Waltzing in central station. Gilliam's epic on a budget.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4884 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-02-06
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 137 minutes

Synopsis
Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) a self-obsessed 'shock jock' who thinks he has it all, is about to hit rock bottom. The cult personality spends his time on the radio insulting and berating his listeners, but when one caller takes Jack's advice literally and opens fire on a New York City nightspot, Jack is sent swirling down into a depression that has him suicidal three years later. However, he is rescued out of the night by a different kind of knight in shining armour a homeless man named Parry, played fabulously by Robin Williams, who thinks he's on a quest for the Holy Grail, which he believes to be in a Fifth Avenue town house. Parry serves as the living embodiment of Jack's guilt Parry's beloved wife was killed in the nightclub massacre. Jack soon becomes convinced that by helping Parry he will also wind up helping himself, so he tries to help Parry win his lady love (Amanda Plummer), at the expense of risking his own relationship with Anne (Mercedes Ruehl, in an Academy Award-winning role), who has stood by his side during his downward spiral. Terry Gilliam's romantic parable THE FISHER KING is yet another visually stunning work from a master filmmaker, with a different kind of heart from Gilliam's other films, delving deep into the nature of love and loss, of guilt and redemption, of character and tragedy. Featuring a terrific cast and unusual locations for a fantasy story (New York City, brilliantly photographed by Roger Pratt), THE FISHER KING is both an exciting adventure and a charming romance.

---

Customer Reviews

quirky, disturbing but heart-warming
No one could accuse Terry Gilliam of being conventional. Understatement of the year, I realise, but when you really look at this film and its message(s) there is ultimately quite a simple premise at work - the triumph of altruism over ego. Both Parry and Jack are forced to over-come this by the same hideous event while Jack's poor wife remains the staunch figure of altruism (sometimes despite herself) throughout.
That said, the manner in which this is conveyed is typical Gilliam - visual metaphors illuminate the screen at every turn, dazzling the audience no matter what the focus of the scene may be. It is, put simply, the clearly recongisable work of one of the few contemporary film-makers who truly deserve the tag "auteur" - each and every shot kind of grimy but colourful at the same time. Every character somewhat unusual yet played with a sense of warmth. If you are a fan, you will know what I mean.
Jeff Bridges turns in (as usual) an amazing performance - by turns arrogant, and pathetic (sometimes both) as does Williams who is his usual manic self but delivered with the kind of pathos that he would come to use in later films such as One Hour Photo. Really, though, it is Mercedes Ruell as Jack's long-suffering wife who brings the whole film together. Her perpetually nasal (deliberately so, of course) New York whine complementing her tortured character's attempts to rehabilitate her husband and stand by him no matter what happens - or how he treats her.
The film is, like so many (particularly another favourite of mine It's A Wonderful Life) loosely branded "soppy", actually pretty dark - its sentimentality having been drawn out of tragedy and the manner in which people cope with it. Ok, so the fact that it is coped with via the central character undertaking a mystical mission may seem a little trite - but if you recognise that this really is a symptom of mental illness (in the character of Parry) then you may start to recognise just how interesting and important - certainly not soppy - this film is.
Oh, and Robin Williams may have sullied his reputatation by starring in one-too-many sugary feel-good films, but this isn't one of them. Those who dislike him on that basis alone should sit down and watch this, perhaps followed by The World According to Garp and maybe some of his early stand-up and re-assess their opinions......

One of the Best Gilliam films
I'm a big fan of Terry Gilliam and his surreal and often quirky films. He has a distinct eye for the absurd and the very weird, and he brings those talents to this film, creating an unique interpretation of Richard LaGravenese's story.

The film follows a New York radio shock DJ, Jack Lucas (played with brilliant style by Jeff Bridges), as he is about the sign a lucrative deal that could win him fame and fortune throughout the US. Riding the waves of his new found fame and becoming increasingly arrogant, he makes an off-hand comment to a mentally unstable man which triggers a terrible tragedy.

His career now in ruins, he is forced to work at a downtown video shop, where he wallows in self pity and turns to alcohol to avoid his demons.
While stumbling drunk through the New York alleys one night he is attacked by a gang of youths but is miraculously saved by an eccentric homeless man called Parry, played by Robin Williams.

Parry is a man who lives in a fantasy world of Knights, damsels and castles. When Parry tells Jack of his quest to find the Holy Grail, Jack shrugs off his suggestion as the babblings of a madman, and makes quick his escape.

It is only later that Jack learns that Parry, once a respectable professor at a local university, was driven to insanity by being a victim of the tragedy for which Jack was inadvertently responsible.

Compelled to put his demons to rest once and for all, Jack is willing to pursue Parry's quest for the Holy Grail in the hope that they can both find the redemption and happiness that has evaded them for so long.

Richard LaGravenese's sharp and witty script, Terry Gilliam's unique direction and the acting by all the cast make this an incredibly enjoyable film, filled with humour, romance and heartbreak . I was also very impressed by Mercedes Ruehl's role as Anne, Jack Lucas's girlfriend. She makes her character utterly believable and she richly deserved to win the Oscar for best supporting actress. Also keep a look out for musician Tom Waits appearance as a tramp.

A terrific film that deserves to be seen at least once. If you are a fan of Terry Gilliam, then this film is a must have!

I'm Hooked on the Fisher King.
Robin Williams........he grates on me, and I want him hunted and kulled for the good of all movie goers.
However, the Fisher King is a disarming tale in which the dearth of great character performances mask whatever subversive urges I may harbour. I love Tom Wait's monologue as the disabled, veteran, bum at Grand Central Station which precedes the magical waltz scene, its worth watching just for that. Terry Gilliam is a god, because in this movie he has gone some way to encapsulating all the joy of watching a fantastic film.
If you think its wishy washy and over sentimental, I respect your opinion but question wether you have the cognative ability of a Halibut. Roll on the special edition dvd, with 75 hours of bonus material, with contributions from all the principles.....Robin Williams strangely absent.