Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish - reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!
Last week, I reviewed The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. Sim gave us a first teaser of the film Mary, Queen of Scots, based on the book My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy. Becky reviewed a children's book that makes me want to visit the British Library.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, a 1988 film, was brought to us by some of the same folks who participated in the Monty Python phenomenon. Terry Gilliam, director of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, was the animator for Monty Python's Flying Circus and, occasionally, acted in the sketches. You may recognize actor Eric Idle from his Monty Python days, too.
Since The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is post-Python, it's even weirder in many ways. The story is set in a village on a Wednesday during the Age of Reason. The village is being invaded by a mighty enemy, but the show must go on. So, all of a sudden, we're watching a play about Baron Munchausen, a teller of tall tales. But, then, the play gets interrupted by the appearance of the real Baron Munchausen. And, it gets weirder from there.
I enjoyed the relationship between Baron Munchausen and young Sally, daughter of the man in charge of the theatrical company. Sally was played by Sarah Polley, just before she got the role of Sara Stanley in the series, Road to Avonlea. Sally believes that the Baron is the only hope for saving the village from invaders, in spite of the ever more fantastical adventures that seem to be required to get the job done.
Three short performances by famous people add an extra dose of fun to this movie. Robin Williams got to play on the raunchier side of his humor as the King of the Moon. Uma Thurman, still a teenager, was a sweetly seductive Venus. And, watch for the cameo by Sting in the climactic scenes.
Near the end of the movie, we get what may be one of my favorite quotes ever: "everyone who had a talent for it lived happily ever after."
About Joy Weese Moll
a librarian writing about books
