Customer Reviews

Jabberwocky

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I went to see this in the late 1970s, I assumed it was another Python spin-off. After all, any film containing Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Michale Palin has to be at least half-Python. But as a comedy, the film left me strangely dissatisfied.

It is only now, browsing the DVD packaging some 25 years later, that I realise why I was so disappointed. The problem is that the writers were Terry Gilliam and (mainly) Charles Alverson. Much as I like Gilliam's animations, I have to admit that he was, at best, a minor contributor to Python's classic sketches. I hadn't heard of Alverson before, but according to the amazon site, he is largely the compiler of out-of-print joke books.

Whereas 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' contains many sketches (e.g. the autonomous collective peasants scene and the witch scene), there is nothing here that could stand on its own as a sketch. There are many amusing moments in 'Jabberwocky', but nothing that builds up, through Python's relentless pursuit of the logic of the ridiculous, into a self-contained sketch. Where the script tries to imitate the Python style -- e.g. the king's decision to kill the herald -- it often falls flat, or at best elicits a mild chuckle.

Watch this for its atmosphere, for the much-improved sound quality, for the strength of the supporting cast (e.g. John Bird and Graham Crowden in minor roles) and for its pointers to Gilliam's future directorial career. Just don't expect the humour to be at Python's level.

Gilliam's first solo feature was very much a transitional effort; While trying to stretch his wings as a film director, Gilliam also falls back on a number of Pythonish devices throughout the film. In many respects, Jabberwocky is a reaction to the first Python film co-directed by Gilliam and Terry Jones (who is killed in the first scene of this movie interestingly enough): Gilliam hasn't fully integrated his cynical and dark observations with the slapstick inspired humor of the Monty Python brood.

Nevertheless, Jabberwocky is a fun film particularly with Gilliam and Michael Palin providing audio commentary throughout the film. The film was shot for less than a million dollars on sets for other films (Olivier Twist for one). Gilliam used many of Bosch's paintings as inspiration throughout the film and his take on Lewis Carroll's classic poem is unique and, at times, devestatingly funny.

The extras are quite nice on this DVD edition. The comparison between Gilliam's sketchbook and the final film is particularly interesting. Although there isn't a documentary looking back on this pivotal film, Gilliam and Palin manage to provide a funny and interesting look back on their commentary track.

Make no mistake, this isn't a Monty Pyton film. It does share much of the same humor and irreverent look at human nature that appears throughout the Python canon. Gilliam continues to be one our most talented and iconoclastic film makers. His skewed vision on humanity manages to both celebrate and satirize human nature at the same time. Jabberwocky represents an artist finding his voice and, although a bit inconsistent, is well worth purchasing.

Anyone who has read Lewis Carroll's classic children's tales will remember "Jabberwocky," the screwball poem about a young man slaying the fearsome Jabberwock. While there are some likable moments in "Jabberwocky," it never really pulls itself together.

Dennis Cooper (Michael Palin) is disinherited by his about-to-die father, penniless, and inexplicably in love with the obese, potato-crunching, none-too-pleasant Griselda Fishfinger. So Dennis heads off to the city, only to learn that the fearsome Jabberwock, a horrendous monster that devours everything except the head and bones of its victims, is attacking the city.

King Bruno (Max Wall) has promised his romantic-minded daughter's hand to the one who slays the Jabberwock, and the princess duly falls in love with the hapless Dennis. So somehow this "beamish boy" ends up being sent out against the Jabberwock in a horrific wasteland.

It's hard to tell what the vision behind "Jabberwocky" was, but it came across as a limp spinoff of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." It has the same grimy, icky medieval look, klunky knights and abundance of filthy beggars, but it doesn't manage to be similarly hilarious. Is it a farce? A dark fairy-tale? The evil twin of "Holy Grail"? I was never really sure, and sometimes I wasn't sure if Gilliam was either. He flipflops through all three.

The Jabberwock is pretty good; though nobody could say it looks real, it's entertaining. The jokes are often either stretched out to the breaking point, or repeated over and over (like the urination joke). And while the tale of Dennis is engaging, there's no twist or offbeat quirk to make it really engaging. It proceeds and ends just as you'd expect it to.

Michael Palin is the saving grace of the movie. He's wonderfully bewildered as events spin out of his control, especially when the princess greets him stark naked. Max Wall gives a pleasantly offbeat performance as King Bruno,

So take up your vorpal blade, head off through the Tulgey Wood, and burble your way over to one of Gilliam's more cohesive works. This isn't one of them, unless you're a die-hard fan of Palin.

I'm a great fan of the Pythons, and this was the first "independent" film of theirs that I've seen. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I also found it confusing. It has some wonderfully funny moments, but it also has some serious moments. It is a comedy, and it is dark, but it is not a dark comedy. It's as if the movie can't decide which to be. The result is that you want to care about the characters, but you also want bad things to happen to them, because it would be funny. This is confusing, and ulimately annoying.

I normally don't see movies or check out videos because I don't really find anything that I really want to see. Everything is a a variation of a tired theme. Jabberwocky is anything but that. I really liked the fact that it wasn't predictable, there was a story to it, and I could laugh at it. Don't expect "Holy Grail" or "Meaning of Life" slapstick. The humor is often more subtle, punctuated by the really absurd moments. Although there is certainly social commentary in there, you can also see the movie as a movie for its own sake, which is the sign of a truly great film.

A Python spin-off, owing much to the earlier "Monty Python and The Holy Grail", Jabberwocky is a fine film in its own right, featuring a tremendous cast of British stalwarts, a regrettably high percentage of whom have since died. Harry H Corbett, John Le Mesurier, Max Wall, Bernard Bresslaw and Brian Glover all feature and none is still with us.

Disinherited by his father and therefore unable to win the hand of the appalling Griselda Fishfinger, who snacks on raw potatoes, gormless but optimistic Dennis Cooper (Michael Palin) sets off for the city to make his fortune. The city is somewhat under siege by the vicious Jabberwock(y), a beast influenced by Lewis Carrol's doggerel poem of the same name. Dennis, in the time-honoured tradition, is ultimately required to rid the city of the threat and accordingly claim half of King Bruno the Questionable's creaking kingdom and the hand in marriage of his beautiful daughter, notwithstanding the dubious but apparently lingering attractions of "Greasy" Griselda.

The riotous succession of eccentric characters encountered along the way is what it's all about, of course, with a memorable string of ridiculous situations and occurrences and liberal spattering of mud and gore to be undergone. This film rewards repeated viewing, when previously unappreciated subtleties emerge. The Fishfinger family's changing attitude to Dennis, according to his perceived fortunes, Dennis narrowly escaping death or serious injury on a regular basis, Gordon Kaye appearing briefly, dressed inexplicably as a nun, the kingdom by degrees collapsing, there's a beggar who attracts charity by means of auto-amputation, street-racing merchants, the King displaying only intermittent episodes of lucidity, characters who step out of line are suddenly and brutally eliminated - it's all great fun.

Jabberwocky is less well known than the pure Python films, but none the worse for that. When the DVD is available in the UK, I shall be ordering a copy.

Unfortunately, Michael Palin's work in Jabberwocky does not come across as well as his brilliant work in other pieces (especially his famous Monty Python roles). Granted, this is not intended to mimic Monty Python in any way, but on its own merit it falls flat. The story drags, and the jokes fail to save it. I think the movie itself fell flat, and took Palin with it, which is unfortunate.

Based on Lewis Carrol's 'The Jabberwock', Terry Gilliam unleashes the full force of his creative talents in this brilliant film.
We follow the adventures of Dennis Cooper, besotted with love for the gruesome Griselda Fishfinger, as he is disowned by his dying father and goes off to seek his fortune in the city. The city is however besieged by the eponymous monster, so the king (played to wonderful effect by Max Wall) arranges a tourney to select the best knight to kill the beast. Of course, Dennis is carried along and wins the day.
Doresn't sound much of a story, does it? - but the intricately detailed sets, the wonderful staged humour and brilliant direction make this a cut and a half above anything else in the genre. It knocks the Monty Python films into a cocked hat - and they are GOOD! Not for nothing did this film win the best comedy at Montreux. Particularly good performances from Max Wall, John leMesurier, Harry H Corbett and of course, Michael Palin, who just IS Dennis.
I don't understand how a great film like this has been allowed to fall out of circulation. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

Okay, so it gets a tad tiresome. It's not quite the classic that, say Monty Python and the Holy Grail is. But it is wonderful, a wonderfully dark, gloomy comedy. See it with another Gilliam film sometime for a treat, and a peak inside the mind of a delightful madman without whom the world would be a poorer place.

The presence of three of the Monty Python team might suggest a certain kinnd of film - this isn't it. It might seem like an extension of 'the holy grail', but is a lot less less sketchy, and not so silly. The plot is a basic inversion of the 'hero slays the dragon' myths, where the hero is a distracted cooper's apprentice who has no greater ambition than winning the love of the local fish-merchants repulsive daughter. that he unwittingly finds himself in the filthy and disintegrating castle of the ineffectual King Bruno the Questionable is just the beginning of his unwitting and unplanned adventures... that ends with him confronting the terrifying eponymous creature..

quite a dark film, with a humour to match. With silly bits too.

recommended to every fan of the films of Terry Gilliam.