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by Ryan N. Wilcox

Definitely, the fool who follows him When you take a traditional Holy Grail quest, combine it with Don Quixote, and place it in modern day New York City, I hope that you'd have enough sense to allow Terry Gilliam to direct it. 1991's The Fisher King was Terry Gilliam's first attempt at a Don Quixote movie. It features Jack Lucas (played by Jeff Bridges), as a once famous radio DJ turned video clerk, trying to help the homeless Parry (Robin Williams), in recovering from a horrific past, in finding love, and oh yes, and help him find the Holy Grail. The Grail quest is but one of many quests in this story. It's a fantastic vision into the heart and mind of Sancho Panza, the relatively sane companion of Don Quixote. For the Parry character is very much a Don Quixote case. He sees dragons and knights behind every turn. He has made armor out of everyday materials, and everyone knows he's insane, including Jack Lucas. Jack, however, doesn't care. He feels that if he can help Parry find this grail (a trophy in a large home in New York City), that maybe it'll help Parry out and in turn, that one good deed may be what it takes to get Jack back on track with his own life. It is a great example of the power of the mind, and the power of faith. This was the first movie I saw where I knew it was a Terry Gilliam movie before his name reached the credits. I'd been a Monty Python fan and seen Brazil , Crimson Permanent Assurance and Time Bandits . Heck, I'd even seen Jabberwocky and The Adventures of Barron Munchausen, but this was the moment where I understood the auteur theory, way before I even knew there was such a theory. My layman's description of the auteur theory is that a director's work is consistent. You know it's a Scorsese movie or a Hitchcock film by its look and thematic overtones. It remains constant. When I first saw Parry's vision of the Red Knight in the trailer, I knew it was Gilliam who directed it. His fantasy visions reflect the looks of all his movies. Sam Lowry in Brazil, the Evil Genius in Time Bandits, the Jabberwocky all have a similar look to them. Like a Picasso piece, you know his work when you see it. This is one of the things I love about Gilliam. Though never as successful as he deserves, he knows what he wants, and he gets that result. His visions are beautiful, and his stories compelling. Maybe one day, Terry Gilliam will be able to finish The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, his version of the Don Quixote story (maybe we'll talk about Lost in La Mancha later). Until then, The Fisher King carries his ideas and styles through and through. It's a wonderful and beautiful story. He not only took one of the most famous stories of all time, but he added the quest for the most sought after relic in western civilization. All in all, it is one of my favorite movies, a pleasure to watch, and certainly a movie to be remembered.