Sunday, October 28, 2012

HMM '12 Day 28: The Brothers Grimm


The Brothers Grimm
(MGM, 2005)

Today's movie is The Brothers Grimm.  The story centers around Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, the authors behind some of the most beloved Disney movies.  Of course, their original versions of the stories are much more dark and twisted.  In this Terry Gilliam directed movie, however, they are two con men pretending to be witch hunters.

The movie takes place in France occupied Germany during the year 1812.  We see the two Grimm boys scamming a village out of some money by shooting a cohort dressed up as a witch with an arrow tipped with the tears of a child.  After celebrating that evening, they are captured by an Italian torturer and taken to the French general Delatombe.

Even Hawkeye doesn't have a tip with child's tears.
Delatombe knows they are frauds, and asks them where they have taken the children of a particular village.  They know nothing of it, and convince the general to let them investigate.  They end up encountering a five hundred year old queen who is trying to regain her youth.

Being that this movie is from Terry Gilliam, it is expected that things are going to be a little, well, odd.  And odd they are.  Not only do we see a little girl in a red hood being taken by a wolf, but we also get Hans and Greta (Greta gets taken), a werewolf, the aforementioned five hundred year old queen with her magic mirror, the Gingerbread Man,  and a girl being eaten by a spider-horse.  Yes, a spider-horse.  In fact, there are a lot of bugs in this movie in general.

Oh, we also see a kitten shredded by one of our Italian torturer's devices.  That part will get an audible response from whomever is watching this movie.  The first time we watched it, I laughed and my wife gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

There are many other full little surprises to be found in this movie, and if you like weird, dark, and funny movies, you really should check this one out.