Writer, artist, animator, director and former Python Terry Gilliam will be honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts this evening when he has a prestigious Fellowship bestowed on him in recognition of his cinematic work. I’m quite pleased to see Gilliam being so honoured by BAFTA – while not always exclusively SF&F his work has often contained some astonishingly visualised fantasy worlds (Brazil, Baron Munchausen, Time Bandits) which makes them endlessly re-watchable. Even films more grounded in the ‘real’ world (whatever that actually is) such as the Fisher King contain some beautifully composed flights of fancy, although as with the old fairy tales (before they were cleaned up) these fantasy elements always come with darkness entwined within them. There’s such a distinctive look and feel to Gilliam’s various films I’d think he well deserves a title many in film studies are loathe to apply these day, auteur. He’s certainly been responsible for some of the most fascinating fantasy works in the modern genre and, I’d argue, in wider film in general.
Sun, Feb 8, 2009
Awards, Film, TV and radio