Whenever the former Monty Python alumnus and reigning eccentric of the British film industry directs a new project we can expect two hours of imaginative and entertaining fare. The Brothers Grimm is no exception; indeed, it is filled with more bizarre characters and surprising story developments than The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Brazil combined. The real Grimm Brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, were born in the eighteenth century Germany, and at age 20, began collecting and publishing European folktales, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty. The genius of Gilliam here isn't to adapt one of their tales, but to make a fairytale out of the brothers' lives, portraying them in their early years (before they began writing) as con artists, witch-hunters and collectors of odd objects (a red hood, a glass shoe…). All of which, of course, they will later use as source material for their book. Yet there's something missing in the film; it is amusing, at times even silly, but somehow the old Gilliam magic doesn't quite work.
MGM

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
December 2005 issue