Other Titles • Jabberwocky (1977) • Monty Python's Jabberwocky (1977)
Synopses for Jabberwocky (1977)
1.
By the late 1970s, Monty Python's resident animator and occasional performer, Terry Gilliam, was ready to direct a feature film on his own (he codirected Monty Python and the Holy Grail two years earlier). Returning to the medieval muck and monstrosities that served as a backdrop for Holy Grail, Gilliam chose a darker satire for this erratic but funny outing. The result was a witty, modernist fable about an unprepared hero (Michael Palin) pushed through a heroic journey by uncontrollable forces of destiny, propelling him into a duel with a fearsome, man-eating dragon called Jabberwock. Raunchy, irreverent, and borderline cynical, Jabberwocky reveals a lot of Gilliam's flaws as a first-time solo filmmaker, but it also serves as a map of his obsessions and extravagant sense of art direction--elements of his artistry that certainly flourished in subsequent works. --Tom Keogh
(20 votes)
2.
Opening with a quote from Lewis Carroll's classic nonsensical poem, Terry Gilliam's JABBERWOCKY is a darkly comic medieval masterpiece about a monster wreaking havoc on helpless villages. Michael Palin stars as Dennis Cooper, a happy-go-lucky ne'er-do-well stock taker who becomes the unlikely hero in a castle's efforts to defeat the great green beast. The unwitting and pathetic Dennis is in love with Griselda, the furthest thing from a classic princess heroine that film has ever seen. However, she wants nothing to do with Dennis, who is renounced by his father on his deathbed, setting him off on a hysterical adventure that winds up with him facing off against the monster itself. The jousting scenes are particularly funny--and very gruesome, lending the film its seriocomic tone that had the audience somewhat baffled at first, although it's now much loved. The film is a brilliant parody of medieval epics, featuring lavish costumes, a medieval score, and terrific sets. Monty Python regulars Terry Jones and Neil Innes make cameo appearances, as does director Gilliam himself.
(20 votes)
3.
Michael Palin stars in this hilarious medieval satire directed by Terry Gilliam.
After the death of his father the young cooper 'Dennis Cooper' goes to town where he has to pass several adventures. The town and the whole kingdom is threatened by a terrible monster called 'Jabberwocky'. Will Dennis make his fortune? Is anyone brave enough to defeat the monster? A medieval tale with Pythonesque humour.
(20 votes)
4.
A medieval comedy-adventure starring Michael Palin and directed by Terry Gilliam, Jabberwocky is an episodic adaptation of Lewis Carroll's surreal poem. Having previously directed Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975) with Terry Jones, Jabberwocky marked Gilliam's solo directorial debut--is it coincidental that Jones is killed by the titular monster in the opening scene? Palin plays the naive Dennis Cooper, a man seeking his fortune just as the Jabberwocky is laying waste to the country. It's much the same world as Holy Grail, with all the trappings of the romantic Hollywood epic being liberally coated with literal and metaphorical muck.
Palin's character causes unwitting mayhem wherever he goes--one stand-out scene involves the destruction of a maintenance shop for damaged knights-in-armour--though as much humour comes from exposing the foibles of the people he meets. And those people constitute a roll call of contemporary British comedy: Harry H Corbett as a sex-mad squire, Warren Mitchell's Mr Fishfinger, plus Annette Badland, Max Wall, John Le Mesurier, Rodney Bewes, John Bird, Neil Innes and John Gorman. Jabberwocky lacks the hilarity of Holy Grail, but is a consistently amusing, exceptionally atmospheric, gleefully gory yarn which points the way to Gilliam's Time Bandits (1981) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).
On the DVDJabberwocky is distinguished by an engaging and enthusiastic commentary from Gilliam and Palin, in which they delight in the amazing cast and ponder how such a handsome film was made. Otherwise the extras are a short sketch-to-screen comparison, three posters and three trailers (only one for Jabberwocky). Transferred anamorphically enhanced at 1.77:1, the picture is variable, with many beautifully lit indoor scenes looking fine, while other exterior, daylight shots appear washed out. There is some minor print damage. The sound is a revelation for a low-budget 1970s film originally released in mono. Given a full Dolby Digital 5.1 remix the tremendously detailed, rich and involving soundscape really brings Gilliam's world alive and puts many much more recent and expensive titles to shame. --Gary S Dalkin
(20 votes)
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