VARIOUS: TERRY GILLIAM BRINGS "THE BROTHERS GRIMM" BRINGS FAIRY TALE MAGIC TO VENICE

Record ID: 473124

  • Title: VARIOUS: TERRY GILLIAM BRINGS "THE BROTHERS GRIMM" BRINGS FAIRY TALE MAGIC TO VENICE
  • Date: 23rd March 2006
  • Summary: VENICE LIDO, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 04, 2005) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS MONICA BELLUCCI WHO PLAYS THE 500 YEAR-OLD MIRROR QUEEN SAYING: "Well you know, I'm just a woman, I'm not a meat and I'm a mother. And I'm not obsessed with mirror, because now my mirror is my daughter and I think that she's the future. I'm the past."
  • Embargoed: 7th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: VENICE LIDO, ITALY AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • City:
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9W63O41WCNOUEM1GT2ENKP6FL
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  • Story Text: Terry Gilliam brings "Grimm" magic to Venice.
    Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm" brought fairy tale magic to the Venice Film Festival on Sunday (September 4), with the director hoping for a happy ending in Europe after the movie failed to impress in the United States.
    Packed with high-speed action and gruesome special effects, the extravaganza estimated to have cost 90 million U.S. dollars, is one of 20 films vying for the coveted Golden Lion at the world's oldest cinema competition.
    Gilliam re-tells the story of the real-life Grimm Brothers, turning them into a pair of 19th century conmen who rove the French-occupied German countryside preying on the superstitions of hapless villagers who fall for their tricks and charms.
    But they meet their match in the 500-year-old Mirror Queen, played by Monica Bellucci, who stops at nothing to attain the eternal beauty that eludes her. The real Bellucci seems far from her character's obsession.
    "Well you know, I'm just a woman, I'm not a meat and I'm a mother. And I'm not obsessed with mirror, because now my mirror is my daughter and I think that she's the future.
    I'm the past," said Bellucci.
    Heath Ledger plays Jacob Grimm alongside Matt Damon's Will, making this the Australian actor's third film in Venice this year along with the out-of-competition "Casanova" and in-competition "Brokeback Mountain".
    Grimm is Gilliam's first film for seven years, but for the director who won a cult following for films like "Brazil" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", it has been a difficult comeback after many U.S. critics panned the movie.
    Gilliam said he was not put out and values the opinion of his child audience over that of some adults.
    "Children are strong. The modern world says they're sweet little things that have to be fended against any kind of reality - not true. The Grimm's fairytales were there to kind of test children, prepare them for the world," said Gilliam.
    As a big-budget studio film, Grimm stands out in Venice this year because most of the U.S. offerings are low-budget and independent, addressing controversial themes.
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