The Brothers Grimm

When I saw the trailer for The Brothers Grimm my first thought was that it was going to be rubbish. For starters, it had Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as its stars, and it appeared to be a crossover between fact and fiction, turning a kids story into an adult tale. Then I saw that Terry Gilliam was directing it, and immediately my curiosity was aroused. Terry Gilliam is marvellous.

This is, truly, a strange film. Gilliam's story aims to turn the creation of Grimm's fairy tales into a fairytale, by trying to create a legend of how the Brothers Grimm came to have those tales to write and why they wrote them. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are the brothers. They earn a living by pretending to rid villages in the Germanic states of witches and monsters and curses during the Napoleonic era (1798-1815, for anyone who cares). They have a couple of employees who help them create elaborate special effects and trick villagers into thinking they need to pay for their services.

Their exploits bring them to the attention of the invading French army who capture them and threaten to torture the brothers to death if they don't help them subdue a local village by outing another, similar person who has been terrorizing local villagers by kidnapping their children. Except when they go to this village, they start to think that maybe it is a real witch and the village really is cursed.

There are two levels to this film. One is the magical story about the skeptical brother (Damon) and the believer (Ledger) who have to step into the breach and become heroes and save a village from an ancient curse. The other is a very political undercurrent where the Germanic states are being invaded by the French, and they are trying to resist occupation. There is a lot of underhanded references to the political and military situation, and the underlying implication is that you can't overcome someones culture and national sentiment with force, and that a people will not be subjugated.

There are some pretty good effects, such as a girl turning into a gingerbread man and the scenes with the witch. Gilliam creates a marvellously dark and mystical feel to the film while still making it feel gritty and realistic. He also manages to maintain the suspense, as it really does take a while to work out the curse and what is behind it.

This is an entertaining and engaging film for older kids and adults alike.