12 MONKEYS @ 30

A pandemic has driven the survivors underground. James Cole volunteers to go on surface sorties to bring back life (mostly insects) for examination of what made them immune. It reduces his sentence. That is even further shrunk when he puts his hand up for time travel missions. Have they got it right about what caused it? Could it be prevented? And what is the meaning of the childhood memory that keeps surfacing in Cole's mind? It seems to change every time he thinks of it. Is the future changing the past?

Terry Gilliam's time travel scenario is a minefield of information by which past, present and future are in continual conflict. Cole's ally, Dr Railly is also his guide through the bewildering mess of late twentieth century life. Her link is a fascination with the Casandra syndrome (you know the future but no one believes you, imagine that as a mental condition) is the bridge to her acceptance of Cole's incredible claim of being from the future. Cole's appearances at different points in history and records of the incidents are what convinces her which allows her a bypass of Stockholm syndrome (Cole abducts her) and acceptance of banding with him. Then, there's just the rest of the world. 

Time travel aside (big ask but, beyond the look of the process, it's never explained) 12 Monkeys is Gilliam at the most straightforward that any film of his had been to that point. The Fisher King showed signs of him straying from the mould of the magical epic. After 12 Monkeys the blend became smoother as the spectre of his Monty Python years retreated ever further. I wonder if this was helped by the fact that this film is a cover version.

Chris Marker's 1962 film La Jetée is essentially the same story told in a series of still photos with a brief motion scene toward the end. A man is haunted by a childhood memory which results in the same twist as Gilliam's film. There are many further similarities and Gilliam eventually added a title acknowledging Marker's film as the basis of 12 Monkeys. I would strongly recommend La Jetée. It's not always easy to find but has had physical media releases. I'll insist, though, that Gilliam's movie is neither a veiled ripoff or a misguided mainstream overblown retelling. Gilliam is fascinated by the play of information and how it changes history whether true or false.

At its centre is an impressive turn by Bruce Willis as Cole. Willis had left his quirky tv show Moonlighting to forge a career as an action hero. His big gunned, quipping persona was a more everyman alternative to the Arnies and Segals of the time but he still played it macho and capable. James Cole spends most of the screen time in 12 Monkeys confused and drooling, a sluggish bulk held back by a crippling melancholy. This was the year, too, of Pulp Fiction and his role as a vulnerable loser (but that was transformed by action). It was this role that reminded anyone who'd forgotten, that he had the range and gravitas that would serve him in the later Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. That began here.

Madeline Stow as Dr Railly is almost victim of over-convenient writing as she uses anger to cross the bridge from victimhood to partner in adventure. It's a thankless performance but completely necessary to the film, providing the action that Cole is mostly incapable of. 

Brad Pitt had started the year as Detective Mills in Seven, a role that broke him from aesthetically pleasing furniture to credible performer. His Goines is given as a cartoon monkey, all frenetic gestures and screeching vocals. It's over the top and frequently approaches spinning off but Pitt always manages to reel in his excesses. After this year's turns he could command the course of the rest of his career.

And then there's Terry Gilliam himself who brought a stolen idea into the light and enriched it with confronting thoughts about the information economy that was already gearing up to the constant dynamism we have now where the notion of truth is thin and shifting. The '90s needed 12 Monkeys, not just as a cool sci-fi but as a commentary on our beliefs and their vulnerability.

I saw this at the Russell in Melbourne in early '96 with Kathy. It wasn't a date, we just liked each other's company at the movies. This was the occasion of my last ever Fantale. At some point, watching this movie that has one of its characters extract his own teeth I chomped down through the unforgiving caramel and encountered a rock. I dug it out of my teeth and realised that the sweet had successfully extracted a filling, just lifted it out of the molar. As discretely as I could, I transferred it to a pocket and  vowed to find a dentist the next day. But the worry and the self ridicule!

Kathy and I went to a pub afterwards for a post movie drink and chat. We unravelled what we could of the film as I drank on one side of my mouth. We also talked about Pulp Fiction and what was in the briefcase at the end. I was well into my internet life and spouted a range of fan speculation about it which she'd never heard. It felt good to share this nonsense with someone from the real world.

Viewing Notes: I watched the superb Arrow 4K release of this for this review. A very clean transfer with plenty of fine grain for the film connoisseur and a sturdy audio mix. You can rent it online at the usual places and it's a title that often surfaces on SBS on Demand or the other streamers.