Welcome to the ‘coming out’ party, monkeys included
Cole is humanity’s last hope. Humans have been driven underground thanks to a deadly virus and he must find a way to get them back to the surface. Cole is sent back in time to figure out how the virus was conceived, who let it out and what point it was let out. If he can gather this information then humans will survive. The catch is, he must survive the time travel and several other obstacles (such as people believing he is crazy and convincing him of the same thing) in order to accomplish his mission.
When I first saw this film, way back in 1996, I had the same thoughts as Kelly (my wife). The film seemed a bit all over the place and left you with an empty feeling. Having seen it multiple times, I now understand what is happening (I think). Willis’ character Cole is simply trying to ensure the survival of the future. He isn’t sent back to the past to correct anything, he is only sent back to gather information, so that the future can survive. If you look at it this way, the story is completely laid out and reasonable; and that has to be the foundation for it. What David Peoples and Terry Gilliam do with that foundation is where the true genius of the film comes in. They put in three pivotal characters with completely different viewpoints. Cole is the first, but we already know what his intents are.
The second character is a psychiatrist named Kathryn who desperately wants to help Cole, but not on his plight; rather Kathryn wishes to make him ‘better’ mentally and help him forget about his time travel. She literally tries to convince him that what he is experiencing is all in his head. Basically, she is a second perspective for the movie and lying down false ground for not only Cole to be confused by, but the audience as well. Instead of trying to enjoy the movie, you are going to start questioning the foundation and begin to look for ways that you’re being deceived just like Cole. It’s a brilliant view, but that’s not all.
The last character that throws a wrench into the foundation is Brad Pitt’s Jeffrey. About halfway through the film you begin to suspect that he is behind the entire virus plot. Small pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together and you even find out that his father owns the company that produced the virus. His direction and leadership behind the 12 Monkeys is a path that the viewer is forced to consider. All of the pieces added to the fact that Jeffrey is bat-shit crazy, makes the assumption solid.
A really great part to these three characters is how each got out of their elements. Madeleine Stowe really gave a brilliant performance as an unshakable woman trying to only help the situation and not hurt it. She played the role of sanity in the film, one that is shaken and changed before the end. Speaking of shaken, Bruce Willis traded in his comedic/action hero persona for a deeper, more vulnerable choice of character. He showed that he could do more than fire a gun and act like a tough guy. He simply brought a more somber, innocent character to the screen that expanded his range. Last but not least, Brad Pitt went from pretty boy to pretty damn insane in a heartbeat. Call this his coming out party, Pitt is repulsive, funny and scary all at once. Much like his role in Legends of the Fall, Pitt used his looks to drive the character, but this time his looks were just a bit ugly and crazy. Each actor did something different than what they were use to; each one benefited from it.
In the end, all of these paths collide and fit perfectly together with the overall story, which is nothing short of brilliant. Gilliam keeps Peoples’ story together perfectly through mechanical, German expressionistic visuals and harsh moments. He makes no bones about how terrible the past, present and future all seem to be. What is funny is that the only peace in the film is the animals ruling a very silent, snowy, beautiful world without humans. That might be the underlying them to the picture, are we truly the virus that needs extermination? Again, it is an amazing question to ponder and even more amazing to realize visually, as Gilliam does.
So are there any knocks against the film? You won’t fully understand it the first time around (even when you see the somewhat surprising ending). You’ll need to watch it multiple times to appreciate it and you may not want to give that much time to the film. Gilliam’s hard work directing combined with Peoples’ complicated story mixed with a cast that’s out of this world, brings one of the deepest films in cinema in recent times. If you’ve seen Brazil, you know what you’re in for.
12 blu monkeys
The film was released in 1996 and featured a lot of dark, drab environments. Much like extreme reds, blues, yellows and greens, the dark and light contrast really benefits from a high definition upgrade. You have some very scary environments preserved beautifully on this Blu-ray. I have seen better Blu-rays, but as usual Universal doesn’t disappoint; they are still hands down the best producer of Blu-ray films. I’m not sure how or why, but Universal does a fantastic transfer. This also includes the haunting audio that you’ll find in the film.
As for features, here’s what you should expect from this Blu-ray:
– Commentary from Terry Gilliam and producer Charles Roven – This is one of the more interesting pieces you’ll find on a Blu-ray. You get a ton of insight from both director and producer perspective. Very interesting stuff to be had here.
– The Hamster Factor & Other tales of 12 Monkeys – This is like the mini version of the four hour featurette on Blade Runner. You are taken from concept to completion of the film. It’s not in HD, but it’s still very interesting stuff. I like how they chronicle the ups and downs, so you’re not getting some studio garbage about how happy everyone was (and how there was no stress). No bullocks here, just the straight truth on how the production went.
– 12 Monkeys Archive
– BD-Live