The Fisher King

Terry Gilliam, USA, 1991, 137 minutes

Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges star in this tale of unselfishness and atonement in modern-day New York Jack (Bridges) is a successful radio DJ who has unwittingly caused a listener to go and massacre the customers of a yuppie winebar Parry (Williams) is a deranged vagrant and ex-academic whose wife was killed in the massacre and who has now adopted the role of a knight-errant Whose mission is to find the Holy Grail and win the hand of the fair Lydia. Their lives become entangled when Parry saves Jack from suicide and muggers, and Jack decides to help Parry in his quest and help him win Lydia, partly out of guilt, and partly for his own self-gratification,

The title comes from a tale Parry tells to Jack; Parry's central message of bringing happiness to someone else's life is echoed throughout the film. The importance for Jack of forgiveness (note the "Forgive me!" motif) - his need to atone for having caused the death of Parry's wife - is also a central theme, linked to the metaphorical search for the grail. At first he helps Parry for his own ends but later realises that he too must be unselfish in his actions.

As well as the central story of Jack and Parry we are also introduced to some wonderful supporting characters, and Gilliam's idiosyncratic direction has its usual visual panache. The film shows Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges at their best, and Bridges' performance bears favourable comparison with that in American Heart, where he plays another down-and-out role.

Review by Hugo Hodges
Taken from EUFS Programme 1994-95