Terry Gilliam prefers the experience of being in a movie theater
He’s a world-renowned, multifaceted film professional. Terry Gilliam is at the same time an illustrator, script writer, animator, actor, director (film and opera), comedian and producer, who has known how to connect with large sectors of cinema audiences.
He is also the only «Phyton» (member of the Monthy Phyton) who was not born in Great Britain, although he became British in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship of origin in 2006.
It was precisely the dissolution of this group of British comedians that encouraged him to embark on his dedication to film arts, applying a style that, of course, basically explores the subject of imagination and its importance for life. The Filmoteca de Catalunya (the catalan cinematheque) presented the retrospective «Terry Gilliam, un visionari quixotesc».
Among the topics that Terry Gilliam referred to during his visit to Barcelona, he talked about cinemas, Hollywood and Netflix.
«I really don’t watch my films. Once I’ve made them, they are free to get on with their own lives. I’d keep probably waiting on my death bed, where I will watch out all my films and find out what I really think of them», Gilliam said ironically during a press conference in Barcelona.
The importance of cinemas
Being aware that «if you sit closer to your television at home, it’s almost like being in the cinema, especially if you got a lot of kids», the British filmmaker supported the existence of cinemas by saying that he still prefers «the experience of being in a dark room, with a big screen and lots of people», although he expressed his own doubts about the possibility that «these experiences eventually are going to fade away».
Terry Gilliam added at the Filmoteca de Catalunya’s press conference that «more people are sitting watching television now, and to be quite honest, I saw on Netflix in the last couple of years better movies than those that were submitted to the Hollywood Academy Awards».
«I really do worry about the lost of the communal experience -said-. Community is very important for the whole society together, because all the current technology such as social media, Netflix,… is dividing society. That worries me».
His own experience watching the Netflix series
«I have to say that watching Netflix series is a very different experience. I waited till the fifth series of «Breaking Bad» before I watched it. My wife was away for a couple of weeks, and I did nothing but watching «Breaking Bad». I thought it was the best experience I had watching any kind of film form for the previous years. I discovered «Babylon Berlin» on Netflix and it’s wonderful. It’s brilliant. It’s very different than going to the cinema because you get lost in this world that never seems to end. One episode ends and the other is waiting, and you can watch them for six hours at a time. It was brilliantly done. Good acting, good writing, beautiful shot. What would I be complaining about? I’m not sure» -he explained-.
Notwithstanding what Gilliam said about movie theaters, he is now involved as a producer in a series called «Time Bandits» for AppleTV, the new online entertainment platform, and Amazon was originally financing an important part of his film «Don Quixot», until they pulled out.
Hollywood and superheroes
Gilliam said in Barcelona that he doesn’t know if Oscars represent quality. «I just think that what is interesting are good stories being told -he remarked-. I saw a kid watching a movie on his Iphone in the subway of London. I bumped into him. The idea of the audience, the viewer, being the huge thing, while the story, the screen that he is watching is the little thing, is the opposite of cinema. Cinema is «we are the little people going into this cathedral and a magnificent experience is given to us». That is being flipped outside down now».
Finally, Gilliam also harshly criticized the content of superhero movies. «They are boring and repetitive. Technically they are brilliant, there are very good actors working and wonderful moments in it, but to me I keep watching the same film and it bothers me that people I saw desperate to believe in superheroes rather than real people doing extraordinary things. So they don’t interest me, I really don’t watch most of these films» -he ended up recognizing-.
In addition, he spoke about the economic factor in these cases: «And I think the problem is that so much money is going into those films that there is no money left for sort of the middle range budget of films. It is made a film for less than ten million or more than a hundred, and all that middle area is not being founded».
©José Luis García/Cinestel.com
Related: Terry Gilliam presentó su retrospectiva en la Filmoteca
