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I have learned from experience that a modicum of snuff can be most efficacious.


The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
(1988)

My favourite Gilliam film, now available as 2-disc special edition Blu-ray. It’s a shame they don't seem to have struck a new print, but Gilliam gives great commentary (here with a succinct Charles McKeown).

There's an excellent 70-minute making of documentary, which features everyone from Thomas Schule (the producer, who offers the most hilarious quote, saying he became the fall guy for all the problems because it was, "Blame the German") to Sarah Polley. Also featured are McKeown and Gilliam re-enacting storyboards (the Moon sequence certainly seems superior in its scaled-down Robin Williams version) and deleted scenes (it’s shame to lose Don Henderson's discussion on why they don't fight on Wednesday; also, given that Gilliam said he watched the "director's cut", which included four additional minutes helping to give the film a crucial sense of "flow", it's a shame this hasn't seen the light of day - although presumably what he has is just a video version so any proper release would need reworking from scratch).

I've seen this film many times, but I'd never realised that the great Peter Jeffrey plays the Sultan before.

***** 

The trailer is ample evidence that no one had a clue how to market the film, but I still rather like its randomness:

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