12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys
Directed by	Terry Gilliam
Written by	Screenplay: David Peoples Janet Peoples Inspired by La Jetée: Chris Marker
Produced by	Charles Roven
Starring	Bruce Willis Madeleine Stowe Brad Pitt Christopher Plummer
Cinematography	Roger Pratt
Edited by	Mick Audsley
Music by	Paul Buckmaster
Production companies	Universal Pictures Atlas Entertainment Classico
Distributed by	North America: Universal Pictures Foreign: United International Pictures
Release dates	United States: December 29, 1995 (limited) January 5, 1996 (wide) Australia: March 14, 1996 United Kingdom: April 19, 1996 New Zealand: May 10, 1996
Running time	130 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$29.5 million
Box office	$168.84 million

12 Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam and inspired by the French short film La Jetée (1962). 12 Monkeys stars Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt and Christopher Plummer. The film depicts a future world in 2035 devastated by disease, forcing the human population to live underground. Convict James Cole (Willis) "volunteers" for time travel duty to gather information in exchange for prison release. When he is mistakenly sent to 1990 rather than 1996, Cole is arrested and locked up in a psychiatric hospital, where he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly (Stowe), a psychiatrist, and Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), the insane son of a scientist and virus expert.

After Universal Pictures acquired the rights to remake La Jetée as a full-length film, David and Janet Peoples were hired to write the script. Under Terry Gilliam's direction, Universal granted the filmmakers a $29.5 million budget, and filming for 12 Monkeys lasted from February to May 1995. The film was shot mostly in Philadelphia and Baltimore, the setting of the story.

12 Monkeys is a study of Judeo-Christian allegories, Christ figures, humanity's use of memory and time, and Hitchcockian archetypes. The film was released to critical praise and grossed approximately $168 million in worldwide box office totals. Brad Pitt was nominated the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and won a Golden Globe for his performance. 12 Monkeys also won and was nominated for various categories at the Saturn Awards.

Plot

James Cole (Willis) is a convicted criminal living in a grim post-apocalyptic future. In 1996-1997, the Earth's surface was contaminated by a virus so deadly that it forced the surviving population to live underground. To earn a pardon, Cole allows scientists to send him on dangerous missions to the past to collect information on the virus, thought to be released by a terrorist organization known as the Army of the Twelve Monkeys. If possible, he is to obtain a pure sample of the original virus so a cure can be made. Throughout the film, Cole is troubled with recurring dreams involving a chase and a shooting in an airport.

On Cole's first trip, he arrives in Baltimore in 1990, not 1996 as planned. He is arrested and hospitalized in a mental institution on the diagnosis of Dr. Kathryn Railly (Stowe). There, he encounters Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), a fellow mental patient with animal rights and anti-consumerist leanings. Cole tries unsuccessfully to leave a voice mail on a number monitored by the scientists in the future. After a failed escape attempt, Cole is restrained and locked in a cell, but then disappears, returning to the future. Back in his own time, Cole is interviewed by the scientists, who play a distorted voice mail message which gives the location of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys and states that they are responsible for the virus. He is also shown photos of numerous people, including Goines. The scientists then send him back to 1996.

Cole kidnaps Railly and sets out in search of Goines, who they learn is founder of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys. When confronted, however, Goines denies any involvement with the virus and suggests that wiping out humanity was Cole's idea, originally broached at the asylum in 1990. Cole vanishes again as the police approach. After Cole disappears, Railly begins to doubt her diagnosis of Cole when she finds evidence that he is telling the truth. Cole, on the other hand, convinces himself that his future experiences are hallucinations, and persuades the scientists to send him back again. Railly attempts to settle the question of Cole's sanity by leaving a voice mail on the number he provided, creating the message the scientists played prior to his second mission. They both now realize that the coming plague is real, and make plans to enjoy the time they have left.

On their way to the airport, they learn that the Army of the Twelve Monkeys is a red herring; all they have done is delay traffic by releasing all the animals in the zoo. At the airport, Cole leaves a last message telling the scientists they are on the wrong track following the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, and that he will not return. He is soon confronted by Jose (Jon Seda), an acquaintance from his own time, who gives Cole a handgun and instructions to complete his mission. At the same time, Railly spots the true culprit behind the virus – Dr. Peters (David Morse), an assistant at the Goines virology lab, about to embark on a tour of the cities which Cole had earlier memorized as being the path of the viral outbreak. Cole, while fighting through security, is fatally shot as he tries to stop Peters. As Cole dies in Railly's arms, she makes eye contact with a small boy – the young James Cole witnessing his own death; the scene that will replay in his dreams for years to come. Dr. Peters, safely aboard, sits down next to Jones (Carol Florence), one of the lead scientists in the future. Young James Cole is then taken back to his parents' car, where in the back seat he stares at a plane taking off.

Cast

• Bruce Willis as James Cole
• Madeleine Stowe as Kathryn Railly
• Brad Pitt as Jeffrey Goines
• Christopher Plummer as Dr. Goines
• Jon Seda as Jose
• Christopher Meloni as Lt. Halperin
• David Morse as Dr. Peters
• Frank Gorshin as Dr. Fletcher
• Vernon Campbell as Tiny
• Lisa Gay Hamilton as Teddy
• Bob Adrian as Geologist
• Simon Jones as Zoologist
• Carol Florence as Astrophysicist/Jones
• Bill Raymond as Microbiologist
• Thomas Roy as a street preacher

Production

Development

The genesis of 12 Monkeys came from executive producer Robert Kosberg, who had been a fan of the French short film La Jetée (1962). Kosberg persuaded the film's director, Chris Marker, to let him pitch the project to Universal Pictures, seeing it as a perfect basis for a full-length science fiction film. Universal reluctantly agreed to purchase the remake rights and hired David and Janet Peoples to write the screenplay. Producer Charles Roven chose Terry Gilliam to direct because he believed the filmmaker's style was perfect for 12 Monkeys's linear storyline and time travel subplot. Gilliam was just coming off an abandoned film adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities when he signed to direct 12 Monkeys. The film also represents the second film for which Gilliam did not write or co-write his own screenplay. Although he prefers working in that capacity, he was captivated by the Peoples' "intriguing and intelligent script. The story is disconcerting. It deals with time, madness and a perception of what the world is or isn't. It is a study of madness and dreams, of death and re-birth, set in a world coming apart."

Universal took longer than expected to greenlight 12 Monkeys. Despite the fact that Gilliam had two stars (Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt) and a firm $29.5 million (low for a Hollywood science fiction film), Universal's production of Waterworld (1995) resulted into various cost overruns. To get 12 Monkeys greenlighted, Gilliam convinced Willis to lower his normal asking price. Because of Universal's strict production incentives and his previous history with the studio on Brazil (1985), Gilliam received the right of final cut privilege. The Writers Guild of America was also skeptical of the "inspired by" credit for La Jetée and Chris Marker.

Casting

Gilliam's initial casting choices were Nick Nolte as James Cole and Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey Goines, but Universal objected. Gilliam, who first met Bruce Willis while casting Jeff Bridges' role in The Fisher King (1991), believed Willis evoked Cole's characterization as being "somebody who is strong and dangerous but also vulnerable." The actor had a trio of tattoos etched onto his scalp and neck everyday when filming – one that indicated his prisoner number, and a pair of barcodes on each side of his neck. Gilliam cast Madeleine Stowe as Dr. Kathryn Railly because he was impressed by her performance in Blink (1994). The director first met Stowe when he was casting his abandoned film adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities. "She has this incredible ethereal beauty and she's incredibly intelligent," Gilliam reasoned. "Those two things rest very easily with her, and the film needed those elements because it has to be romantic."

Gilliam originally believed that Brad Pitt was not right for the role of Jeffrey Goines, but the casting director convinced him otherwise. Pitt was cast for a relatively small salary, when he was still an "up and coming" actor. By the time of 12 Monkeys' release, however, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Legends of the Fall (1994), and Seven (1995) had been released, making Pitt an A-list actor, which drew greater attention to the film and boosted its box-office standing. In Philadelphia, months before filming, Pitt spent weeks at Temple University's hospital, visiting and studying the psychiatric ward to prepare for his role.

Filming

Filming for 12 Monkeys lasted from February 8, 1995 to May 6, 1995. Shooting on location in Philadelphia (including the Senator Theatre) and Baltimore in the winter time was fraught with weather problems. There were also technical glitches with the futuristic mechanical props. Because the film has a nonlinear storyline, continuity errors ensued and some scenes had to be reshot. Gilliam also injured himself when he went horseback riding. Despite setbacks, however, the director managed to stay within the budget and was only a week behind his shooting schedule. "It was a tough shoot," acknowledged Jeffrey Beecroft (Mr. Brooks, Dances with Wolves), the production designer. "There wasn't a lot of money or enough time. Terry is a perfectionist, but he was really adamant about not going over budget. He got crucified for Munchausen, and that still haunts him."

The filmmakers were not allowed the luxury of sound stages, thus they had to find abandoned buildings or landmarks in Philadelphia to use. The exterior shots of the climactic airport scene were conducted at the Baltimore-Washington ITM Airport, while the Pennsylvania Convention Center housed interior scenes. Filming at the psychiatric hospital was done at the Eastern State Penitentiary.

Design

Gilliam undertook the same filmmaking style from his own Brazil (1985), including the art direction and cinematography (specifically using fresnel lenses). The interrogation room where Cole is being interviewed by the scientists was based on the work of Lebbeus Woods. The production crew shot these scenes at three different power stations (two in Philadelphia and one in Baltimore). Gilliam intended to show Cole being interviewed through a multi-screen interrogation TV set because he felt the machinery evoked a "nightmarish intervention of technology. You try to see the faces on the screens in front of you, but the real faces and voices are down there and you have these tiny voices in your ear. To me that's the world we live in, the way we communicate these days, through technical devices that pretend to be about communication but may not be."

The art department made sure that the 2035 underground world would only use pre-1996 technology as a means to depict the bleak future. To create the majority of visual effects sequences, Gilliam awarded the shots to Peerless Camera, the London-based effects studio he founded in the late-1970s with visual effects supervisor Kent Houston (The Golden Compass, Casino Royale). Additional digital compositing was done by The Mill, while Cinesite worked on film scanning services.

Themes

Judeo-Christian allegories

See also: Christ figure

12 Monkeys draws on standard apocalyptic motifs from Judaism and Christianity. In his time travels back to the earth of 1996 and 1990, James Cole becomes a prophet for the people of the 1990's. Due in large part to Cole's developing relationship with Dr. Kathryn Railley, he reveals the eschatological events to come, like the ancient apocalyptic seers Enoch, Daniel, Ezra and John the Baptist. The movie opens with this quote:

... 5 billion people will die from a deadly virus in 1997... The survivors will abandon the surface of the planet... Once again the animals will rule the world...

Excerpts from interview with clinically diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, April 12, 1990 - Baltimore Co. Hospital

Although Cole is diagnosed as mentally ill, the veracity of these eschatological cosmic secrets is assured, as the viewer and Cole realize that from a certain perspective (that of 2035), they have in fact already occurred. Cole is not merely a prophet, but is also an otherworldly figure, shuttling back and forth between the underworld of his original present and the earth of the past and post-apocalyptic future. As in Enoch's journeys throughout heaven and earth, "cosmology undergirds eschatology," in that James Cole's journeys establish a complex spatial dualism testifying to the events of cosmic history.

The underworld of 2035 has become earth, or the dwelling place of humankind, while the above ground earth is reminiscent of hell, a place of destruction for humans. This motif is emphasized by a note Cole leaves to Dr. Railley in 1990: "You live a beautiful world, but you don't know it. You have freedom, sunshine, air you can breathe. I would do anything to stay here, but I must leave." This motif of earthly paradise is also captured in the music Cole hears in the 1990's, which is dominated by naturalistic imagery (e.g., "Blueberry Hill" and "What a Wonderful World"). The underworld is the source of revelation and judgment for the people of the past, thus constituting an ironic heaven in contrast to the earth of the 1990's. As a result, the hope of the netherworld of 2035 is that through Cole's efforts, humans might eventually return "upwards" to a cleansed and purified earth, that is, a journey from hell to an earthly Paradise or heaven.

James Cole is clearly a messiah figure, and in accordance with his role as eschatological prophet/savior, he appropriately has the initials "J. C." This connection with Jesus is made even more by Willis' appearance in a bloodstained shirt, which, although partially obscured by his jacket, reads "Chris-." The culminating events of 1997 take place during the Christmas holidays, and images of angels appear throughout the background of this modern apocalypse. The "sins" in this apocalypse are rampant consumerism, animal exploitation and environmental devastation. These sins are brought to light mainly through the character of Jeffrey Goines, the mentally ill son of a famous virologist. While detained in a mental asylum with Cole, Goines points to a television and explains the sin of consumerism:

It's all right there-all right there. Look. Listen. Knee. Pray. Commercials. We're not productive anymore, no one needs to make things anymore. It's all automated. What are we for then? We're consumers. Yeah, okay, okay-buy a lot of stuff, you're a good citizen. But if you don't buy a lot of stuff, if you don't - fact, Jim, fact - what are you then I ask you? You're mentally ill.

The sin of animal abuse is illuminated through Goines' character, an animal activist and the organizer of "The Army of the Twelve Monkeys," which orchestrates the release of zoo animals in 1996 that results in the populations of wild animals that inhabit the earth in 2035. During another asylum conversation with Goines, savior of animals, Cole looks at television clips of cruel experiments being conducted on monkeys and rabbits and mutters, "Look at them. They're just asking for it. Maybe the human race deserves to be wiped out." The sin of environmental devastation triggers the apocalyptic plague itself. An environmental activist confronts Dr. Railley after a lecture and states:

Surely there's very real and very convincing data that the planet cannot survive the excesses of the human race. Proliferation of atomic devices, uncontrolled breeding habits, pollution of land, sea and air; the rape of the environment...

Not only does Cole suffer mental derangement by trying to bridge two worlds, he ultimately fails to avert the plague of 1996-7, and in the end cannot even save himself. Whether he succeeds in providing the scientists of 2035 with enough "revelation" to save humankind is ambiguous, and is left up to the next wave of human effort. The divine is nowhere in view. The film studies that in the modern world, science has replaced God as the object of worship. This is made clear when Jeffrey Goines screams about his famous father the virologist, saying, "When my father gets upset, the ground shakes! My father is God! I worship my father!!" The obvious allusion to the earthquakes that typically accompany the disasters of the last days underscores the theme that science has replaced God.

In the underworld of 2035, it is scientists who orchestrate the future salvation of humankind by searching for a cure and by selecting and sending various messiah figures, such as James Cole. Moreover, these scientists sit in judgment over the messiahs as well as over the people of the earth of the past - whom they have resigned themselves not to try to save. The implication that perhaps all apocalyptic prophets are time-travelers (and hence that their oracles are reliable) is suggested in the scene in which a millenialist street preacher who quotes a passage from Revelation seems to recognize Cole and yells "You're one of us!" Slowly, Dr. Railley realizes the truth of the quote from Revelation, in that the "seven vials of God's wrath" are vials of the virus - visible at a point near the end of the movie on an airport's x-ray machine - which bring about the end-time for the majority of the planet.

Memory, time and technology

"Cole has been thrust from another world into ours and he's confronted by the confusion we live in, which most people somehow accept as normal. So he appears abnormal, and what's happening around him seems random and weird. Is he mad or are we?"

— Director Terry Gilliam

12 Monkeys studies the subjective nature of memories and their effect upon perceptions of reality. Some examples of false memories are:

1. Cole's recollection of the airport shooting which is altered each time he has a dream.

2. A "mentally divergent" man at the asylum who has false memories.

3. Railly telling Cole "I remember you like this" in the scene in which a barely recognizable Cole and Railly are seen in disguise for the first time.

References to time, time travel and monkeys are scattered throughout the film, including the Woody Woodpecker "Time Tunnel" cartoon playing on the TV in a hotel room, The Marx Brothers movie Monkey Business (1931) on TV in the asylum and the subplots of monkeys (drug testing, news stories and animal rights). The film is also a study of modern civilization's declining efforts to communicate with each other due to the interference of technology.

Cinematic allusions

12 Monkeys is inspired by the French short film La Jetée (1962), notably the story of both protagonists being haunted by the image of their own death. The climaxes for both films also take place in an airport.

Similar to La Jetée, 12 Monkeys also presents Hitchcockian elements and references to Alfred Hitchcock's own Vertigo (1958). Toward the end of the film, Cole and Railly are watching a scene in Vertigo. In the 24 hour Hitchcock Theater, Railly transforms herself with a blonde wig, featuring Hitchcock's obsession with blonde actresses in his films. James see her emerge within a red light, which parallels Kim Novak transforming herself as a blond and James Stewart seeing her emerge within a green light in Vertigo. Brief notes of Bernard Herrmann's 1958 film score can also be heard. Railly also wears the same coat Novak wears in the first part of Vertigo. The scene with Stewart and Novak at Muir Woods National Monument, where Novak looks at the growth rings of a felled redwood and traces back events in her past life, resonates with 12 Monkeys' larger themes. Cole and Railly later have a similar conversation while the same music from Vertigo is repeated.

The film also makes use of black comedy elements.

Reception

Release

12 Monkeys was given a limited release in the United States on December 29, 1995. When the 1,629 theater wide release came on January 5, 1996, the film earning $13.84 million in its opening weekend. 12 Monkeys eventually grossed $57.14 million in US totals and $111.7 million in foreign countries, coming to a worldwide total of $168.84 million. The film was able to hold the #1 spot on box office charts for two weeks in January, before dropping from competition to From Dusk till Dawn, Mr. Holland's Opus and Black Sheep. 12 Monkeys was a major financial success because it out-matched its $29.5 million budget.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment's special edition release of 12 Monkeys in May 2005 contains an audio commentary by director Terry Gilliam and producer Charles Roven, The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys (a making-of documentary) and production notes.

Critical analysis

The film also received a positive response from critics. Based on 47 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of the critics enjoyed 12 Monkeys with an average rating of 7.3/10. The consensus reads: "The plot's a bit of a jumble, but excellent performances and mind-blowing plot twists make 12 Monkeys a kooky, effective experience." The film was more balanced with Rotten Tomatoes' 16 reviewers in the "Top Critics" poll, receiving an 88% approval rating and a 7.1/10 score. By comparison, Metacritic calculated a 74/100 rating, based on 20 reviews.

Roger Ebert observed 12 Monkeys' depiction of the future, finding similarities with Blade Runner (1982; also scripted by David Peoples) and Brazil (1985; also directed by Terry Gilliam). "The film is a celebration of madness and doom, with a hero who tries to prevail against the chaos of his condition, and is inadequate," Ebert wrote. "This vision is a cold, dark, damp one, and even the romance between Willis and Stowe feels desperate rather than joyous. All of this is done very well, and the more you know about movies (especially the technical side), the more you're likely to admire it. And as entertainment, it appeals more to the mind than to the senses."

Desson Thomson of The Washington Post praised the art direction and set design. "Willis and Pitts's performances, Gilliam's atmospherics and an exhilarating momentum easily outweigh such trifling flaws in the script," Thomson reasoned. Peter Travers from Rolling Stone magazine cited the film's success on Gilliam's direction and Willis' performance. Internet reviewer James Berardinelli believed the filmmakers took an intelligent and creative motive for the time travel subplot. Rather than being sent to change the past, James Cole is instead observing it to make a better future. Richard Corliss of Time magazine felt the film's time travel aspect and apocalyptic depiction of a bleaker future was overtly cliché. "In its frantic mix of chaos, carnage and zoo animals, 12 Monkeys is Jumanji (1995) for adults," Corliss wrote.

Awards

Brad Pitt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects. Costume designer Julie Weiss (Hollywoodland, Frida) was also nominated for her work, but lost to James Acheson of Restoration. However, Pitt was able to win Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Terry Gilliam was honored for his directing duties at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival. 12 Monkeys received positive notices from the science fiction community. The film was nominated the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films awarded 12 Monkeys the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. Pitt and Weiss also won awards at the 22nd Saturn Awards. Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Gilliam and writers David and Janet Peoples were received nominations.

Lebbeus Woods lawsuit

In the beginning of the movie, James is brought into the interrogation room and told to sit in a chair which is attached to a vertical rail on the wall. A sphere supported by a metal armature is suspended directly in front of him, probing for weaknesses as the inquisitors interrogate him. Architect Lebbeus Woods filed a lawsuit against Universal Pictures in February 1996, claiming that his work "Neomechanical Tower (Upper) Chamber" was used without permission. Woods won his lawsuit, earning over $1 million from Universal, and allowed the studio to continue distribution of the movie.

External links

• Twelve Monkeys at IMDb
• 12 Monkeys at Rotten Tomatoes
• 12 Monkeys at Box Office Mojo
• 12 Monkeys at AllMovie

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