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The Brothers Grimm (film)

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For other uses, see Brothers Grimm (disambiguation).

The Brothers Grimm
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTerry Gilliam
Written byEhren Kruger
Uncredited:
Terry Gilliam
Tony Grisoni
Produced byDaniel Bobker
Charles Roven
StarringMatt Damon
Heath Ledger
Peter Stormare
Lena Headey
Jonathan Pryce
CinematographyNewton Thomas Sigel
Edited byLesley Walker
Music byDario Marianelli
Production
companies
Distributed byDimension Films[1]
Release dates
  • 26 August 2005 (2005-08-26) (United States)
  • 4 November 2005 (2005-11-04) (United Kingdom)
  • 11 November 2005 (2005-11-11) (Czech Republic)
Running time
118 minutes
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
Czech Republic
LanguagesEnglish
French
German
Italian
Budget$88 million
Box office$105,316,267

The Brothers Grimm is a 2005 adventure fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam. The film stars Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, and Lena Headey in an exaggerated and fictitious portrait of the Brothers Grimm as traveling con-artists in French-occupied Germany during the early 19th century. However, the brothers eventually encounter a genuine fairy tale curse which requires real courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms. Supporting characters are played by Peter Stormare, Jonathan Pryce, and Monica Bellucci.

In February 2001, Ehren Kruger sold his spec script to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). With Gilliam's hiring as director, the script was rewritten by Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, but the Writers Guild of America refused to credit them for their work, thus Kruger received sole credit. MGM eventually dropped out as distributor, but decided to co-finance The Brothers Grimm with Dimension Films and Summit Entertainment, while Dimension took over distribution duties.

The film was shot entirely in the Czech Republic. Gilliam often had on-set tensions with brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, which caused the original theatrical release date to be delayed nearly ten months. The Brothers Grimm was finally released on 26 August 2005 with mixed reviews and a $105.3 million box office performance.

This also marks Terry Gilliam's first film to receive a PG-13 rating by the MPAA.

Plot

Wilhelm Grimm (Matt Damon) and Jakob Grimm (Heath Ledger) arrive in French-occupied Germany during the early 1800s. They go to Karlstadt to rid the town of a witch's ghost. After killing the "ghost", it is revealed that the Brothers Grimm have actually set up a fake witch to trick the town. Afterwards, as they are celebrating, Italian torturer Mercurio Cavaldi (Peter Stormare) takes them to the French General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce). Delatombe forces them to solve a mystery: The girls of the small village of Marbaden are disappearing, and the villagers are convinced that supernatural beings are responsible. The Grimms are charged with finding who is responsible, and they soon discover that it is the work of a real supernatural force: a beautiful, yet evil, 500-year-old Thuringian Queen (Monica Bellucci) stealing young girls to restore her own beauty. Will and Jake have a complicated relationship; Jake is the smaller, younger, more sensitive one that Will feels he needs to protect. Will is often very hard on Jake (dating all the way back to their childhood, when Jake spent their money that was to be used for medicine for their dying sister on "magic beans") and orders him around. Will is somewhat of a womanizer and wants to make money, whereas Jake is more interested in fairy tales and adventures. Jake feels that Will doesn't care about or believe in him; but Will is just frustrated about the way Jake acts so spontaneously, making it hard for Will to protect him.

Long ago, King Childeric I came to the forest to build a city while the Queen experimented with black magic to gain eternal life. A plague swept through the land, and she hid in her tower, while her husband and everyone below her perished. Her spell granted her immortal life, but not the youth and beauty to go along with it. Her youthful appearance now only exists in her mirror, the source of her life, as an illusion and nothing more. She needs to drink the blood of twelve young girls to regain her beauty; ten have already been reported missing. The Queen is working an enchantment to regain her beauty with the aid of her werewolf huntsman and his magic axe, crow familiars, and various creatures in the forest. The Grimms, with the help of Cavaldi and Angelika (Lena Headey), a knowing huntress from the village, intend to destroy the Mirror Queen. After another girl goes missing, Cavaldi takes the Grimms and Angelika back to Delatombe. Because they have failed, Cavaldi is ordered to kill both the Grimms; but, after convincing Delatombe that the magic in the forest is actually caused by German rebels, he sends them back. While Cavaldi stays behind with Angelika in the village, the brothers attempt to get into the tower. Jake succeeds and discovers the Queen and the power of her mirror. Meanwhile, another girl, named Sasha, is captured despite Angelika and Cavaldi's efforts to save her.

Jake rides into the forest alone after a spat with Will, who follows him. After mistaking a dummy that is smashed into the tower for Jake, Will realizes that Jake needs him to believe in him and assists Jake in climbing up the tower. On the roof of the tower, Jake notices twelve crypts in which the twelve victims must lie. When Sasha's body comes up from a well, the werewolf takes her to a tomb. After rescuing Sasha and taking the werewolf's magic axe, the Grimms return to the village. Delatombe captures the brothers and believes them to be frauds. French soldiers begin burning down the forest, and Cavaldi represses his sympathy to the brothers, but they are eventually saved by Angelika. The werewolf is revealed to be Angelika's father, who is under the Queen's spell. It turns out that he is only able to keep on living due to an enchanted spike that is lodged into his chest and, without such, the spell is broken. Angelika is drowned by her father, becoming the 12th victim. The Brothers reach the tower while the Queen breathes an ice wind that puts out the forest fire. Delatombe notices that the Grimms have escaped and goes after them with Cavaldi. When Cavaldi refuses to kill the Grimms, Delatombe shoots him but is later impaled by Will.

Will and Jake enter the tower, where Will falls under the Queen's spell when the Queen takes the enchanted spike from Angelika's father and thrusts it into Will's chest. Jake shatters the enchanted mirror in the tower, preventing the Queen from completing the spell that will restore her youth. With the last of his strength, Angelika's father destroys the rest of the mirror by jumping out of the window with it; and Will, attempting to save the Queen, tries to take back the mirror and falls with him, and both men are killed. Outside, Cavaldi survives, having donned the Grimm's faux-magic armor. He finds Will's body and recites an Italian curse, and the tower falls apart. Jake escapes, and Cavaldi informs Jake that he can break the spell and awaken Angelika with a kiss, which in turn resurrects the other girls and Will. With the menace gone and their daughters returned to them, the villagers of Marbaden celebrate and give their heart-felt thanks to the brothers. Cavaldi stays in the village and joins the villagers for the feast. Angelika kisses both the Grimms and tells them that they are always welcome at the village. The Brothers Grimm decide to pursue a new profession, presumably recording fairy tales, although they are now wanted criminals of the state. One of the Queen's crows is seen flying off with the last shard of her mirror, still holding the Queen's watchful eye and presumably, her living soul.

Cast

  • Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as Wilhelm "Will" and Jakob "Jake" Grimm: Johnny Depp was Gilliam's first choice for Will Grimm, but producer Bob Weinstein believed Depp was not commercially famous enough for the role. Damon joked that Weinstein "was kicking himself because half-way through production, Pirates of the Caribbean came out and Depp was all of a sudden a big sensation."[2] Ledger met Gilliam in November 2002 when Nicola Pecorini recommended the actor to the director, comparing him to Depp. Gilliam intended to cast Ledger opposite Depp.[3] Damon and Ledger were originally cast in opposite roles before they petitioned to have their characters switched.[4] Damon had wanted to work with Gilliam for years and actively campaigned to land the role of Will Grimm. The actor "grew up loving [Gilliam's] Time Bandits, the way that movie created this weird but totally convincing world".[5] Gilliam elected to have Damon wear a prosthetic nose, but Weinstein said "it would have distracted audiences from Damon's star-studded good looks".[5] Gilliam later reasoned that "it would have been the most expensive nose job ever".[2]
  • Peter Stormare as Mercurio Cavaldi, Delatombe's Italian associate. Cavaldi originally has a grudge against the brothers, but eventually has a change of heart. Robin Williams was cast in the role before dropping out.[6]
  • Lena Headey as Angelika: Her father is a woodsman transformed into a werewolf by the Mirror Queen's spell. Gilliam's first choice for the role was Samantha Morton.[5]
  • Jonathan Pryce as General Vavarin Delatombe, a cruel French military commander. Delatombe attempts to burn down the forest and kill the brothers.
  • Tomáš Hanák as Woodsman
  • Julian Bleach as Letorc
  • Monica Bellucci as the Mirror Queen, a beautiful, evil queen who experimented with black magic before being struck by the Bubonic plague, her spell giving her eternal life but not the eternal youth she had expected. Nicole Kidman turned down the role over scheduling conflicts.[7]
  • Mackenzie Crook and Richard Ridings as Hidlick and Bunst: Duo sidekicks for the Grimms; they are eventually beheaded by French soldiers.
  • Roger Ashton-Griffiths as the Mayor, who is duped into employing the Grimms to rid his village of its haunting.
  • Anna Rust as Sister Grimm[8]

Production

Ehren Kruger's screenplay was written as a spec script; in February 2001, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) purchased the script, with Summit Entertainment to co-finance the film.[9] In October 2002, Terry Gilliam entered negotiations to direct,[10] and rewrote Kruger's script alongside frequent collaborator Tony Grisoni. However, the Writers Guild of America refused to credit Gilliam and Grisoni for their rewrite work, and Kruger received sole credit.[11] After Gilliam's hiring, production was put on fast track for a target November 2004 theatrical release date.[6] The budget, originally projected at $75 million, was to be Dimension Films' most expensive film ever.[12] The studio had trouble financing the film, and dropped out as main distributor.[13] Weeks later, Bob Weinstein, under his Dimension Films production company, made a deal with MGM and Summit to co-finance The Brothers Grimm, and become the lead distributor.[12]

Filming

The original start date was April 2003,[14] but filming did not begin until 30 June.[15] It was decided to shoot The Brothers Grimm entirely in the Czech Republic over budget constraints. Gilliam reasoned that "this is an $80 million movie, which would probably cost $120—$140 million in America".[16] The majority of filming required sound stages and backlots from Barrandov Studios in Prague. Filming at Barrandov ended on 23 October. Location filming began afterwards, which included the Křivoklát Castle.[11][17] Along with Alien vs. Predator and Van Helsing, The Brothers Grimm provided work for hundreds of local jobs and contributed over $300 million into the Czech Republic's economy.[18] Gilliam hired Guy Hendrix Dyas as production designer after he was impressed with Dyas' work on X2.[13] Gilliam often disputed with executive producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein during production.[19] The Weinstein Brothers fired cinematographer and regular Gilliam collaborator Nicola Pecorini after six weeks. Pecorini was then replaced by Newton Thomas Sigel.[5]

"I'm used to riding roughshod over studio executives," Gilliam explained, "but the Weinsteins rode roughshod over me."[5] Gilliam got so upset, filming was shut down for nearly two weeks. Matt Damon reflected on the situation: "I've never been in a situation like that. Terry was spitting rage at the system, at the Weinsteins. You can't try and impose big compromises on a visionary director like him. If you try to force him to do what you want creatively, he'll go nuclear."[5] The feud between Gilliam and the Weinsteins was eventually settled, although Bob Weinstein blamed the entire situation on yellow journalism.[20] Filming was scheduled to end in October, but due to various problems during filming, principal photography did not end until the following 27 November.[21]

Due to the tensions between the filmmaker and the producers during production, Gilliam said in retrospect about the film, "[I]t's not the film they wanted and it's not quite the film I wanted. It's the film that is a result of [...] two groups of people, who aren’t working well together."[22] With regards to the Weinsteins also producing Martin Scorsese's film Gangs of New York (2002), Gilliam stated: "Marty [Scorsese] said almost the exact same quote I said, without us knowing it: 'They took the joy out of filmmaking.'"[22]

Visual effects

Post-production was severely delayed when Gilliam disagreed with the Weinsteins over the final cut privilege. In the meantime, the conflict lasted so long that Gilliam had enough time to shoot another feature film, Tideland. To create the visual effects, Gilliam awarded the shots to Peerless Camera, the London-based effects studio he founded in the late-1970s with visual effects supervisor Kent Houston. However, two months into filming, Houston said that Peerless "ran into a number of major issues with The Brothers Grimm and with the Weinstein Brothers". He continued that "the main problem was the fact that the number of effects shots had dramatically increased, mainly because of issues that arose during shooting with the physical effects."[23] Meanwhile, the Queen's chamber inside the tower was actually built by the Art Department as 2 sets. One set was resplendent and new while the other was old and decrepit. The sets were joined to each other by the central mirror, a piece of transparent glass giving the illusion that a single set was reflected and used to create the effect.

There were originally to be about 500 effect shots, but it increased to 800. The post-production conflict between Gilliam and the Weinsteins also gave enough time for Peerless to work on another film, The Legend of Zorro. Four different creatures were required for computer animation: a Wolfman, a mud creature, the Mirror Queen, and a living tree. John Paul Docherty, who headed the digital visual effects unit, studied the animation of the computer-generated Morlocks in The Time Machine for the Wolfman. Docherty depicted the Morlocks "as a nice mix between human and animal behaviors".[23] The death of The Mirror Queen was the most complex effect of the film. In the sequence, the Queen turns into hundreds of shards of glass and shatters. With computerized rendering, this could not happen, as the 3D volume of the body suddenly turns into 2D pieces of glass. The problem was eventually solved due to sudden advances that occurred with Softimage XSI software.[23]

Release

The original theatrical release date was due in November 2004 before being changed many times; the dates had been moved to February 2005,[24] 29 July,[25] 23 November,[24] and finally 26 August. Executive producer Bob Weinstein blamed the pushed back release dates on budgetary concerns. To help promote The Brothers Grimm, a three-minute film trailer was shown at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, while twenty minutes of footage was shown at the 2005 event.[26]

Box office

The Brothers Grimm was released in the United States in 3,087 theaters, earning $15,092,079 in its opening weekend.[27] The film eventually grossed $37,916,267 in the United States and $67.4 million internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $105,316,267.[27] The Brothers Grimm was shown at the 62nd Venice International Film Festival on 4 September 2005, while in competition for the Golden Lion, but lost to Brokeback Mountain, also starring Ledger.[28]

Critical reception

The Brothers Grimm was released with mixed reviews from critics.[29][30] Based on 179 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of the critics enjoyed the film, with an average score of 5.2/10.[29] By comparison, Metacritic collected a score of 51/100 based on 36 reviews.[30] The majority of critics believed Gilliam sacrificed the storyline in favor of the visual design.[29] Roger Ebert called the film "an invention without pattern, chasing itself around the screen without finding a plot. The movie seems like a style in search of a purpose, with a story we might not care about."[31]

Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post wrote that "The Brothers Grimm looks terrific, yet it remains essentially inert. You keep waiting for something to happen, and after a while your mind wanders from the hollow frenzy up there with all its filigrees and fretwork."[32] Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle felt "despite an appealing actor in each role, the entire cast comes across as repellent. Will and Jake Grimm are two guys in the woods, surrounded by computerized animals, putting audiences to sleep all over America."[33] Peter Travers, writing in Rolling Stone magazine, largely enjoyed The Brothers Grimm. He explained that "if you're a Gilliam junkie, as I am, you go with it, even when the script loses its shaky hold on coherence." Travers added, "even when Gilliam flies off the rails, his images stick with you."[34] Gene Seymour of Newsday called the film "a great compound of rip-snorting Gothic fantasy and Python-esque dark comedy".[35]

Home media

Currently, Disney own home video rights, while Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer holds television rights.[24] The DVD release of The Brothers Grimm in December 2005 includes audio commentary by Gilliam, two "making-of" featurettes, and deleted scenes.[36] The film was released on Blu-ray Disc format in October 2006.[37] Both the DVD and Blu-ray were released by Lionsgate Home Entertainment, under license from Disney.[38]

TV series

Miramax has hired Ehren Kruger to adapt the film into a television series.[39]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Brothers Grimm (2005): Cast, Credits & Awards". New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b Jeff Otto (22 August 2005). "Interview: Matt Damon and Heath Ledger". IGN. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  3. ^ Dan Jolin (March 2009). "'A Film by Heath Ledger and Friends...'". Empire. pp. 109–113.
  4. ^ Olly Richards (31 October 2005). "Grimm and Terry-fying". Empire Online. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Richard Corliss (1 August 2005). "Terry's Flying Circus". Time. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  6. ^ a b Marc Graser (19 February 2003). "'Brothers Grimm' filled to brim". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  7. ^ Cathy Meils (6 July 2003). "Gilliam's 'Grimm' pic Czechs in". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  8. ^ Gilliam, Terry (26 August 2005), The Brothers Grimm, retrieved 19 January 2016
  9. ^ Charles Lyons; Kathy Dunkley (13 February 2001). "Lion future looks 'Grimm'". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Adam Dawtrey (27 October 2002). "Inside Move: Back on his horse". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  11. ^ a b Staff (1 December 2003). "Hot Picks". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  12. ^ a b David Rooney (3 March 2003). "Co-prod a new Dimension". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  13. ^ a b Ken P. (8 August 2005). "IGNFF Exclusive: Brothers Grimm Diary: Guy Hendrix Dyas". IGN. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  14. ^ Michael Fleming (21 October 2002). "'Ring' scribe turns 'Skeleton Key' at U". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  15. ^ David Rooney (10 June 2003). "'Scary,' 'Grimm' casting shows a new Dimension". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  16. ^ Carol Memmott (11 April 2004). "Damon, Prague star in 'Grimm' fairy tale". USA Today. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  17. ^ Cathy Meils (23 April 2003). "Gilliam gets a 'Grimm' start date". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  18. ^ Cathy Meils (1 December 2003). "Czech this out". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  19. ^ Dana Harris (25 September 2003). "Bellucci gig gets 'Grimm'". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  20. ^ Charles McGrath (14 August 2005). "Terry Gilliam's Feel-Good Endings". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Cathy Meils (4 December 2003). "Czech film biz at rest after active year". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  22. ^ a b Peče, Maša (2009). "You've got to work at maintaining your version of the world. So start being alone!" An Interview with Terry Gilliam, Senses of Cinema, no. 53, 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2010
  23. ^ a b c Bielik, Alain (25 August 2005). "The Brothers Grimm: A Gilliam Fairy Tale". Animation World Network. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  24. ^ a b c Dana Harris; Gabriel Snyder (24 August 2004). "Miramax pushing pause button". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Gabriel Snyder (3 February 2005). "Studios play summer shuffle. . .again". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  26. ^ Staff (13 May 2005). "'Grimm' by the minute". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  27. ^ a b "The Brothers Grimm". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  28. ^ Staff (28 July 2005). "Venice fest has Far East flavor". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  29. ^ a b c "The Brothers Grimm". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  30. ^ a b "The Brothers Grimm". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  31. ^ Roger Ebert (26 August 2005). "The Brothers Grimm". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  32. ^ Stephen Hunter (26 August 2005). "Gold into Dross". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  33. ^ Mick LaSalle (26 August 2005). "The fakers Grimm, before they became famous storytellers". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  34. ^ Peter Travers (11 August 2005). "Brothers Grimm". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 21 May 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  35. ^ Gene Seymour (16 August 2005). "These 'Brothers' are far from grim". Newsday.
  36. ^ "The Brothers Grimm (2005)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  37. ^ "The Brothers Grimm Blu-ray (2005)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  38. ^ The Brothers Grimm on Lionsgate Shop
  39. ^ http://deadline.com/2015/03/ehren-kruger-the-brothers-grimm-tv-series-miramax-1201395183/
Further reading
  • Bob McCabe (October 2006). Dreams and Nightmares: Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Grimm, & Other Cautionary Tales of Hollywood. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-717556-7.
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