The Brothers Grimm
All team (172)
Short description
Set in nineteenth-century Germany, The Brothers Grimm follows siblings Will and Jake, wandering folklore collectors who earn a living by staging fake exorcisms and monster hunts for gullible villagers. Their con is exposed by a French official, who forces them to investigate the disappearance of young women in a village near a forest. What begins as another performance becomes a genuine confrontation with magic they had only pretended to believe in.
Terry Gilliam directed the film, his eleventh of fourteen features in chronological order, following Tideland and preceding The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and wrote the screenplay with Ehren Kruger and Tony Grisoni. Matt Damon plays Wilhelm and Heath Ledger plays Jacob, with Lena Headey as Angelika, Peter Stormare as Cavaldi and Monica Bellucci as the Mirror Queen. Charles Roven and Daniel Bobker produced the British, American and Czech co-production.
Released in August 2005, the film had a budget of 88 million US dollars and took about 105 million worldwide, a modest return against its cost. On IMDb it holds 5.9 out of 10 from around 132,000 votes, matching the 5.9 from roughly 3,000 votes on TMDB. A critics' rating of 5.4 from 179 reviews places it slightly below those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The character of the princess who uses the blood of young girls to maintain her youth is based on the real Transylvanian Countess Elizabeth Báthory, one of the first serial killers who lived in the 17th century.
- Bob Weinstein personally fired cinematographer Nicola Pecorini.
- Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins were originally supposed to appear in the film, but both actors had to leave the project due to scheduling conflicts.
- Initially, Gilliam chose composer Goran Bregović. Then he decided that the film should feature more traditional music, and Bregović was replaced by Dario Marianelli.
- Director Terry Gilliam and actor Matt Damon were very keen to work with Samantha Morton (she was considered the primary candidate for the lead female role), but the project's producers rejected this proposal.
- Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein picked up this project in 2004 when MGM suddenly decided to cease funding it.
- Matt Damon took tango lessons as preparation for his work on the project.
- The film was shot at the famous Czech Barrandov Studios. Filming also took place in old Czech castles, particularly Kršivoklát Castle.
- Heath Ledger and Matt Damon began preparing for the film two months before shooting started. They did preparatory work: gathering information about the period and conducting joint rehearsals.
- Robin Williams and Johnny Depp could have starred in the film (as Wilhelm Grimm).
- Terry Gilliam and his longtime collaborator Tony Grisoni effectively rewrote Ehren Kruger's screenplay, but due to restrictions for members of the Writers Guild of America, they were not credited as screenwriters. Instead, they listed themselves in the credits as “patternmakers” and joked that the film was shot not so much “from a script” as “from patterns.”
- The most expensive and spectacular scene (the heroes' fight with the animated tree) was removed from the theatrical release as it created the impression of an early climax in the middle of the film, which completely contradicted the director's vision. This episode is available on the DVD release of "The Brothers Grimm" in the "Deleted Scenes" section.
- To give the trees a more menacing look, the set decorators used tree roots. And the stones on the set were made of plastic, but were no less durable than real ones.
- Terry Gilliam wanted to add a prosthetic nose to Matt Damon's makeup. However, producer Harvey Weinstein remained firm and did not allow the director to do so.
- Matt Damon and Heath Ledger were supposed to play opposite roles, but after reading the script, they decided to switch characters.
- In June 2004, serious problems arose on the set, and Terry Gilliam decided to postpone the film's release by 6 months. During the forced break, Terry completed filming "The Tide" (2005) and returned to "The Brothers Grimm" in January 2005.
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