Baron Munchausen, most imaginative of fabulists, has been adapted many times, but the main three are from 1943 Nazi Germany in AgfaColor, running 130"; Terry Gilliam, typically OTT* in 1988 at 126"; and in-between, this comparatively modest one from experimental Czech animator Karel Zeman at a mere 83". Advantage Zeman on length alone! All use loosely connected tall-tales as told by our eponymous Mountebank, here emphasizing his lovelorn pursuit of Princess Bianca whose heart belongs to the youthful Tonik, alongside life inside the belly-of-a-whale, Turkish Army takedown, et al. But the reason to watch Zeman’s mad scientist approach to the varied adventures is the ‘limited’ animation techniques and the use of space, architecture & tinted color effects over detailed b&w drawings that give buildings and landscapes the feel of blueprints come to half-life. A fetching idea, and some of the effects, mixing live action, tinting effects, silhouette puppetry movement, and all sorts of animated realizations can be both beautiful and artistically stimulating. One horse chase toward the middle is a particularly stunning example of design in perfect harmony with execution. If only Zeman’s work engaged on more than a clinical level. A chilliness I think he was aware of; hence the shortest running time. Painstaking restored in a recent Criterion set, everyone should see one Zeman movie; goodness knows Gilliam and those YELLOW SUBMARINE animators took long hard looks. But there’s something undeniably off-putting here.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/DOUBLE-BILL: *Along with BRAZIL/’85, MUNCHAUSEN is probably Gilliam’s best work, even with John Neville hopelessly overparted as lead. (If only Ralph Richardson had still been around to play the Baron!) A mess, of course (hey!, it’s Terry Gilliam), but with something moving about it. But after losing sums of money even Baron Munchausen would find hard to swallow (50 to 60 1988 dollars), the film never did find a fraction of the views it deserved.
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