Jabberwocky

UK 1977
produced by
Sandy Lieberson, John Goldstone (executive) for Umbrella Films
directed by Terry Gilliam
starring Michael Palin, Max Wall, John Le Mesurier, Harry H.Corbett, Warren Mitchell, Rodney Bewes, Deborah Fallander, John Bird, Bernard Bresslaw, Antony Carrick, Peter Cellier, Annette Francis, Derek Francis, Terry Jones, Neil Innes, Terry Gilliam, Bryan Pringle, Frank Williams, Glenn Williams, Brenda Cowling, Graham Crowden, Paul Curran, Brian Glover, Alexander Dane, Dave Prowse, Sheridan Earl Russell, John Sharp
screenplay by Charles Alverson, Terry Gilliam, suggested by a poem by Lewis Carroll

review by
Mike Haberfelner

The (very) Dark Ages: Dennis (Michael Palin), an insignificant cooper's apprentice, decides to go to the big city to find fame & fortune (& a job), to impress Griselda Fishfinger (Annette Badland), the woman he is madly in love with.

However, what Dennis does not know is that the Jabberwocky, an evil monster, roams the countryside, killing everyone in its way, & to escape from that onster, pretty much every peasent from near & far has come to the big city to seek shelter. So desperate is the situation in the city that King Bruno the Questionable (Max Wall) has organized a tournament to find out his bravest knioght to send him against the monster - a tournament that costs many a valiant knight his life though ... & furthermore the city's merchants & the church don't want the monster killed since it is good for their respective businesses.

Somehow, Dennis - looking for a job but finding only trouble - gets mixed up with the whole affair, is chosen by the princess (Deborah Fallander) as her groom to be (as she mistakes him for a prince), & quiete by accident becomes the Squire of the knight who has won the tournament (which in the finale has turned into a game of hide-&-seek). The knight though is soon slain by the Black Knight (Dave Prowse) - who was hired by the city's merchants to guard the monster -, & Dennis almost shares his fate - if it weren't for the Jabberwock, which attacks, fights & kills the Black Knight, before Dennis quite by accident kills the monster.

Dennis returns to the city triumphant, & finally his love Griselda seems to accept him as her future husband ... when the princess simply forces him to marry her ...

Terry Gilliam's first directorial effort away from Monty Python (despite the presence of Michael Palin & Terry Jones in the cast) is rather feeble on story & often seems little more than a series of gags about midieval times.

What does make this movie fascinating though is its (cheap but great) depiction of the Dark Ages, that seems to be based not at all on authencity in sets, costumes etc, but paints a picture that is based on decadence, decay, dirt, an overpowering class system & a good portion of gore (always tongue-in-cheek though), which on one hand creates a world all of its own & on the other might come a lot closer to the actual Dark Ages than any number of dilligently researched big budget films.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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