The Adventures of Baron Muchausen (1989) Terry Gilliam   Sixteen years before setting his hand to The Brothers Grimm, Terry Gilliam tackled another figure in European folklore-the notorious Baron Munchausen. Largely unknown in America, the Baron was a famous figure in German folk tales, an infamous liar whose farfetched exploits and adventures often bordered (and frequently surpassed) the truth. The film opens at the beginning of the 19th century, as a small, European city is under siege by the Ottoman Empire. A traveling theater company is helping to quell the panic by staging the play The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, when suddenly, the real Baron Munchausen (Sir John Neville) barges into the theater and interrupts the performance in an attempt to set the record straight. The Baron is dismissed as a madman, except for Sally (Sarah Polley), the young daughter of one of the actors. As the Turkish cannons lay waste to the city, the Baron again offers to try to put an end to the war and sets off in a makeshift balloon to find his old gang and defeat the Turks, with the help of Sally, who has stowed away in the balloon. Their odyssey takes them to the moon, Mt. Vesuvius, the belly of a giant fish, and the battlefield against the Turks. Filmed in Italy, the movie is a luminous glory to behold, thanks to cinematographer Guiseppe Rotunno (Fellini's longtime cameraman) and the massive, palatial sets of Dante Ferretti. The score by Michael Kamen (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) is manic, romantic, and mannered with an 18th-century elegance. Yet while the film is an aesthetic masterpiece, it is the actors who truly bring the film to life. Sarah Polley (then nine years old) gives a standout performance, disarmingly conveying Sally's innocence and idealism, and her ultimate disenchantment with the often frivolous behavior of the Baron. Cameo appearances by Robin Williams and Oliver Reed (as Vulcan) are an absolute hoot while John Neville leads the cast as the hopelessly optimistic Baron, whose promise to save the city is continually distracted by his love of beautiful women. When released, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen was only distributed to a ludicrously small number of screens. The studio then blamed Gilliam's alleged overspending for its failure to generate a profit. Even so, the film remains an unsung classic that features some of Gilliam's best work.   —Paul Andrew MacLean

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