directed by Terry Gilliam Terry Gilliam seems to challenge himself when he makes films. The challenge here was, “How do I make a movie about an incredibly unpleasant world that isn’t unpleasant to watch?” Well, he succeeded, thanks in no small part to the work of Jonathan Pryce, whose every twitch of lip or lift of eyebrow is a joy to behold here. It’s Michael Palin, though, as the happy family man who spends his day torturing people, that delivers the film’s most honest and cynical message: To survive in a horrible world, just go along with it and learn to compartmentalize.
