Terry Gilliam hails from a unique breed of film directors. He makes movies that try-with a keen sense of humour-to say something about our culture. I sat down with Gilliam last week when he was in town promoting his latest film, Tideland, opening this Friday.
From his early work with Monty Python to his drugged-out presentation of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Gilliam’s work was gained him an ever-expanding cult following. Despite this fame, however, he is still at odds with the mainstream filmmaking establishment. But Gilliam is not discouraged by this adversarial relationship. Actually, the exact opposite is true.
“Ever since I was very young I was fairly perverse,” he told me. “The smart thing to do would be to go with the flow cause that’s where the money is, that’s where success lies. The other is more interesting because it’s unknown territory and I am always curious about that.” It’s into this strange, alien territory that he once again takes us in Tideland.
Within moments of Tideland’s opening credits, Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland), a ten year-old girl, gives her father (Jeff Bridges) his daily dose of heroin, or as he calls it “takin’ a little vacation.” Gilliam gives this seemingly arresting imagery a decidedly humorous treatment, as Jeliza-Rose moves her father’s arm, removes the needle, swabs him down, and puts his sunglasses on his face, all in her own childish way.
This scene attests to the overall tone of Tideland, which can be disturbing, funny and joyous all at the same time. Always one to court controversy, Gilliam squarely takes aim at the idea of the “child as a victim” in Tideland.
“It sells newspapers and television loves it but it’s just not true,” he said, “little kids are resilient creatures, and nature makes them that way.” He makes it all too clear that the film will play with conceptions of innocence and childhood in a way that may not be entirely comfortable. That’s the whole idea. The key for Gilliam is to deliver the events as seen through the eyes of young Jeliza-Rose, which is why he tells the story from her point of view.
“Jeliza-Rose doesn’t deny things,” Gilliam offers, “she transcends them.”
Other characters in the film act as foils to this attitude. Dell (Janet McTeer) denies reality in a very sinister fashion, which Gilliam likens to mainstream Christian fundamentalism, a faith he publicly abhors. “Wash Me in the Blood of Jesus,” a song Gilliam wrote for the film, plays in the background during a scene in which family values are thoroughly debased. This kind of subversion makes Tideland very poignant, but also tough to comprehend.
Even the most enlightened moviegoers may be put off by this one, but it is a unique and (at times) funny film, that makes very strong statements about our culture and the assumed values people fear to question.
