Anyone see Terry Gilliam's "Tideland"?
 

Anyone see Terry Gilliam's "Tideland"?

Just saw it.

A longtime Terry Gilliam fan (Monty Python, Time Bandits, Baron Munchausen, Brazil, Fear and Loathing), I'm gonna hold my tongue a bit on this one.

I'm interested in your reactions.

No, I have not seen it.

However Python, Brazil, & the Baron as well as Fisher King being some of my alltime favorite films, I'll have to check this one out.

I did and decided that although not for the masses, I liked it.....




Bill

IIRC Entertainment Weekly gave it an F, which made me very interested. I like most all of his movies, maybe I'll bump it up in my Netflix queue.

Expect this to be different than Gilliam's typical film.

Not in the way of it being a different style of film, nor even subject matter, but this film fearures a darkness and seriousness to it, and a subject matter that can get pretty uncomfortable at times.

Typical Terry Gilliam style, for sure, and some excellent acting, and beautiful camerawork.

But be sure the easily disturbed, and the children, are not home for this one.




Terry himself warns the audience in the beginning, and sets the pace of the film by predicting quite a few people will walk out of the movie before it ends.

and people did.




This is a film I cannot recommend, but despite the uncomfortableness I too, experienced in watching it, I am glad I saw it.

I can't say I liked it, but I can say I am glad I saw it.

It sounds like Gilliam's typically lysergic microscope trained on a very personal, subjective subject as opposed to a political statement like Brazil. Some critics are panning it because they don't get it. But I've enjoyed Gilliam's work since his cartoons for Monty Python, and I think I would get it.

One of the problems, no doubt, is people are used to grotesques concerning Big Issues. Training the same lens onto more personal experience is disorienting. Brazil was very disorienting, I thought, until I began to understand the symbolism and imagery. In that respect Gilliam reminds me a lot of Luis Bunuel, another director who did not pander to audiences who want meaning handed to them on a platter (or like most modern American cinema, punched in the face with it).

I'm looking forward to it. I rarely agree with film critics anyway.

Some of the subject matter is hard to watch.

Kudos for him doing it, and he's got some words of wisdom at the beginning of the film when he announces it, but nonetheless at times it gets a bit uncomfortable.

I could be wrong but, I think you reacted the way TG intended you to. I agree there were some uncomfortable portions of this movie. Still no less than "Naked Lunch" which I think is genius....
Like I said, not for the masses.



Bill

First time I've wandered into this forum, and this thread immediately caught my eye, since I was just looking at that film in the local video store. I was there to find a nice escape movie for me and the wife, so I (wisely, it seems) decided against this one.

I'm a huge fan of almost everything I've seen of Gilliam's, so I'd like to check this one out. I'm not a big fan of ultra-violence in movies (I walked out of Saw, for instance). On the other hand, Naked Lunch, although weird and creepy, was a fantastic movie. If this is no more disturbing than NL, then I'm definitely game to see the darker side of Gilliam (he always seems to have a little bit of darkness just under the surface of his movies, though, even in something like Baron Munchausen). Violence put to good use by a good director (I'm thinking Cronenberg, Lynch, etc) can work well. Its just the more recent group of torture-genre films (Audition, Ichi, Saw etc) that I can't really handle. It's like Videodrome's prophecy coming true. . .

Maybe I'm just starting to get out of touch. . .

From personally meeting you, I think you'll, if not enjoy this film, at least be glad you saw it, and will bring something forward from it. for you, I'd say give it a go.

Well first off I have to say that I appear to be developing late onset ADD & I find that fewer & fewer movies hold my complete attention. I also must preface my opinions by saying that I am a fan of extreme cinema - gore movies, the new torture porn movement (Hostel, Saw, Ichi, etc.) and any of the old ultraviolence. I am also a big fan of Gilliam, Cronenberg & Miike. I have worked as a Behaviorist & a Psychiatric Technician, so I have seen much stranger things in real life than people have seen in movies, TV, etc. I live in an area where 13 y/o's having babies is a daily occurence. All that being said, I found this movie incredibly boring and it went on at least 15-20 minutes too long. Visually the movie was stunning, but the story (or nonstory) was incredibly tedious. Granted, the movie had some uncomfortable themes, but I feel the movie lost it's way. One thing I can't get past (and this movie is not the only offender) is when a movie has people speaking in bad Southern accents. I live in the (Deep) South, so this probably irritates me more than other folks in other parts of the country, but when this happens I can't get past it. Has anyone listened to the commentary on the DVD or read the book it is based on?

I agree it was a bit long in the tooth. You nailed it there.

I felt that the incredible acting by the "submarine operator" was excellent, and the innocent way he told of his sexual abuse, and the budding sexual/innocent play betwixt his charactor and the girl's, was indeed uncomfortable, as I didn't know what Gilliam was going to spring on me next.

Deaner, I've had limited exposure down south, but the accents did seem off, from my limited experiences.

I didn't realize it was based on a book. Do you know the author off the top of your head?

I wish I had listened to the director's commentary, but I couldn't sit through the film again, due to issues mentioned above, including it's slow pace. wish I could have.

I read a review of the movie on DVDTalk (I think) that mentioned the book. I looked it up on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tideland-Mitch...0433609&sr=8-2

I doubt I'll buy the book, but would be interested to hear if anyone else reads it. I'll probably put on the commentary tomorrow while I clean up the house - got guys coming over to watch UFC tomorrow night. If I pick up anything I'll let you know. One review I read said that Gilliam's commentary is interesting (and the others I've listened to were), but he acts like he created the perfect movie & if you don't like it or understand it then it is due to your puny mind (I'm paraphrasing under the influence of Rye Whiskey) & not his failure as a director.

About the accents - Deli, I see you are in the Boston area. There are plenty of movies with "Boston" accents. I can't tell what is a real Boston accent & what is exaggerated or fake (they all sound exaggerated to me), but I bet you can instantly.

I got the impression this was sort of an "awakening" for him.

I like Gilliam's work, but I'd rather he slept in.