Time Bandits

Terry Gilliam directs and produces Time Bandits, the 1981 comedy-fantasy film that follows the story of time-traveling dwarves and the little boy that joins them. Gilliam wrote the screenplay with Michael Palin and was put together by George Harrison’s Handmade Films. This would be the third film Gilliam would direct, the first two being Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Jabberwocky. This would be the first film in which Gilliam would create more of his own niche and would lean less on the Monty Python-esque feel of the first two films and provide his own groundwork. While Time Bandits surely does contain a good amount of dark irreverent humour and some nods to Python-humour, it is more of a standalone film that makes its own way.

Time Bandits follows a bright 11-year old boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) as he is constantly ignored by his parents. One night, Kevin is awakened by a noise coming from his wardrobe. A knight on horseback emerges and takes off through one of Kevin’s walls. The next night, Kevin is determined to find out what happened and goes to bed early with a flashlight. Sure enough, the wardrobe bursts to life again and this time several dwarves come out. Kevin and the dwarves, using a very special map, begin to travel through time using time portals from the map. The dwarves are thieves that were supposed to use the map to help the Supreme Being repair all of the holes in the space-time fabric, but instead they’ve decided to profit from the possibility. Kevin is the voice of reason and, soon enough, they find themselves in a variety of adventures with various historical figures.

The film also stars David Rappaport, David Warner, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Sean Connery, Ian Holm, Ralph Richardson, and several others. The historical figures, for example Robin Hood as played by Cleese, are given a comic edge and are played up with delightful humour. A highlight is the time spent with Napoleon, as played by Ian Holm, as he rambles on about his short stature and how that personally affects him. Scenes like this show us the humour that can be found in historical matters and really brings the characterizations to life without sullying their historical importance.

The film’s sense of humour is dark and irreverent, but it is largely a film that can be viewed by the whole family. The majority of the jokes, while fairly clean, are a little bit deep and may be over the heads of younger viewers. Time Bandits is certainly the first film to evidence Gilliam’s signature visual style and he would lay more of a framework for this style in subsequent films. Along with Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, Time Bandits has been dubbed as a part of a sort of informal trilogy. Gilliam refers to the three films as a “trilogy about the Ages of Man and the subordination of magic to realism.” This is evidenced by the notion that each film, especially Time Bandits, celebrates the notion of imagination.

Time Bandits is certainly an imaginative film, without a doubt. The usage of Kevin as a character with an open mind and a caring heart is evidence of the true heart of the film. Kevin is largely a quixotic character, one caught up with notions of doing good and the romantic idealism that comes with his adventures. Yet, those around him are determined to hold down that idealism and draw him back into their self-defined reality. The dwarves, for example, decide that they “need” Kevin and draw him back in from a potential father-son relationship of value with Agamemnon (Connery). As with the other two films in the informal trilogy, the lead character – in this case, Kevin – must undergo a journey of fantastic proportions in order to realize the potential of his idealism and live as “God” intends. In this case, God is portrayed as the Supreme Being and played excellently by Ralph Richardson in a very funny setup. The film also calls upon the notion of technology hurting imagination, as evidenced through Evil’s obsession with technology and “lasers.”

Time Bandits is highly enjoyable and incredibly inventive, filled to the brim with impressive and natural visuals that burst from the screen and invade personal space. The giant with the ship on his head, for example, is a prime example of Gilliam’s tireless imagination and his quest to create. Time Bandits is further bolstered by tremendous performances and a depth that few films of its type reach for. Gilliam directs the film with passion and heart, creating something truly special for the whole family.

8/10

Trailer (make sure to watch this one, it’s a work of art):