I think I must be the only person
who totally doesn't understand this
film. It's kind of funny, because
I have this movie and about once a
year or so I watch it, thinking, "Ok,
THIS time, it's all going to click"
and then... the credits roll and I'm
sitting there feeling like a moron,
saying, "Nope, I still don't get it."

I'm looking at a few web sites right
now, ones which offer explanation, but...
apparently its beyond my grasp. Despite
this, I still really like it.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by mersaulte:
I think I must be the only person
who totally doesn't understand this
film. I'm looking at a few web sites right
now, ones which offer explanation, but...
apparently its beyond my grasp. Despite
this, I still really like it.
<HR>

Is there a specific part (e.g. the last few minutes) you don't understand? The making-of documentary included on the DVD has a good discussion about the decisions made when deciding how to end the movie. The way they ended it was much better than the way Gilliam wanted to end it, IMHO. Besides, he still did get the close up of the boy's eyes...

--Dave

This is one of the better time-loop paradox (what came first: the chicken or the egg?) movies around.

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PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs

It's 12 Monkeys so you need to watch
it 12 times before it makes sense

12 times, hmm.. I should be about halfway
to enlightenment, then!

Probably spoilers in here....


Yes, someone else mentioned to me that
the documentary was rather interesting
and might prove helpful in understanding.
There were just numerous things scattered
throughout the entire film that didn't
entirely make sense to me. "Time loop"
thingies in general tend to make my brain
hurt. I think it's because the "rules"
for going back in time seem to vary from
movie to movie... It seems as though in
some films, a character is to go back in
time with the purpose of changing history;
in others, it's established that regardless
of what the character does, history will
not be changed. And during this film, I
never was able to determine which way it
was supposed to be, so I couldn't really
follow the motives of the characters.

Several other things, i.e., who was the
guy who kept calling Cole "Bob" all the
time -- was he another prisoner, someone
from Cole's imagination, or what. And
why, during Cole's airport dream earlier
in the film was Brad the virus carrier,
when at the end of the film, it wasn't
Brad but actually Brutal from Green Mile.
(I was able to recognize that this
guy also appeared in other parts of the
film, like at the book signing and in
the laboratory.)

And on and on. I could probably compile
a list of dozens of questions that popped
up in my head when I was watching it.

I think the point of 12 Monkeys was that you can't change history, no matter how much you try. I think it's a rather ingenious device. It also makes for a wonderfully convulted plot that actually clears itself up by the end. 12 Monkeys is one of my favorite films, and believe it or not, I still don't have it on DVD! Have to add it to my list of DVDs to buy (along with some Woody Allen films, Jaws, Taxi Driver, and some Cronenberg for good measure).

------------------
The Labyrinth: Where Everything Seems Possible And Nothing Is What It Seems
....so nothing is possible?

quote:<HR>12 Monkeys is one of my favorite films, and believe it or not, I still don't have it on DVD! <HR>

Count me in..me too!!!

Think about it, how about going back in time to die? It's just pretty darn bizarre in its own way.


------------------
PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs

Let's see...yes I believe that the gentleman who called him Bob was another prisoner in what is the film's definition of the "present." And the "dream" was actually a memory of something he saw as a child. But the more disoriented he got with all the going back and forth through time and just the fact that it had been so long ago made the memory less distinct. Therefore he superimposed Brad Pitt's face on the man at the airport in his memory when it had been David Morse all along. Just my opinion, by the way. I've heard other theories.

mersaulte, you seem to be in good company I'm watching the "Director's" DVD on Terry Gilliam and when once asked "What is 12 Monkeys about?" his response was "That's the trouble, I don't know"

BTW if you like TG this Director's DVD isn't too bad. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it, but if you have a coupon to blow (yeah right ).

I just looked those up; some pretty good
titles in there. I see a Cronenberg one
is coming soon, hmm.... They need to do
a Fincher one!

There's another way to look at 12 Monkeys, too, which didn't really occur to me until one of my later repeated viewings (though maybe it's obvious to everyone else and I'm just very slow) :

12 Monkeys, in addition to being a time-loop story, an exploration of dimensia, a question about inevitability, etc, etc.... has at its core, a pretty simple storyline...

A guy, whose initials are J.C., appears around Christmas-time, so that he can save all of the people in the world. In order that he can sve everyone, though, he ends up getting killed (with arms extended, mind you), mostly because people don't understand what he's trying to accomplish for their benefit.

Just a thought.

- M

Oh yeah, lest I forget this one (and I'm sure there are many more "clues" in the picture, too, that I'm either forgetting or haven't noticed yet)....

When Cole needs to find something with which to clothe himself, he happens to find an old t-shirt which proclaims "My name is CHRIS"

Gosh, I just love this kind of stuff.

- M

I've been waiting to get this disc and I've heard about an iminent price drop on the disc. Anybody hear about this? Or just want to mail me their copy for free?

------------------
Charles Mingus is alive
and
Alice Coltrane is your mother.

Ahhhh NO! Check DVDexpress, for the details. I think Universal is rereleasing a bunch of stuff at a lower price next month (or maybe Aug).

FWIW