12 Monkeys (1995) or, What's the Time?

6/25/2013

12 Monkeys (1995) or, What's the Time?

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The dark, mysterious poster for Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys is a mystery science fiction movie based on Chris Marker's (The Koumiko Mystery (1967)) still photography-comprised short La Jetée (1962). David Webb Peoples (Blade Runner (1982)) and Janet Peoples (The Day After Trinity (1981)) wrote the screenplay.

A prisoner in a future Philadelphia gets sent back in time to learn the particulars concerning a virus unleashed upon humanity in the late 1990s, which killed off nearly everyone.

Dealing with time travel, 12 Monkeys takes time's relativity to new heights. - So if you like being confused, you might love it. The quizzical plot is mixed with psychedelic elements and imagery that is its British master filmmaker Terry Gilliam's (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)) directorial watermark.
Bruce Willis (Die Hard (1988)) is really good in the lead, but it was Brad Pitt (Fight Club (1999)) who got Oscar-nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his loony performance in the film. (But lost to Kevin Spacey for his performance in The Usual Suspects.) 12 Monkeys was also Oscar-nominated for its costume design, losing to Restoration (1995).
It is a film that seems tailor-made for several views, (if one has the interest and patience for it.) It is not as good as Gilliam's best, Time Bandits (1981), masterpiece Brazil (1985) The Fisher King (1991) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), but it is certainly a fascinating film. It has recently spun a SyFy TV-series also entitled 12 Monkeys (2015-), which has been renewed for a second season.

Related review:

Terry Gilliam: The Brothers Grimm (2005) - Gilliam's European misadventure sort-of entertains

Brad Pitt was Oscar-nominated and won the Golden Globe for his supporting performance as a radicalized lunatic in Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys

The trailer amply informs of the unintelligible structure of 12 Monkeys

Cost: 29.5 mil. $
Box office: 168.8 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.72 times the cost)
[12 Monkeys was released 29 December and runs 129 minutes. It was shot mostly in Baltimore, Maryland and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under difficult circumstances from February - May 1995, but Gilliam managed to stay within budget, despite getting injured in a horseback riding accident during production. 12 Monkeys opened to an impressive 184k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #1, which it held for two consecutive weeks and spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#3-#4), grossing 57.1 mil. $ (33.8 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal to its rating here. The film also had high attendances in many European countries like Germany and France. Gilliam returned with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Willis returned in Last Man Standing (1996), Pitt in Sleepers (1996), and Madeleine Stowe (Tropical Snow (1988)) in The Proposition (1998). 12 Monkeys is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.4/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes]

What do you think of 12 Monkeys?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

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6/25/2013

12 Monkeys (1995) or, What's the Time?

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