The Fisher King Terry Gilliam

The Fisher King is a 1991 American fantasy comedy drama film written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, with Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer and Michael Jeter, the film tells the story of a radio shock jock who tries to find redemption by helping a man whose life he inadvertently shattered. It explores "the intermingling of New York City's usually strictly separated social strata",[3] and has been described as "a modern-day Grail Quest that fused New York romantic comedy with timeless fantasy".[4]

The film was released in the United States by Tri-Star Pictures on September 20, 1991. It received generally favorable reviews from critics, and grossed $72 million on a $24 million budget. At the 64th Academy Awards, the film earned five nominations, including Best Actor for Williams and Best Original Screenplay for LaGravenese, with Ruehl winning Best Supporting Actress, making The Fisher King the only Oscar-winning film of Gilliam's career.

Jack Lucas, a narcissistic, misanthropic shock jock, dismisses a disturbed regular caller, Edwin, over his infatuation with a woman he met at a Manhattan restaurant, brashly describing her social circle as a vain enemy to people like Edwin that "must be stopped before it's too late". Meanwhile, Jack has an equally vain girlfriend and a high-rise penthouse apartment, and is in consideration for the lead in a comedic TV pilot. While practicing a line read at home, he turns on a news report and discovers his comments spurred Edwin to commit a mass murder–suicide at the restaurant, to his horror.

Three years later, Jack is working for his new girlfriend, Anne, in her video store, and is in a mostly drunken, depressed state, fearful of being recognized. One night, while on a bender, he is moments from suicide. However, teenage punks attack Jack and nearly set him on fire, mistaking him for a homeless person. Parry, a delusional homeless man, rescues Jack, claiming to have been tasked by cherubs to find the Holy Grail.

Parry tries to enlist Jack's help in retrieving the Grail, relaying the legend of God charging the Fisher King with finding the Holy Grail, but the King incurring an incapacitating wound for his sin of pride: "A Fool asks the King why he suffers, and when the King says he is thirsty, the Fool gives him a cup of water to drink. The King realizes the cup is the Grail and asks, 'How did you find what my brightest and bravest could not?' The Fool said 'I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty.'"

Jack is initially reluctant, but acquiesces after learning his role in Parry's current condition. Parry, whose real name is Henry Sagan, had been a teacher at Hunter College. After witnessing his wife's death during Edwin's massacre, Henry had a psychotic break and became catatonic. After awakening, he took on the persona of Parry and became obsessed with the Fisher King's legend. With Parry as his shielding persona, mentions of reality panic him, and he is continually haunted by a hallucinatory Red Knight, from a distorted memory of his wife's face exploding from a shotgun blast.

Jack seeks to redeem himself by helping Parry find love again. Lydia, a shy woman with whom Parry is smitten, is at first sent a cabaret telegram performed by a homeless singer, inviting her to Anne's video store. While there, she is prodded to meet Parry and join Jack and Anne for dinner. Afterward, Parry walks Lydia home and declares his love for her after having been observing her for months. She reciprocates before heading inside, but Parry's initiating a new romance summons the Knight. Fleeing his vision, the memory of his wife's murder, and his institutionalization, he is ambushed by the teenage punks. Beaten and knifed mercilessly, Parry becomes catatonic again. Jack, feeling whole again after "saving" Parry, breaks up with Anne and begins to rebuild his career. However, he has a crisis of conscience during a business meeting after ignoring the homeless cabaret singer's reaching out to him.

Jack eventually finds out what happened to Parry. Ultimately wanting to help his friend, Jack dons Parry's clothing and infiltrates the Upper East Side castle of a famous architect and retrieves a trophy that Parry believes to be the real Grail. During the theft, Jack finds the architect unconscious from attempting suicide. He triggers the alarm while leaving, alerting authorities and saving the man's life.

He brings the "Grail" to Parry, who regains consciousness and says that he is ready to miss his wife. Lydia visits Parry in the hospital; she finds him awake and leading the patients of the ward in a rendition of the song, "How About You?", with Jack. Parry and Lydia embrace, and Jack reconciles with Anne, saying that he loves her. She slaps him, but grabs and kisses him. That night, Jack and Parry lie naked in Central Park gazing at the clouds, as they view a fireworks display over New York.

• Robin Williams as Henry "Parry" Sagan
• Jeff Bridges as Jack Lucas
• Mercedes Ruehl as Anne Napolitano
• Amanda Plummer as Lydia Sinclair
• Christian Clemenson as Edwin Malnek
• Michael Jeter as Homeless Cabaret Singer
• David Hyde Pierce as Lou Rosen
• Lara Harris as Sondra
• Harry Shearer as Ben Starr
• William Jay Marshall as Jamaican Bum
• Chris Howell as the Red Knight
• Kathy Najimy as Crazed Video Customer
• John de Lancie as TV Executive
• Tom Waits as Disabled Veteran
• Melinda Culea as Sitcom Wife
• Paul Michael Lombardi as Radio Engineer
• Ted Ross as Limo Bum

In an episode of The Directors, Gilliam stated he was motivated to make this film after the experience of his previous movie, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. That film, a big-budget special-effects production, had gone significantly over budget, costing more than $45 million—nearly double the $24 million budget of The Fisher King. This project also marked two firsts for Gilliam: it was the first film he directed without being involved in writing the screenplay, and his first not to feature any other members of Monty Python.

Also per The Directors, Gilliam conceived the scene where Robin Williams shadows Amanda Plummer through a waltzing crowd in Grand Central Terminal. He felt the original scene, written by LaGravenese, in which a homeless woman's beautiful singing voice fills a crowded subway, was not working. Gilliam initially hesitated to change it, wanting to remain faithful to the script and concerned the waltz would make the film feel too much like "a Terry Gilliam film." The scene was ultimately shot in a single night using a mix of professional extras and actual train passengers.

Box office

The film did moderately well at the box office,[5][6] with a gross of almost $42 million in the United States and Canada,[7] and an international gross of $30.5 million,[8] for a worldwide total of $72.4 million.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Fisher King has an approval rating of 85%, based on 66 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "An odd but affecting mixture of drama, comedy and fantasy, The Fisher King manages to balance moving performances from Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges with director Terry Gilliam's typically askew universe."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F.[11]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that the film "sweeps you up on waves of humor, heartbreak and ravishing romance".[12]

John Simon of the National Review described The Fisher King as "one of the most nonsensical, pretentious, mawkishly cloying movies I ever had to wretch[sic] through".[13]

Following Robin Williams's death, a reappraisal of the film on RogerEbert.com said that "no Williams film can hit harder—or be so fully consoling in such heartbreaking circumstances—than The Fisher King", in which his character "gradually simmers to a boil of bristling insecurities, terror and agonizing internalized pain".[4]

Laserdisc

The film was released on VHS and LaserDisc by Columbia TriStar Home Video in 1992.[25] The first Laserdisc release was a fullscreen presentation, but showed more vertical information while cropping horizontally. The second release in 1997 presented the film in its 1.85:1 theatrical ratio. The Criterion Collection released their Laserdisc version in 1993 with several extras that have not surfaced on any other release, and a director-approved widescreen transfer in 1.66:1.

DVD and Blu-ray

The film was released on DVD in 1999 by Columbia TriStar Home Video, using the same master as the 1997 Laserdisc release, with only the theatrical trailer as a special feature.[26] In 2011, Image Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray, utilizing a new high-definition master in the 1.85:1 theatrical ratio, with Dolby Digital Tru-HD 5.1 surround, with no special features.[26]

On June 23, 2015, The Criterion Collection re-released the film on Blu-ray and DVD, featuring a brand new 2K transfer and DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound mix.[27]

On April 11, 2023, Criterion again released the film on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, featuring a brand new 4K restoration approved by Terry Gilliam.

• List of films based on Arthurian legend

1. ^ Tied with Philippe Garrel for J'entends plus la guitare and Yimou Zhang for Raise the Red Lantern.

1. ^ Dutka, Elaine (March 8, 1991). "'The Fisher King' Pushed Back for the Oscars". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
2. ^ a b "The Fisher King (1991) – financial information". The Numbers.
3. ^ Koresky, Michael (June 24, 2015). "Michael's Turn: Michael Jeter in The Fisher King". The Criterion Collection.
4. ^ a b Schwartz, Niles (15 August 2014). "Retrieving the Grail: Robin Williams and "The Fisher King" | Features | Roger Ebert". RogerEbert.com.
5. ^ Fox, David J. (1991-10-29). "Weekend Box Office 'House Party 2' Takes Top Spot". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
6. ^ Fox, David J. (1991-10-31). "Terminator 2 About to Hit $200-Million Mark : Movies: While fall releases are in box-office slump, the summer smash climbs to 13th on all-time domestic ticket sales list". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
7. ^ "The Fisher King > Overview". AllMovie.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
8. ^ Evan Frook, John (June 26, 1992). "Col TriStar tide rising overseas". Daily Variety. p. 1.
9. ^ "The Fisher King Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
10. ^ The Fisher King at Metacritic
11. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
12. ^ Travers, Peter (September 20, 1991). "The Fisher King". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 20, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
13. ^ Simon, John (2005). John Simon on Film: Criticism 1982–2001. Applause Books. p. 308.
14. ^ "The 64th Academy Awards (1992) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
15. ^ "1992 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
16. ^ "BSFC Winners: 1990s". Boston Society of Film Critics. July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
17. ^ "BAFTA Awards: Film in 1992". British Academy Film Awards. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
18. ^ "1988-2013 Award Winner Archives". Chicago Film Critics Association. January 1, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
19. ^ "The Fisher King". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
20. ^ "Archive – Guldbagge". Guldbagge Awards. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
21. ^ "The Annual 17th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
22. ^ "Past Saturn Awards". Saturn Awards. Archived from the original on February 7, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
23. ^ "TFCA Past Award Winners". Toronto Film Critics Association. May 29, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
24. ^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
25. ^ Hunt, Dennis (January 24, 1992). "Price of Laser Recorders Limits Market : Affordable compact disc units may be just a few years away, but don't expect a budget laser disc machine soon". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
26. ^ a b "The Fisher King - Releases". AllMovie. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
27. ^ "The Fisher King". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 30 March 2023.

• The Fisher King at IMDb
• The Fisher King at Box Office Mojo
• The Fisher King at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Fisher King at Metacritic
• The Fisher King: In the Kingdom of the Imperfect an essay by Bilge Ebiri at the Criterion Collection