilot for his new show and tries to come up with a title for his new book. After some more selfish activities, he notices his face on all three of his living room Tvs. He excitedly turns his music off and turns the sound on to his Televisions to hear the final few seconds of that last call with Edwin. Then the newscasters announce "Upon hearing this, The disturbed young man took the advice from his radio idol, loaded up his guns, went to the bar for the affluent and well off in New York, took one last look before opening fire. He saved the last bullet for himself."
Terry's subtle directing and Jeff Bridges having 8 emotions flashing over his face while remaining wordless as he listens to the newcast is amazing. We see very little of the newscast, we just hear it as Gilliam very slowly zeros in on a horrified Jack, his trembling hands up to his mouth, his eyes widened with disbelief and as Gilliam fades out you just hear 'Jack Loomis' utter under his breath: "fuck...."
Then we are transported forward a couple years. Jack has lost EVERYTHING. His fame, money, "friends", job and has hooked up with a 'Brooklynite', Anne, perfectly played by Mercedes Ruehl. She actually won an Oscar for this role, that's how well she embodied and owned this role. Anne is the owner of a Video Rental Shop (remember VHS rental stores?!? Anybody?!? Bueller?!? Well, I do, and it's what you did and where you went when you wanted to see a film at home, Kiddies ;) ). She also lives in a cozy, little apartment above the store. Jack lives there and is SUPPOSE to work in the shop but he is now a hopeless alcoholic and is rude to customers and they don't take it as well as they did on the radio. (Keep an eye out for a cameo from Kathy Nijamy, pre-weight loss during one of the scenes in the Video Rental Store. She wanted something old and 'zany'. "Kinda a Kathryn Hepburny/Spencer Tracy, Chevy Chasey, Goldie Hawny..you know, ZANY!!" Jack recommends "Ordinary Peep-Holes' from their porn section. Says it's "kinda a big tittie, spread cheeky kinda thing." Don't worry, I didn't ruin the whole joke...more is in there.
So Jack is a BROKEN man. Living with a 4 when he had 9 and 10's fighting for him. Working part-time at a Video Rental place when he was about to star in a TV show. And underneath the Jack Daniels and vulgarity, Jack has a heart. He drinks to forget...he listens over and over again to the calls with Edwin and is punishing himself for all the people he killed, maimed, or hurt in anyway that night at the restaurant/bistro. He won't admit it but he feels he pulled the trigger and therefore DESERVES this new life of shame. (Remember, in '91, mass shootings were a lot more rare than today unfortunately.)
(And all this is just the first ten minutes!!!)
One night when he's had too much...too much life..too much to drink...too many memories... he ties cement blocks on his feet and is about to jump..when some young men that 'hate homeless people' and like to beat them up, assume he is because he's shabby, unshaven, smelly, and drinking from the bottle. So they come at him to beat him senseless before he has a chance to kill himself. When out of the blue, an army of 'homeless knights', led by "Perry", played with amazing depth by Robin Williams (who won a Golden Globe for this performance) comes out and 'saves one of their own'. Jack is too hammered to explain he's not homeless, just suicidal. Perry and his band of homeless brothers save and take care of him and Perry (still thinking him homeless) takes him down to the basement of a building, where he lives and has made into a little basement home and let's his 'guest' Jack sleep it off.
Jack wakes up in the basement and is still a little drunk and confused but has a nice interesting chat with Perry and then takes his leave. As he is leaving, the super of the building corners him and says "Who are you!!!". He says 'I guess a friend of Perry's'. The super says 'I told him no visitors!! This is an upscale place and I could get fired!! I only let him stay down there out of the goodness of my heart because of the tragedy, but just him, known of his buddies!!'
Jack asks "What tragedy?"
The building's superintendent explains, "Oh it was just horrible. He was a Doctor. A professor of English Lit over at the college. And his wife was a beautiful young thing. They were so happy and in love, I never saw a couple so well suited. Then one night a couple years ago, they waved good night to me and went off to dinner. And some crazy person that listened to some nut on the radio came in there and shot up the place!! Blew her brains all over his face!! He was in the Psych ward and didn't speak for over a year. Then when he did, he remembered nothing and he was just this 'Perry' guy. He had no other family and I just couldn't stand him losing her and being outside in the winter, so I let him stay down here. But NO VISITORS, okay?"
Jack nods and leaves, but his life just got complicated and painful.
You probably think I just gave away half the movie...but this all happens in the first 20 minutes. The movie is what happens AFTER what I have told you.
With a stand-out performance from Micheal Jeter... (This is one of my fave scenes.. Every now and then when I am trying to make Y. smile, I will do Jeter's version of "I'm Anne Marrow Lindbergh and I can't find my baby...." Don't know how he managed to make that funny.....But you know I never show clips. I had to show you this one.)
Click to viewAmanda Plummer.....
And other cameos or parts from David Hyde Pierce, Harry Shearer, and Tom Waits, this is just one of those films that cannot be boxed. It makes you laugh, cry, wonder, think, feel, and is just one of those you need to watch a couple times to get all the nuances.
For instance, not until the second or third viewing did I notice that when a man in psychological pain couldn't escape his own hellish demons and someone knifes him in the gut...as he went down he whispers 'Thank You'. Such a small thing but sends shivers because he is in so much emotional pain that as he is dying he thanks his attacker....for putting an end to his misery and inner agony. Very moving stuff. Yet the film is woven with it. Gilliam never disappoints.
I WILL leave it there so I do not start ruining it, but it's a Must-See for sure.
Again, I tried a Gilliam Poll but LJ being difficult again..Sorry My Dears...
Zuz