By Will McCurdy

For those who aren’t diehard fans of the troupe, their premiere film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, was directed by two of the Pythons: Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. After the group split apart, Gilliam stuck with directing and created a film wherein an elderly man with a rather large nose and a splendid hat is shot out of a fish. That film is The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

The story begins in a town probably being besieged and barely holding out under the guidance of the Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson and his myriad of bureaucrats who don’t particularly care for Sting. A young girl by the name of Sally (Sarah Polley) serves as the film’s main narrative focus as her father puts on a show about the legendary figure, Baron Munchausen. The production is brought to a sudden halt when an elderly man (John Neville) marches into the theater, brandishing a sword and claiming to be the real Baron Munchausen as well as the cause of the barrage by the Ottoman Turks.

While recounting the tale, the audience is treated to a flashback featuring the Baron’s companions whose feats are more audacious than the man himself including the farsighted marksman Adolphus (Charles McKeown), the iron lunged man with superb hearing Gustavus (Jack Purvis), the freakishly strong Albrecht (Winston Dennis) and the lightning fast Berthold (Eric Idle). Upon having his story interrupted by a cannon blast and the spirit of death, the Baron rides on a hot air balloon made of undergarments to save the city from the Sultan.

The film is delightfully silly with a mix of colorful characters and absurdity trademark of a Python, but with somber elements and genuine questions about how one might view the world which serves as the background plot of the film. There is the reason and order thrown about by the Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson which does serve to keep the city from being overrun by the Turkish army. Only through pandering and diplomacy where he cannot even convince the Sultan to surrender on Wednesday. In stark contrast you have the Baron, the personification of all the tall tales and wonder what the world was before enlightenment forced the discarding of idealistic notions for a more controlled world governed by laws and logic. Although obscure and not quite contemporary, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a fun film good for a laugh and possibly a glimmer of wonder in the midst of rigid society.

Monty Python. For some, they are the British gods of absurd comedy while to others they are those weird fellows who got arrested by the authorities while in medieval costumes.

For those who aren’t diehard fans of the troupe, their premiere film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, was directed by two of the Pythons: Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. After the group split apart, Gilliam stuck with directing and created a film wherein an elderly man with a rather large nose and a splendid hat is shot out of a fish. That film is The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

The story begins in a town probably being besieged and barely holding out under the guidance of the Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson and his myriad of bureaucrats who don’t particularly care for Sting. A young girl by the name of Sally (Sarah Polley) serves as the film’s main narrative focus as her father puts on a show about the legendary figure, Baron Munchausen. The production is brought to a sudden halt when an elderly man (John Neville) marches into the theater, brandishing a sword and claiming to be the real Baron Munchausen as well as the cause of the barrage by the Ottoman Turks.

While recounting the tale, the audience is treated to a flashback featuring the Baron’s companions whose feats are more audacious than the man himself including the farsighted marksman Adolphus (Charles McKeown), the iron lunged man with superb hearing Gustavus (Jack Purvis), the freakishly strong Albrecht (Winston Dennis) and the lightning fast Berthold (Eric Idle). Upon having his story interrupted by a cannon blast and the spirit of death, the Baron rides on a hot air balloon made of undergarments to save the city from the Sultan.

The film is delightfully silly with a mix of colorful characters and absurdity trademark of a Python, but with somber elements and genuine questions about how one might view the world which serves as the background plot of the film. There is the reason and order thrown about by the Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson which does serve to keep the city from being overrun by the Turkish army. Only through pandering and diplomacy where he cannot even convince the Sultan to surrender on Wednesday. In stark contrast you have the Baron, the personification of all the tall tales and wonder what the world was before enlightenment forced the discarding of idealistic notions for a more controlled world governed by laws and logic. Although obscure and not quite contemporary, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a fun film good for a laugh and possibly a glimmer of wonder in the midst of rigid society.