The Fisher King ('91) or the Piano ('93)?

I started a different and unrelated film thread a month or so ago and maybe ILE isn't the best place but I'm drunk and looking for quick responses.

fisher king x 1000

the piano doesn't have robin williams. so, the piano.

Both, but if pressed, The Fisher King.

I've never seen Piano, but Fisher King is great, though it's definitely not a film for cynics.

The Fisher King and i hate life.

re: the cynicism thing.

Robin Williams was just at the verge of being totally obnoxious and useless in The Fisher King. It would probably be really hard to see for the first time now, though, since his schtick has stayed the same only except worse and worse in the intervening 16 years. Still, Jeff Bridges.

There is no reason to watch The Piano at all, unless you have a desire to look at Harvey Keitel's 11th finger.

Fisher King, FTW

fisher king, says the dude with the online name of kingfish

unless you have a desire to look at Harvey Keitel's 11th finger.

Well, you get more than a few glimpses of Robin Williams' Mork-stick in "The Fisher King."

I love both movies, but I might go against the grain and say "The Piano" here; I re-watched it recently and was amazed at how totally unique that movie is.

the piano is a better film.

Jeff Bridges and Mercedes Ruehl both quite wonderful in a movie I forgot about two days after seeing it.

The Piano's direction compensates for the awful score (this mute genius composes Yanni music?)

I don't like either; arguably each filmmaker's most overrated film.

Score is by Michael Nyman, right?

arguably each filmmaker's most overrated film.

true.

i like the piano well enough, though. there's some heartfelt craziness in it.

Rewatched The Fisher King for the first time since my initial awkward viewing some 23 years ago with my mother and my grandparents (Mom liked it, the rest of us were baffled). Its hella messy, both tonally (Williams's schtick, perhaps contractually obligated at this point, rarely felt more out of place) and in terms of construction (by the time Bridges goes to find the "grail," its like the first time it has been mentioned in like 90 minutes), but there are good chunks of it that I'm finding it difficult to shake: Jeter's sad "all of my friends are dead" moment, the entire awkward courtship and first date between Williams and Plummer, the downright agonizing breakup scene between Bridges and Ruehl.

For what its worth, I also rewatched The Piano a few years back, and I still don't like it (despite liking others by Campion).

I rewatched it last summer after Williams' death and couldn't deal with the collision of whimsy and pathos.

I'm almost willing to classify it as a "guilty pleasure" for that very reason, or at least because of how bad the last 15 or so mins suck. But Jeter's trio of scenes, in particular, are just too affecting.

FK Criterion out next week.

Love both these films.

watching Fisher King

Bridges is quite amazing imo

i don't know that either have aged well, I'd pick the Piano now.

aged better than a lot of work gilliam did much later tbh (so far)

in any case, 'ageing well' is a low bar for anything to aim for and we should say as much

williams is well matched to the part which is all one asks of williams

michael jeter is extraordinary

I really like both filmmakers. Neither of these count among my favorites - in different ways, they also feel like compromises or concessions from each filmmaker as a result of working with a larger budget under greater studio oversight. (I realize Campion's film is a personal project whereas Gilliam was hired for his, but everything about the ending to The Piano feels like typical Miramax interference.) But they both have a lot going for them and the strengths of both filmmakers (as well as the cast) come through beautifully. I don't think I'd pick one over the other, if you really like either filmmaker, you should see them.

aged better than a lot of work gilliam did much later tbh (so far)

yeah I think it's the last film of his I could say I liked, honestly. Everything after has been a real mess.

oh wait no, I like 12 Monkeys and Fear and Loathing. it's after that he totally fell off for me. I still haven't brought myself to watch the Don Quixote movie.

ill stand for imaginarium

it was ok, felt compromised. not as badly compromised as zero theorem which was very disappointing.

understandably compromised tbf

id struggle to see what was bad about the last 15 mins if you enjoyed the rest (i did)

I liked Gilliam enough to watch the Man Who Killed Don Quixote once it was available (plus the Umberto Eco in me could not resist a film with such an epic palimpsest of a production). It is a mess of a movie with an atavistic disrespect for women but Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce are great to watch together.

gilliam has gotten really weird about women

women and....
.kids