Product Details

• Actors: Terry Gilliam, Shelley Duvall, Katherine Helmond, Brad Pitt, Amanda Plummer
• Directors: Robert J. Emery
• Writers: Robert J. Emery
• Producers: Robert J. Emery, Milt Felsen, Sharon Taylor
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Winstar
• DVD Release Date: February 27, 2001
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004STBX
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,024 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Directors - Terry Gilliam" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At the close of this hour-long 1997 documentary from Robert J. Emery's American Film Institute-sponsored series of filmmaker profiles, Terry Gilliam is asked how he would like to be remembered. Gilliam replies that he hopes his films will continue to "surprise people, and allow them to view the world through different eyes." That's a worthy goal for any artist, and Gilliam has succeeded in reaching that goal many times over.

If you can forgive the pedestrian narration (which is salvaged only by quotes from Gilliam's irreverent, self-penned "official biography"), the documentary's highlights are the interview clips with Gilliam, whose observations about his life and work are far more interesting than Emery's cursory tour through Gilliam's career. Clips from Gilliam's films are well chosen, but the survey never probes beyond a superficial assessment; Gilliam provides the substance, and the stellar interviewees (including Shelley Duvall, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Amanda Plummer, David Warner, and Mercedes Ruehl) offer additional depth with their insightful gratitude. This is must-see viewing for any Gilliam fan, but it's also a bit of a tease, leaving one wanting more. It's perhaps fortunate that the film was made before Gilliam's flawed, impersonal production of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but members of Monty Python are conspicuous in their absence, if only because the focus remains on Gilliam's solo career. On the other hand, it's nice to see time given to "The Crimson Permanent Assurance," the fantastic short film in Python's The Meaning of Life that liberated Gilliam from "the nightmare of animation" (his words), and set him on course for a glorious and visionary career. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perhaps unnecessary ?, May 31, 2000

By 

Todd Gillette - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Directors - Terry Gilliam (DVD)

I suspect that if one appreciates Gilliam's work enough to want this disc, (like me) they probably already own all his movies anyway. And since most of his DVDs have an abundance of info included, you'll probably discover (like me) that you knew all this stuff already. Like buying a "best of" album, when you already own a group's entire collection. But if nothing else, it sure looks cool to have this DVD in my rack - it sort of "announces" the collection of Gilliam films stored beneath it.

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre, January 12, 2009

By 

Andrew J. Myers (Provo, UT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Directors - Terry Gilliam (DVD)

This film is factually shaky (it says that Gilliam worked for Mad Magazine) and says nothing but in hollywood industry praise talk ("great director," "visionary director," yadda yadda). A few of the interviews are slightly interesting, but if you're at all familiar with Gilliam, this is entirely unnecessary.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unnesasary continued..., July 21, 2000

By 

Marius Piedallu Van Wyk "Lailoken" (Pretoria, Gauteng South Africa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Directors - Terry Gilliam (DVD)

This sound similar to the more focused documentary included with the Criterion edition of Brazil. And anyone interested in his works would benefit greatly from that as well. (More so mayhap since it includes an actual film)