All language subtitles for The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys (1996)

More reviews.

'Monkey Business:

'How director Terry Gilliam

'got Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt
and Madeleine Stowe

'to work cheap. '

'The film has a grim view. '

[Woman] That's a nice photo.

- Sitting on the table?
- The poster.

'The film: 12 Monkeys -

'R, violence, language,
sex, nudity. '

Where's there sex in it?

[Woman] Nowhere.

No. Let's sue them
for misrepresentation.

Stars. There we go.

Can I get you anything else?

How long before the show begins?

- The show starts at 5.30.
- 5.30.

[Show's theme tune]

'Tonight, Mandy Patinkin

'and director Terry Gilliam! '

[Man]
What d'you think of the intro?

What intro?

'Welcome one of Hollywood's
true creative visionaries,

'Terry Gilliam. '

I'm not gonna say...!

Hollywood? I've now become
a Hollywood director.

There's just no stopping
these folk.

'Our next guest was a founding
member of Monty Python

'and has gone on to direct
such films as Brazil,

'The Fisher King and now
12 Monkeys, which opens today. '

'Welcome one of Hollywood's
true creative visionaries,

'Terry Gilliam. '

[Man] Action on the crane!

[Terry sings tune]

[On tape] 'I don't know
anything about monkey, or... '

[Chanting] Use is abuse!

Use is abuse! Use is abuse!

[Terry] And action!

[Blows loud raspberry]

Cut.

[Jingling of bells]

[Siren wails]

Those windows over there.
If you can hit those ledges...

'In November of 1994,
Terry Gilliam began production

'on what he calls his seventh
and a half feature film,

'12 Monkeys.

'Although he normally
develops his own projects

'and works on the fringes
of the Hollywood system,

'Terry comes to 12 Monkeys
as a director for hire.

'He's now part of
a commercial film package

'that includes
someone else's script,

'major studio financing,

'and some of Hollywood's
most powerful stars. '

[Terry]
'There's a side of me

'that's permanently
sick to my stomach,

'feeling I'm being dragged
into the abyss of success...

'Then there's a side of me

'that thinks I'm getting away
with murder within the system. '

Maybe I am making
a European art movie

within the Hollywood
system. I don't know.

Maybe I'll just be caught.

'Terry's movies
are too big in scope

'to be anything but films

'that are intended
for a broad audience. '

As much as Terry might not wanna
be in the Hollywood system,

he knows he's never
gonna be able to get

the kind of money he wants

to make those hugely
ambitious movies

that his vision is,

without somehow involving
the studio system.

So that's the paradox, isn't it?

'Terry's experiences
in Hollywood

'have not always been pleasant.

'In 1985, Terry delivered
Brazil to Universal.

'Universal didn't like the film,

'and decided to shorten it

'and try out a happier ending. '

[Editor from Universal] Hm-m.

'Though Terry didn't
have final cut,

'he thought he'd have
the final word,

'and made the Battle
of Brazil public.

'He placed a full-page ad
in Variety.

'He arranged illegal screenings
for the LA Critics Circle.

[Critics] A-ah!

'When the film won the LA
Critics Best Picture award,

'Universal released
Terry's version of Brazil. '

[Audience] 0-oh

[Cheering and clapping]

Hm-mm.

Hm-mm-mm.

[Grunting and groaning]

'In 1987, Terry began work

'on The Adventures
of Baron Munchausen.

'The production was
plagued with disasters

'and expensive ideas.

'The studio found the film
too confusing for mass appeal

'and to avoid spending
even more money,

'it put little effort
into the marketing campaign.

'As a result, the film
floundered at the box office

'and Terry was left with
a bad reputation in Hollywood. '

[Door slams]

[Terry] 'After Munchausen,

'I went into a big depression
about film-making, period.

'Then Fisher King came along,
and it's the first script

'that I hadn't been
involved in the writing of. '

It's the easiest film I made
and one of the most enjoyable,

and it was successful.
Very dangerous stuff, this.

Then I went and got
a Hollywood agent.

Now I've got a Hollywood
lawyer as well.

'There's an ironic aspect
to this whole thing,

'because Brazil was made
for Universal Pictures. '

On the other hand, I'm in
a situation on this film

where I got final cut.

All I've ever wanted
is control of it,

and I seem to have it
on this one.

'Terry's asked us
to make a documentary

'about the making
of 12 Monkeys. '

[Terry] The boys, gentlemen,
artists, documentarians.

This is the big moment.

The birth of
a great documentary.

'He's jokingly suggested that
if anything should go wrong,

'at least this time
he'll have witnesses. '

[Terry] 'There's a
sadness about this thing.

'There's a decay about it'

There's, uh, a nostalgia.

These are elements of the film.

What is nice about
this is just the, you know,

the monotonous
forever going in a circle.

Everybody just dutifully
following one ass after another.

This is humanity -
just a lot of monkeys

except for the one
that breaks loose.

The dangerous, destructive one.

[Terry] 'This script
is very disconcerting

'because it's dealing with time,
it's dealing with madness.

'It's dealing with a perception
of what the world is or isn't. '

[Man]
'It's a science fiction thriller

'about a virus that
wipes out humanity... '

[2nd Man] 'It's one man
travelling back through time

'to put together
the jigsaw puzzle. '

[3rd Man] 'But in fact, maybe
he really isn't from the future

'and all of this
is in his head. '

[4th Man] 'For the first
50 pages of the script,

'you have no idea
what's going on. '

Do you think that
as the credits roll,

the audience
will have figured it out?

Or are they gonna be
going home arguing about it?

[Bruce] I wonder...

[Man] They'll be
going home arguing about it.

Do we wanna make
the answer clear enough

that they can figure it out
on the way home,

or that it just
remains ambiguous?

The studio's been strange
'cause they put a cap on it.

I think they feel
it's an art movie.

They don't know
what to make of it.

It doesn't fit any genre or
mould that makes sense to them.

'And it was really only
when we got Bruce involved -

'Bruce Willis - that it became
a more, um, viable project.

'They're obsessed with things
like opening weekend.

'And someone like Bruce
guarantees an opening weekend.

'And so with him in it,
it became definite. '

[Electrical whirring]

Here we go. Stand by.

OK, let's roll.

OK. Let's go.

[Man] And action!

[Charles Roven]
'Terry insisted on final cut,

'and the studio said,
"OK, fine,

'"as long as the movie is
no worse than an 'R' rating

"and no longer than
2 hours and 15 minutes,

"we'll give him final cut.

'"But financial responsibility
will not be ours. "'

This budget... is 137 pages.

It's longer than the script.

I remember every line.

You remember every line?

You don't have to worry,
ever, about money.

You only have to worry
about the way it gets spent.

The discipline
that was put on us -

was not particularly pleasant,

but which was
a finite amount of money,

much less than what we needed -

forced us all to work
to find solutions

to try and make this movie
within that budget.

But we have
a long, dense script.

We have a short schedule
and a limited amount of money.

So inevitably,
you pay the price.

The first bear that
Terry chose was a rip-off.

The owner of the bear was
asking for something ludicrous.

The plasterers are,
uh, 350 a day.

The driver's
costing 2,800 a week.

The Marx Brothers are
$10,000, the image of them.

We could purchase
either one of them

for their rock-bottom price
of $7,500.

I'd a bid at 20,000 for this.

So I've been trying...

I really don't get these prices.

I'm on the edge on every set.

That's why we've
gotta find ways of...

[Jeffrey Beecroft] I had this
feeling the movie should have

this feeling
of decay, of the past.

And because
we didn't have money,

we couldn't build
a lot of big sets.

But I wanted a big
look for the film.

So we decided to use old power
plants, crumbling buildings,

to show the decay of
civilisation within the 1990s

as well as in the year 2035.

[Terry] What we gotta do is...

That thing is gonna
have to go below...

[Jeffrey]
'We started talking about,

'"That machine could be this,"

'then they started
working the script

'around things we'd found. '

[Terry] 'The time machine
sequence in the script

'was originally, I think,
about two lines. '

'And as we were wandering around
these power stations in Philly

'and looking at gigantic
turbines and massive machinery,

'I felt, "We gotta
make a time machine. "

'And so I convinced everybody,

'"Let's go for it and let's
create a massive time machine. "'

It seemed that by the time
I had arrived on the film,

everybody - Terry,
Jeff, the producers -

must have talked endlessly
about the time machine

and yet never quite
homed in on it.

'And it started to happen
in daily meetings

'that Terry and Jeff and I had.

'And what developed was...
was using found objects,

'things that I'd find in
the gutter or in flea markets,

'coming across some
piece of scrap metal,

'or some domestic item
and adapting that,

'and making it
into something unusual. '

[Terry] 'I became
more and more obsessed,

'as I was
through this whole film,

'about, you know, uh, condoms

'and... and bubbles and sealing.

'The boy in the bubble, sealing
things from other things.

'And so we built a cocoon

'that would, uh, transport him
into the machine,

'and it was just extraordinary.

'It seemed like
an amniotic sac.

'It's something to do
with birth and death,

'the two things being
closely related in my mind. '

[Jeffrey Beecroft] 'Terry's
always looking for an edge. '

He goes, "We're going
to make a little movie. "

Then it becomes a big movie.

He said,
"I have to start out little

"because it's gonna
become big anyway. "

[Terry]
'This is fucking great. '

'I was just reading
the script again. '

The gurney is wheeled into a...

[Laughing] Cole is wheeled
into a steel tube!

That much on the thing.

[Man]
No mistakes this time, Cole.

Stay alert. Keep your eyes open.

Good thinking about the spider.

Do something like that again.

[Terry]
'When we did the time machine,

the set looked like a theatrical
set in a strange way.

'I thought, "This is silly.

'"This isn't intimidating,
this isn't worrying.

"'This is silly
and it's funny.

'"Late in life, trying
to learn to be a director. "

'It's what I'm trying
to teach myself -

'how do you become a director
when it's not your stuff? '

It is harder doing
other people's scripts

because... I feel a great
responsibility to the writers.

And I fight making it
a Terry Gilliam film.

[Boys chanting]
We want Bruce! We want Bruce!

'One of the challenges

'in making 12 Monkeys
a Terry Gilliam film

'is overcoming the image
of some of the actors involved. '

...he's been the target
of animal rights activists...

They have guards, gates,
alarms. This is madness.

'Terry never worried
about Madeleine Stowe.

'He chose her for her
versatility as an actor,

'and feels comfortable
with her grasp on the role.

'Bruce Willis
is a different story. '

'Bruce normally appears
in Bruce Willis films. '

'Audiences go to see his films
not because of the director

'but because they know
what to expect from Bruce. '

So just as I'm in mid-flight,

or Terry's in mid-flight,

Chuck, you're gonna open up.

'Bruce and Terry are trying
to do something different -

'trying to tone down
the Die Hard image

'and create a more
vulnerable character. '

Look a bit closer to camera.

Into the lens even. Try it.

Ugh! Ugh!

'Anxious to be involved
in a Terry Gilliam film,

'Bruce and the other
principals have also asked

'for only a fraction
of their usual fees.

'Still, the buzz
surrounding 12 Monkeys

'often has more to do
with the film's stars

'than with its director. '

I got 5,000 pictures
of different famous people.

- How many?
- 5,000.

- Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.

[Security]
I'd like you across the street

where we've had all the press.

Bruce Willis sees you here

and tells us
we're not doing any filming

because you're out here,
you'll be holding up the work.

Then a higher authority than me

will ask you to
move across the street.

[Man]
'She walks on the set

'carrying a framed picture
of Brad Pitt with her,

and gets past that
incredible security we have.

I go outside for coffee,
I can't get back in!

But we got...
wandering the building.

'I think it's fortuitous
on the producers' parts'

to have signed Brad Pitt
when they did.

When they signed him -

three, four months ago -

Interview with the Vampire,

Legends of the Fall,

still hadn't hit theatres,

and that all happened

three, four weeks
before we started filming,

and they've got
the hottest guy in Hollywood.

[Terry] 'That'll give time
for Roz and Joey to get up. '

And once everybody's over there,

back comes the Pied Piper
this way out of the chair.

[Terry]
'One of the interesting things

'was to get Brad Pitt
to play a character

'very unlike anything we've
ever seen him play before.

'Somebody fast, furious,
neurotic and frenzied.

'We decided he had
to train for this role

'because his voice didn't have
the qualities needed to do it.

'Brad worked
really hard at this. '

Like this.
I need to know something.

'You gotta wake 'em up. '

You gotta go one, two, three,
four, one, two, three, four.

Number two makes him itch.

Truth... is not how
I see it or they see it,

there's just the truth.
There is the truth.

You either see it or you don't.

Excellent.
OK. Hope it's useful to ya.

What else can you tell me?

Well, um...

I think some of the
dis... distraction,

the motor movement... If we're
staying with a manic kinda...

Right.

Some of the motor stuff...

I would expect you to get up

and pace around a little bit.

Move around more?

We can go much more irritable.

I think so.
There are happy manics.

That videotape,
you saw the lady.

Right.

- She's kind of a happy manic.
- Right.

And then there are angry manics
who are more irritable.

'The window of opportunity
is opening now!

'Now's the time for all good men
to seize the moment! '

[Laughter]

'And action.

'And the opportunities,
they are...

'Oh, they really dosed you, Jim.

'Major load. '

[Terry] 'We've got big-name
stars to open the film. '

'Whether it opens it
in the right way,

'and lets the audience
know what they're in for,

'that's something else.

'I'm more worried about
the first couple of previews,

'when the studio sees it,
and the audience sees it,

'and everybody panics. '

[Laughter]

It's going to be very different
than they expected

and then the shit's
gonna hit the fan.

Then the panic starts

and then the pressure's
gonna be on.

And the more they feel that,

the more they will push
the selling of it

as a Bruce Willis/
Brad Pitt movie.

But it is how
the film got made -

by putting some stars in it.

You want it in the camera truck?

Actually, uh,
Terry Gilliam's trailer.

OK.

[Terry laughing]

This is breathtaking.

You can't go wrong with this.

[Woman] There's the sandwich
really well identified.

[Man] Oh, it's unbearable.

[Terry] It's great!

[Woman] It worked.

Yes, of course it worked.

It's great. It's really funny.

We're glad we gave you a laugh.

[Lloyd Phillips] 'If one
was going to write a book

'about the making of the film,

'I'd call it,
The Hamster Factor

'and Other Tales About
the Making of 12 Monkeys. '

And the hamster factor
is the Terry Gilliam element,

which is where
everything is in order,

everything is in place.

And then there's detail...
that he needs to get right.

'And the hamster factor
comes from a scene

'where we built
a little laboratory set

'in a gas turbine.

'Bruce Willis was sitting
naked, drawing his own blood. '

[Terry] 'In that frame
is a hamster in a wheel. '

You say, "It's a simple shot.

"It'll take a couple
of minutes. "

Then the hamster didn't do
what it was supposed to.

[Man] 'Save the animal. '

[Lloyd Phillips] 'Terry,
that night, was more preoccupied

'with getting the hamster
to perform right

'than he was Bruce Willis. '

Here we go.

Are you squidged
against the wall?

You're incredibly uncomfortable?

Must be right, then.

Sitting on a heater.

'And in the end,
he got Bruce's performance

'and he got
the hamster's performance. '

[Terry] 'It's in there!

'The hamster's in there,

'and he's in his little wheel
and he's exercising. '

That became the hamster factor,

so every time I do a shot

and people think they know
what the shot is,

I add one element that's gonna
bugger up the whole thing,

and it takes a day to do when
normally it'd take five minutes.

And it's a bit of detail
that doesn't mean anything

to anybody but myself.

There's not a lot of really
good information down there.

Oh, fuck.

I can't work out how they...

I can't work the focus on 'em.
That's in focus there.

[Terry] '12 Monkeys
has a credit and it says,

'"Based on the movie La Jet�e
by Chris Marker. "

'La Jet�e was a film
made in the sixties,

'early sixties, in France. '

'It's a film I've never seen,

'but it's about 27 minutes long
and nothing moves in it.

'It's black and white
photographs, still photographs.

'But what it is about
is a world in the future

'where people have survived some
apocalyptic end of the world

'and they're living underground

'and people are being
sent back to the past.

'And it ends with a man
seeing his own death. '

We stuck to that

from the very beginning,

that this is the story
of a man who has a dream

and is haunted by a dream.

And he has one dream...

and it's his death.

'He sees his own death. '

[David Peoples] 'We used
the situation of La Jet�e

'and the dream and so on.

'By the same token,'

12 Monkeys is not based on it

in the sense that somebody's

trying to copy this masterpiece.

It's not a simple remake.

Yet it has an enormous
debt to La Jet�e

that must be acknowledged.

'While 12 Monkeys takes
its climactic final moments

'directly from La Jet�e,

'the contrast between the two
films is never more striking

'than in these airport scenes.

'This is 12 Monkeys' most
logistically complex shoot.

'It involves a very tight
schedule for the number of shots

'and the management
of over 500 extras. '

I'd like you put
put your hands up

if you've been told to move.

[Jazz band plays]

Philadelphia police, airport
security, raise your hand.

You're gonna come through,
come through...

[Man] Background action.

And action.

Get that guy outta there.

'Nah, tons of them. '

'I was talking about everyone. '

The Japanese are
the only thing I like.

Everybody else is nothing.

[Cole] I know this place.

[Railly]
Airports all look the same.

This is my dream.

[Terry] 'I don't think
this film is La Jet�e.

'We've done this
very complicated,

'possibly lumbering, clunky,
crash-bang version of that. '

It has such an ephemeral
connection to it.

It was the springboard

but the diving board
is not the dive.

This is the triple gainer
with the double flip

and we're about
to hit the water.

If there's no water
in the pool, we'll find out.

Boom! It's like this.

We don't see him
and you in that...

Background action... Action!

[Actors shouting]

[Piece of set falls]

Cut, cut, cut, cut,
cut, cut, cut, cut, cut.

'I am the man
who shoots Bruce Willis.

'I am the man who
shoots Bruce Willis. '

And I go, "Stop! Police!"

Actually, Bruce Willis
has, I don't think,

ever been killed
in a film before.

It's never been done before.

No!

Freeze!

'With all the complexity and
confusion of the airport shoot,

'there's one thing
that's truly important.

'The audience must realise
that Cole's recurring dreams

'are actually
childhood memories,

'and that the boy in the airport
is the young Bruce Willis,

'who witnesses his own death. '

[Man] '256, take 4.
A and B common mark. '

[Man] 'Background action...

'And action! '

[Terry] 'This kid's got
these beautiful eyes

'that are really
what it's about. '

[Man] 'Six. '

[Bruce]
He should do a kid thing,

like he's excited or something.

His first time in an airport...

You walk through,
look around a second.

Like, "Cool. This is something. "

Made it! And it didn't kill me.

[Man] '265, take 3.'

[Man] 'And action. '

[Terry] 'And cut. '

- Got that?
- No.

'Terry's cast the boy
for his beautiful eyes,

'but it wasn't until
after the first few takes

'that he realised
that beautiful eyes

'were not necessarily
enough for the job. '

He photographs beautifully

but he's just...

[Charles Roven] 'Once he
realised he'd made a mistake,

'he lost sight of everything
else that we had to do there. '

From the beginning, he said,

"I want the movie to open
and close on the kid.

"That's how I see the film. "

'And here he was losing the
ability to have the very image

'that got him
to make the movie.

'He was in danger of losing it. '

'Never comfortable
with Terry's choice,

'Chuck Roven insisted on having
an alternate young Cole

'standing in the wings,

'waiting for his call. '

[Terry]
OK, now you're out of hiding.

Know what this is?

Um, an airport?

Good que... answer.

How's school?

Good. I've been
out of it for a while.

I missed two days
and I didn't do nothing.

What do I do now?

[Terry] You've never been
through one of these before?

Actually, I have. In real life.

We're talking about movies now.

So I look around and...

Just walking and, this is great.

Whoa, that's wonderful. Yeah.

And action.

Brilliant.

We've done it.

Cut that.

It was good. Yeah.

Check the gates on that one.

[Lloyd Phillips]
'Terry's very, very specific

'about the images
that he has in his mind. '

Sometimes images become
the crutch on which he rests.

So sometimes he misses
the theme or the point

of the characters or the script

and relies upon
his visual solutions.

'Some of the days that are the
most excruciating to complete

'are days where Terry,
and the actors,

'are still trying
to understand the material. '

[Charles Roven]
'One of the things he told me

'that I believed
'cause I saw it happen,

'was that his life
starts to shape itself

'so that he suffers the same
things as his lead character.

'So if you've got
Bruce Willis in the film

'losing his focus, not knowing
what's real and not real,

'Terry, I knew at some point,

'would lose his focus
on the movie. '

He wouldn't know what was
important and what wasn't,

or begin to be shaky about it.

[Vaudeville-type music]

No-one said anything
about elephants.

Where does this fit in?

'And action! '

[Incoherent muttering]

[Mark Egerton]
'Well, who's mad? '

'Is Cole mad? '

Or, as Railly begins to think,

she thinks she's mad.

Who's mad?

Is Terry mad? Probably. Very.

[Terry laughs]

[Crowd shouting]
'Stop the murder! '

'And the horror! '

Use is abuse!

Use is abuse! Use is abuse!
Use is abuse!

[Terry] 'I feel more
disconcerted on this one

'than anything I've ever done.

'It's a feeling of
not sure what we're doing. '

Oh, God, I wish
we could get going here.

[Shouting]

Cut it.

[Man] I can't breathe!

[Terry]
What happened down there?

Something totally different
happened that time.

[Terry] 'This always
happens with my stuff -

'the essence of the film

'becomes what the making
of it's about.

'It's a big-ish film
with some big stars in it,

'so it should have bigness
to it, but it doesn't.

'It's all in little pieces.

'I can see an image of her,

'and you think,
"Poor helpless thing. "'

And then she goes wham!

And it's so violent
and you get thrown back.

And then she would do that

and she hits you
with the second one.

And then she's on you.
Is that...?

OK. I don't agree.

I'll certainly try it.

I think we have a can of worms -
she's a frail woman.

I'm saying give her a weapon

because I could stand there

and she could kick me
eight fucking times

and I wouldn't
be going anywhere.

I'll do anything
to make a movie.

Are you in focus on that one?

Oh, yeah.

That's what it's like.

'Midway through the production,

'Terry goes horseback riding

'and suffers
a near-fatal accident.

'On his first day
back to the set,

'he jokes that if his ability
to manage a production

'is anything like his ability
to control a horse,

'the film's in serious trouble. '

I don't have a clue
what the film is any more.

I've lost it totally.

I just know we do
one scene after another

and try to make the scenes
as good as we can.

But as far as having
a real sense of where we are,

I'm not certain because we're
making pieces of the jigsaw.

Each one we make -
that's beautiful.

I'm just worried about
how it all goes together.

'With time and money
running low,

'Terry focuses all his anxieties
on the interrogation room,

'the film's last
futuristic set.

'For months now,

'the crew has been
working steadily here,

'trying to realise
Terry's ideas for the room.

'Although no-one seems clear
exactly what those ideas are.

'Except that the room includes

'the production's most expensive
piece of set design,

'the video ball. '

[Man] Move faster.

'Fearing that the arm
that supports the ball

'is not capable
of smooth motion,

'the producers have arrived
for a surprise inspection. '

[Man]
Straighten it and stop it.

Bring it down and stop it.

Stop.

Something went like that.

We've gotta fix this.

It looks terrible
and it doesn't work.

When we're doing his point
of view, looking at the ball,

the camera's gonna look
and the thing's gonna shake.

It'll look like shit.

When you're combining
the three moves slowly,

you can disguise a lot of that.

That movement's disguised
and that movement's disguised.

All right.
It'll still look like shit.

No, no, no, no.
If we can... Chuck, Chuck.

Why don't you guys
keep rehearsing on it?

Sometimes it shook
and sometimes it didn't.

He's saying
it's always gonna shake.

When it shakes a little there,

it's amplified
because of the distance.

We need it not to shake.

[Terry] 'I think it's
a very disjointed crew.

'It isn't like
everybody's united

'in our approach
to making this film.

'Fear seems to permeate
Hollywood film-making.

'There seems to be
too much desire

'to please the director
or the star. '

"But we wanna
please you, Terry. "

I said, "I'm not interested
in you pleasing me,

"but doing what's
best for the film,

"and that may not please me.
I may be the problem. "

'At lunch today,

'hovering over a scale
model of the video ball,

'Terry, the producers
and the special effects team

'shout at the top
of their lungs.

'We're afraid to turn
the camera in their direction.

'From somewhere
behind the fruit salad,

'we hear Terry tell Chuck Roven

'that he should find someone
else to direct this film.

'Terry spends the next hour
locked in his trailer. '

[Terry]
'The function of that room,

'as far as I'm concerned,

'is to be like, you know...

'It should be, in a strange way,

'the inside of Cole's
deranged mind. '

The jigsaw of the film
should be in that room.

All the key bits
and pieces around it,

not necessarily
in the right order.

[Man]
'We had this whole discussion

'about what kind of
technology they did have. '

[Terry] 'They're
underground, it's rough,

'they're scraping
an existence together. '

[Man] 'Everything that
they have in the future

'is based on
pre-1996 technology.

'We're dealing with the future,

'but we didn't want anything
to look Star Trekian.

[Terry] 'I wanted angles
and strange shapes,

'anything you couldn't
quite make sense of. '

[2nd Man] 'Nothing is
too slick or streamlined. '

'Everything's got a damp stain,
is a little rusty. '

[3rd Man] 'Everything
relates to something else,

'so you feel comfortable,
in a way, in the room. '

[2nd Man]
'He's communicating to people,

'not directly,
but through these videos.

'It's kind of like distances. '

[3rd Man]
'They seem to be pack rats. '

[3rd Man] 'They're trying to
piece together what happened. '

[Woman] 'If you're doing
a scientist in a lab coat

'with a plastic cover on it,
that says, Don't Touch. '

[Terry] Shit! Cut!

'I find sometimes I just
overcomplicate things.

'I put too many things in. '

'I'm just desperate
to say, Stop. '

'I've encouraged people
to go for too much detail

'and they've lost track
of the basic narrative,

'the key information
that has to come through.

'And it seems
impossible to communicate

'what we need in the room.

'The script dictates
certain things,

'and it's getting
basic information across. '

It's like I've set
this machine in motion.

In all the
pre-production meetings,

I've said I want dwarves
and giants and...

Everybody goes out and does it

and on the day, there they are,
10,000 of 'em doing stuff!

What have I done?
But it's too late.

The machine is just
running over you.

I'm assuming that's it.

OK, that...

[Man] We can put it down low.

And action!

[Woman] Close your eyes, Cole.

[Man] Tell us in detail what
you've seen in this room.

How old were you
when you left the surface?

What does he look like,
the man who just spoke?

Were you alone
when you left the surface?

Oh, fuck!

Cut.

You said, and I just
wanna make sure,

was it that you were
depressed or frustrated or...?

[Terry] All of those things
are there all the time.

The reality
of making films for me

is just hard work and not...

and, um...

and disappointment
that I can't actually achieve

what I can imagine.

[Terry]
'Where the fuck is this?

'Where the fuck is it? '

That!

'While much time
and energy is spent

'on the more visually
bizarre scenes,

'the real dramatic work
of 12 Monkeys

'takes place in relatively
mundane environments.

'It is in these scenes
that the relationship

'between Cole and Railly
slowly develops. '

[Bruce as Cole]
'I'm mentally ill.

'I imagine these people
in my head. '

'For Terry, the subtlety
of Bruce's performance

'is the most critical aspect
of these scenes.

'Bruce must appear
both tough and vulnerable,

'rational and delusional. '

But you're still rational.

You're still following
the logical path of questioning.

Like a doctor would.

I'm trying.

A lot more than I am.

I'm just fielding these things,
not very well.

On the other hand,

you're starting out
with the thought

that you understand
what's wrong.

You're mad.

That's bullshit. I'm just...

That's where
you're starting with,

the idea that you're
mentally divergent.

She keeps saying,
"You're not insane. "

I'm mad. This is all in my mind.

It's not. Look at this.
Look at this.

The stuff we've done
in the car the other day,

I just felt it was a bit flat.

It didn't have,
you know, something...

- OK.
- It was too flat, yeah.

That's why I think anger, or...

a kind of bitterness in there.
But not whining.

We were just...

Wait. I'm sorry.

I'm thinking about...

You're not talking about
the stuff we did the other day?

No, no, no.

Glad that's not flat.

- This was flat because I knew...
- Yeah.

I thought you meant
that whole day's shooting.

No. Where you jump
out the car.

I was told
that wouldn't be used.

You made sure it wasn't!

'Bruce and Madeleine's
most dramatic scenes

'take place on the road.

'Terry's been dreading
these car shots.

'They're visually dull

'and it's difficult
to communicate with the actors

'during a take.

'But Terry's
determined to capture

'the right emotional intensity
from these scenes.

Ain't this the life?

[Video tape played at speed]

'As the shoot progresses,

'the film's editor,
Mick Audsley,

'has already begun
piecing together

'the puzzle of 12 Monkeys. '

The filing system.

'The film editor's job
is to edit the film

'but also to troubleshoot
for the director.

'With so many scenes
shot out of order,

'the editor's advice
can be invaluable

'for ensuring that
the actors' performances

'remain consistent
throughout the film.

'The driving shots have
also been a problem area

'for the editorial staff. '

[Mick] 'Hello? '

'Hi, Terry. '

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not
actually on that yet.

OK. It's still in
the numbering machine, I think.

Shall I drop everything?

Right. Let me have
a close encounter with it

because I'm hot
on to that reel.

It's called
The Reel from Hell in here.

'Wait. Stop.
Here - right here. '

[Mick] 'Terry and I
shared a concern early on

'about that whole area,

'which was why we called it
The Reel from Hell.

'It's a transitional
part of the film.

'And the logic of
Railly's character, I think,

'is most under scrutiny
at that point.

'Cole is... You know,
he's the aggressive one.

'So we had to create a situation

'in which she is both terrified

'and yet, uh, magnetised
to him in some way.

'We had concerns about Bruce. '

Occasionally,
he would veer off, perhaps,

into an area which wasn't

useful to this film.

And we'd be concerned

about monitoring that

and bringing it back
on board again.

'You people don't know
what you have.

'And it's all gonna be gone.

'You see? '

Fascinating, isn't it?

I think we nailed it.

[Woman] It's great.

I thought he was very good
on his close-up.

In a way, when he does that,
you think, "Oh, he's... "

When he nails it, you think...

There's a shyness
and toughness in conflict.

I think it's wonderful
seeing this man sentimental

because it confuses you

as to whether this...

You know, whether it is
a truly-felt emotion

or, uh, or he's barking mad.

I'm sure The Reel from Hell

will be the one we love
in the end. Exactly.

Please do. And, um,
the alarm bells aren't ringing.

As foggy as it is in here,

the sense is that...
that something's happening.

All right, Terry.
Take care. Bye.

We break for lunch,
move over to the stage.

We get to the stage by seven.

'With the last days
of production approaching,

'Terry and Chuck struggle to
squeeze in the remaining shots. '

I think this one.
I think of this as Eden.

I just kinda like that.

'Ironically,
the shoot will conclude

'with the last shot
of the film,

'a shot which has caused
considerable conflict

'between Terry and Chuck.

'Chuck wants to follow
the original script,

'which ends with young Cole
in the airport parking lot.

'As far as Terry is concerned,

'he already has his final shot -

'the shot of young Cole
in the airport,

'witnessing his own death. '

Mm-hm.

All right.

Very sad.

Perfect, Joe. Thanks.

[Terry] 'From early on,

'reading the script
and in discussions,

'I've felt that
the ending of the film

'would take place
in the airport

'between Railly and the boy.
Their eye contact. '

'That's why I start on his eyes
and end on his eyes.

'The boy is touched, scarred,
damaged by what he's just seen.

'Something that'll stay with him
for the rest of his life.

'The scene that came after that'

was a scene in the airplane

where Dr Peters and his viruses
meet the astrophysicist.

'And we know that...
that somehow...

'the astrophysicist
will get the virus

'and will be able
to save the human race. '

Jones is my name.

'There was an argument
that we needed that scene

'because otherwise, Cole's death
would have been in vain. '

He wouldn't have
achieved anything.

This way, the audience can see
that he has achieved something.

His death has led them to the
virus and he saves the future.

And I was convinced
that was all nonsense anyway,

and it was unnecessary,

and it would weaken
the emotional ending.

'And so once we'd agreed
to the airplane shot,

'Chuck kept lobbying
for the parking lot shot.

'I said no, 'cause we're not
using the airplane shot. '

'You're still a dreamer, I see. '

'I didn't have a shot in my head

'for the boy
in the parking lot.

'And Chuck was adamant
that we do the shot. '

Finally, I said,
"OK, I'll do it.

"But we need to have
this huge shot.

"We gotta see thousands of cars.

"We gotta see the entire world. "

I encouraged everybody to
come up with expensive solutions

so that Chuck would say
we can't afford to do it,

and I wouldn't have to do it.

'Suddenly, we got a crane
on top of another crane.

'We're in a parking lot,

'we've got the whole
world there. '

Isn't it an amazing thing, that?

[Man] And... action!

Chase 'em.

That's quite...
Ooh, that's nice.

That's a very nice angle.

[Terry]
'Slowly... take it down...

'OK, now we're getting...

'Slow, slow, slow, slow,
slow, slow...

'slow, slow, slow, slow
slow, slow...

'That's a strong shot.

'So that shot got in,

'and the shot
wouldn't have been made

'had not Chuck persisted'

and me being just spiteful,

and coming up with the most
expensive solutions.

But the result is
a really good shot.

[Terry]
'And the camera comes right down

'and finds the boy
as he gets into his car,

'and into his face,
and into his eyes.

'And his eyes have changed

'from the boy that was
in the air terminal.

'This is a boy
with determinations,'

the guy that's
gonna become Cole.

The guy that's gonna
be a social misfit,

that's gonna cause trouble.

[Lloyd Phillips]
'I think Terry... needs angst. '

That's good.

'... Uh, to fuel his motor. '

[Man] And... action!

[Lloyd] 'His creative motor
thrives off having... arguments,

'having arguments with himself. '

I think that he needs to...

In his... in his battle
of David and Goliath,

which he revels in,

and which he's had in Hollywood
and with the studio.

He wants to feel as though
this movie is... is...

'the little champion fighting
the great, big Goliath. '

[Man] What are you gonna
cut this on, Ediplex?

No. This.

I mean...

No. I'm just doing it
the old-fashioned way.

[Railly] 'OK, you were standing
there looking at the moon.

'You were splashing
through the water... '

[Terry] 'I'm waiting to go
into the editing room

'and see what we've got.

'Putting the last pieces
of the jigsaw together. '

I am mentally ill.

I imagined all these
things, these people.

- No.
- L-I know they're not real...

[Terry] 'If it at least works
on the love story, we're OK.

'But the building up
of the dreams

'and Cole's character -

'how we build up
sympathy for him

'and a reason for her
to be attracted to him.

'Those are the things
I'm still not certain about. '

[Video tape played at speed]

'Eight weeks into
post-production in London,

'Mick and Terry add
the finishing touches

'to the first full cut
of 12 Monkeys. '

[Music begins]

[Terry]
'Hey, we're in the movies!

'Why do we then disappoint...

'so many people so badly? '

And then it goes black.

'Universal Pictures presents... '

That was brilliant. And then...

[Terry's words are muffled]

Atlas... thingummy.

I think we should actually
start with an announcement.

Yes.

It's the first thing
we should hear.

[Muffled voice]
Now boarding at gate...

'Although it is a very
rough first version,

'Terry can finally screen
the film for an audience

'and gauge the response. '

[Applause]

[Terry]
'I'll show it in England a lot

'before it's shown over here.

'To try to get friends in
and we talk about it.

'Is it working? Do you
understand what's going on?

'Are you confused?

'People come in and then
you go and talk about it,

'in a relaxed kind of way. '

There were so many
layers to the film.

Yeah.

Which is good.

You're sitting there
the whole time working it out.

Did it feel redundant at all?

That's, in a sense,
what Peter is saying.

I worry about
giving too much away.

It's trying to get
enough information

that people feel they're not
in the hands of bad storytellers

who don't know
what they're doing.

'With the first cut
as a point of departure,

'Terry and his creative
staff discuss strategies

'for completing the film
within the next four months. '

[Terry]
'When you're shooting,

'it's just constant pressure

'because every day there's
another $125,000 being spent.

'And you're part
of this huge machine

'that just is churning forward.

'There's 150 people there
every day. There's questions.

'The pressure is incessant.

'With editing, you're not
dealing with any of that.

'At this stage we're down
to an editing room

'with a few people.

'Production matters,
they're in the distance.

'This is the quiet,
reflective part of film-making. '

[Music from the opera Carmen]

'We're just trying to make
something out of these pieces

'and it really frees you. '

[Mick] 'I think the
difficulties with this film

'were the puzzle of it
as an overall piece. '

Which is certainly
why I was attracted to it.

I knew it'd be an editorial
challenge/nightmare.

Anything that deals with time,
or the fragmentation of time

'editorially is always
the toughest thing to achieve.

'I think the challenge for us
was really finding out

'if certain confusions
or ambiguities'

are, in effect, the pleasure
of this particular film.

Or have we failed
in communicating ideas?

That's what this whole editorial
process has been about.

[Terry] 'Time travel
always goes to another time,

'not to a time
when you were young. '

All I'm saying is that
I'm going through the argument

that I think we wanna
think he's crazy.

And it's not a time travel film.

I don't see how you lose that

by telling them
it's 1996 before he goes.

[Terry] The point of the
future stuff is psychological.

And, "We're gonna
send you to 1996... "

By putting those specifics
in at that point,

it weakens it.
That's my feeling.

Why does it matter?

If it's in your head,
you wouldn't do that.

- Why not?
- You're in 1996.

Then you don't know
that he went to the wrong place.

Maybe he thinks he went
to the wrong place

but the scientists
sent him to the right place.

The scientists haven't told us
and him where he's gotta go.

How big a deal is it
that it's 1990 instead of 1996?

[Terry]
'I think the difficulty is

'that it's a hard thing

'for most people
to get their heads around.

'How can he be two people
at the same time? '

But it makes total sense

when one sits down
and thinks about it.

But I don't want people to have
to sit down and think about it.

They've gotta believe it
at that point... Yeah. Yeah.

One of the problems

is everybody became fixated
with the future world

and spent an enormous
amount of time and energy

on the detail
of the future world

when we only see it
in the engineering room.

And the engineering room
is not about detail

so much as about the emotion
or internal confusion

that Cole should be feeling.

You sent me to the wrong year.
It was 1990.

[Scientists] 1990?

[Terry] 'My intention
is to let the audience

'maintain total uncertainty
about his mental state,

'whether the future
was in his mind or was real.

'And I think the music's
gonna amplify his mental state

'so we can make more of it. '

[Abstract music
played over film]

[Imitates possible
instrumental effects]

[Terry] Yes.

And some stuff like that.

Then there's Cole's theme

as he tries to get out through
the molasses of his drugs,

trying to reach the door.

But one can play counterpoint.

[Imitates a musical instrument]

[Terry] Yeah.

But that's...

It's exactly the feeling
that has to be communicated.

It's like that.
Slow-motion music.

It's against this
other stuff going on.

The thing is that the audience

should never be aware
of the music, as such,

but should just be
aware of their own...

What's going on
with their hormones.

[Terry] I agree.

I tried this over this stuff

and it slows it down.

[Terry]
'Robin, the music editor,

'found a great violin concerto

'that he laid over the dream.

'And to me, it's wonderful.
It's got the right quality.

'That's the voice
that calls him into the dreams

'and is a good way to die. '

[Concerto for Violin and
Percussion by Jacques Loussier]

[Music plays over film]

Well, this is, you know...

The cutting,
the editing is beautiful.

That tempo of the piece
is absolutely right.

That's the right beat
and the right kind of mood.

It's the direction
we want to go in?

It's so simple.
It's not cheap sentiment.

No, it's not.

It's real beautiful and tragic.

It's expensive.

It's great when she starts
looking for the boy.

[Haunting violin music]

[Man in film] 'Excuse me. '

[Dr Jones in film]
'It's obscene. '

All the violence,
all the lunacy.

Shootings even at airports now.

You might say that we're
the next endangered species.

I've often wondered
about taking this scene out

and going to the parking lot.

I mean, does this almost
sort of suggest a sequel?

No, no, no.

We're doing two endings
of the film...

to test.

I see.

One is this one with Dr Peters

and the other
just ends on the boy.

One version ends...

[Terry] With or without
the scene inside the plane.

There are two camps here

about whether that
detracts from the ending

or enriches it a little bit

by tidying up certain plot...

I mean, I recognised her,

and when it was all over,

you're thinking...
You're working it out, really.

They are there and they're
gonna save the world.

She's actually come
back from the future,

and Cole, effectively,
has led them to this point.

Right. That didn't...

Didn't come through?

Didn't come through for me, no.

I got that.

Quite a few people don't.

It opens a Pandora's Box
of questions.

That's what drives me crazy.

It could be so open to...

such a different interpretation.

[Terry]
'I'm constantly pulled

'because I don't wanna
confuse people unnecessarily

'but I don't wanna
explain too much.

'We're fighting that right now. '

Whatever I do,
I seem to accept the fact

that I'm trying to make
a film for a broad...

a broad number of people.

I'm trying to communicate
to a large number of people.

Then how far can we push it?

How far can we be obscure
for the sake of obscurity?

We talked a little bit
about the symbol

of the Army of the 12 Monkeys.

Graphically, there's so much
strength involved with that.

And we see a sort of
wide-ranging campaign,

teaser applications, etcetera.

You'll see a lot
of versions of it,

the way we wanna do it.

We're not really sure
how that will work

but we thought,
as a newspaper campaign idea...

[Terry] That's great.

It's so provocative
and, "What is it?"

And then
the final payoff... Bang!

What I liked about this...
It's interesting.

It's sort of rough.

And it's... it's... it's...

It's been stamped and stencilled

and what is it?
They're coming this winter.

The rougher you make it,
the better.

The paint didn't get in
certain areas.

Another idea we had
was to do bus sides.

Perhaps buses synchronous
with each other would have,

"Question everything. "
"The future is history. "

All with that stamp
of the monkey

in some configuration.

Again, to be provocative.

[Woman] And be deliberately
obscure. In the early print,

it doesn't matter to define
what the 12 Monkeys are.

If it works with the trailer

and the confluence
of things happen,

people will know.
And those that don't know...

They'll ask.

Exactly.
It's interesting enough.

The enigma is the good thing.

It's extraordinary
to do anything that simple.

Everybody in the
industry would say,

"What the hell is that?"

The idea was that the circle...

That's the world going round,

following each other's tails.

Relentlessly round
and one broke loose.

The next group are trying
to use the three faces.

[Terry] This is for
the Academy Award campaign?

[Man] Yes, it is.

I love Brad's face in that.
It's so twisted.

This is kinda wild, isn't it?

Metropolis.

Yeah, Metropolis.

That's actually very good.

Here are some other, kind of,

time travel ideas that we did.

- Wonderful garish colours.
- OK...

- You need counters.
- That one's pretty bizarre.

Pretty bizarre.

I was haunted on that one.

It's brilliant.
Imagine that up big.

Whoa. What is this?

The future is in the hands

of a man who has none?

Excuse me?

What is that?

He has no future.

It sounds like he has no hands.

[Everyone laughs]

Wow! That is fuckin' out there!

That's where we should've...

I love the tattoo up here.
That is fuckin' out there.

The audience that's
gonna go to see that

is gonna like this
film, I think.

Aren't they?

[Imitates noise
of editing machine]

When it bursts through,

it's the mighty
pimple-popping sound.

The more we do this,
the more it's clear.

Is it in his head or not?

It's just more ambivalent
about what it is.

'As the days in the
cutting room speed by,

'and the editing process
moves closer and closer

'towards its completion,

'Terry and his staff focus
on the few remaining problems.

'Even after refining
the driving scenes

'and cutting out some
of the future world sequences,

'Terry and Mick still wonder

'whether they're telling
the right story. '

'Terry's most worried
about the love story,

'and is now searching for ways

'to make Cole and Railly's
relationship more believable. '

What it does, to me, is it makes
her more part of the thing.

It was so much on him before.

'Is this real? '

[Terry and Mick]
No, it's a wig.

'While Terry and Mick still have
critical decisions to make,

'they must now drop
their creative work

'to prepare for test
screenings in the States.

'The testing process
has never been

'one of Terry's
favourite pursuits. '

Well, no, we're gonna
go to Washington DC.

Because everybody
says New York is...

They're ruthless,
vicious there. Yeah.

In Washington, we thought
they would be nicer

so we thought we'd go
to a nice place.

[Film] 'It is our
intention to send you back

'to the year 1996.'

'It is our intention
to send you back

'to the year 1996.'

'We have a very fast programme. '

'Something very different. '

'We're going to send
you back to 1996.'

'A routine step
in post-production

'is the replacing of dialogue
recorded on location

'with new dialogue
recorded in the studio.

'The process is known
as looping, or ADR.'

[Film] 'And possibly play
an important role

'in returning the human race
to the surface of the Earth. '

- Spot on, I'd say.
- Wow!

'In order to polish the film
as much as possible

'for the test screenings in DC,

'Chuck Roven has asked Terry
to do the ADR sessions

'in an uncomfortably
short period of time.

'To make matters worse,

'no-one back in the States
has bothered to track down

'Bruce or Madeleine. '

It's just a waste of time.

Tell them we won't
ADR for the thing.

Unless it's done properly,
it's a travesty.

We're not gonna rush into it.

This is just stupid!

I don't get the problem.

It's the typical LA thing.

You wait 'till the last moment
then you rush like mad.

Everybody feels good

'cause they get a lot
of adrenaline going.

This is, like, bullshit.

This is the Hollywood
way of doing things.

[Phone rings]

[Phone still ringing]

It's all right.

Hello?

Hi, Chuck. Terry?

How can anybody get
any work done around here

if they're on the phone
all day, is the question.

[Terry] Last week it was known
we needed Bruce and Madeleine.

We still don't know if Bruce...

We're sitting here saying,
What the fuck is going on?

It was all known last week.

Right.

And that means the sacrificial
lamb in that one is me.

[Terry sighs]

[Terry]
'We're now in this situation

'where we're going to the States
to show the film to the public

'and let the public vote
and see what happens.

'It's a thing that seems
to be standard procedure.

'You gotta do it,
so we'll do it.

'But the minute we start
getting screenings,

'suddenly there's
a panic again.

'I just try to keep it calm.

[Terry] That's how it feels.

That's what I still feel like
when the phone rings.

And it's like, "Oh, no!

"Here we go again. "

[Terry] 'Please check
all of the following items

'that you feel
describe the movie. '

Entertaining. Confusing.
Dull. Boring.

Action-filled. Too violent.
Well-acted. Suspenseful.

Stupid. Dumb.
High-quality. Heart-warming.

Different. Original.
Dramatic. Romantic.

My age group would enjoy it.

That's how I describe it.

Predictable.
Has likeable main characters.

Why do we want them
to be likeable?

Involving.
Not my kind of movie.

My age group would enjoy it.

That's the one I like.

Can we put Intelligent in here?

D'you think that's a good one?

No. What they sometimes do
is Thought-provoking.

I like that one. Thought...

What about Thought-provoking?

That's a good one.

Just like Die Hard 3!

[Both laugh]

A cerebral feel-good movie?

Treats its audience
intelligently.

Oh, the great thing
about Brazil,

a lot of them scrawled - people
who got it and liked music -

"No more paperwork!"

And those were all discounted.

[Terry]
'This is where the public

'gets to be film-makers
for a moment.

'You show the film
to the public,

'they fill out questionnaires
about the film. '

That's how it was begun.

And then it became a tool

for the studios
to cover their ass.

Because there was this
specious scientific methodology

that'd tell you if a film
would be successful or not.

'But so many times,
you see a thing play

'and then you look at
the results on the cards,

'and they don't seem to match. '

[Film music begins]

[Whispering] I really...
I think we got 'em.

Do we have to get
to Brad quicker?

[Terry] I've never heard an
audience quite that focused.

I know.

Yet as I was watching it

I was beginning to think,

I can't make sense
of this movie!

Thank you.

Good night.

Thank you.

The audience loved it.
They go crazy.

It was very nice to hear
an audience just still.

Yeah.

There wasn't anything in there.

Terry, it's great.
It's marvellous.

It's good, yeah.

And it has so much...

First question is
the overall rating.

Excellent, very good,
average, fair, poor.

Let's see where we stand.

How many people
rated the film excellent?

Nobody?

There was a guy sitting
in front of Mick, the editor,

and towards the end,
as he walked into the terminal,

he's like that.

He just did that the whole time,
watching it unfold.

You don't get that
in movies today.

How many felt it dragged
in spots or moved too slowly?

One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

How many people feel that
the romance doesn't fit in?

Almost everybody?

You didn't think
there was a certain

film noirishness in the romance?

Did anybody enjoy that
element of the film?

You gave Willis
a chance to really act.

He was very touching.

Poor fellow's eyes.

It's the best thing
Bruce has ever done, I think.

It's a really good...

It's a solid performance.

It's an interesting audience.

I wasn't certain
whether they'd go for Bruce.

We haven't really talked about
the big star in the film.

How many people liked
the character of James Cole

and/or Willis' performance?

Four, five, six.

How many felt that
the ending seemed unresolved?

One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine.

OK. In ten words or less,

when you see family, friends,
co-workers, whatever,

and they say,
"How was the preview?"

What are you gonna say?

Loved the stars,
suspense, the story.

The story draws
the audience in immediately.

Bad character study
in a science fiction setting.

It seemed far-fetched
that a woman doctor

would fall in love with
a stinky, crazy Bruce Willis.

Confusing plot.
Unsatisfying ending.

I loved everything
except the violence.

It was very depressing
and anti-climactic.

This movie is more intelligent
than most movies like it.

I didn't understand
what was going on.

One of the best movies
I've seen.

One of the worst movies
I've seen.

It was a B-movie with a plot
that is fairly unclear.

Dull. Boring.

Pathetic and confusing.

Has likeable main characters!

Thought-provoking.

Too violent.

A waste of potentially
good talent.

I can't rate it.
I'm too confused.

[Terry]
'The numbers don't match

'what I saw that crowd
do last night. '

And those cards are really low
compared to what I'm used to.

Except where they've walked out.

Munchausen,
I got cards like that

but you could see 'em
walking out.

They don't...

Well, several things.

People may not like
the movie. Fuck 'em.

It may be a weird one.
You know the story of Airplane.

The scores on Airplane
were phenomenally low

and the picture was a huge hit.

And what people finally realised

is people... The humour
was so vulgar in Airplane,

that nobody dared admit
that they loved it.

But they all loved it and told
their friends to go see it,

with great embarrassment.

Now that's not,
I hope, 12 Monkeys.

I think the focus group
wanted us to know

that they think
it's a black comedy.

If you say that,
they can go with it.

People are gonna knock us

and try and get us
to explain more

and I'm saying that that's
not what the audience wants.

They wanna know
what kind of movie it is.

Once they know what kind of
movie it is, they'll go with it.

What they wanna know is
it's not a Bruce Willis movie.

Hm. Gotta have a smile
in front of another smile.

Lots of smiles.

Keep a happy face going,

no matter what.

It's deeply disturbing,
all of this.

[Mick] It is deeply disturbing.

I liked the movie
a whole lot last night

but it was painful to sit
through the focus group

and listen to 'em

because I value their opinion.

You had to be prepared for that.

We set out to write a very
entertaining movie, hopefully.

[Phone rings]

But in doing so,

we set ourselves
certain obstacles, right,

to not make it as easy.

Yeah 'cause, we're...

That's it.

As we march towards the abyss...

I think I'll have
another smile too.

Whatever's going on here,

however bad it goes,

however hard it is
shooting this thing,

strap on the smile.

Like I said, you know,

you just never know.

Yeah.

[Terry] So...

Do they hate it?

Do they hate
the film we've made?

[Terry] That's, uh...

This is very bad.

I won't sign this one.

It's not up to
the proper standards.

I know what I'll sign it.

Alan Smithee.

That's the name they use

when directors take
their name off the film.

[Flight announcements]

[Terry]
'I know we got a good...

'I know the film is there. '

We're not gonna be
doing many changes.

I don't wanna jerk
all over the place.

I wanna aim towards
the finish of the thing.

All these other things
are interruptions

that may or may not
be informative

but they're constantly jostling
with the main objective,

which is to make a film
that nobody likes but us.

[All laugh]

And your only goal is...?

Inexplicability is what
the really good stuff is about.

I've never understood
the really good films.

There's great chunks
I don't get.

We're trying to make art.
Art never explains itself.

You've got your "Art is"...!

This T-shirt is appropriate.

This is very relevant.

There are the 12 reels
over there.

Take it or leave it.

[Terry]
This process is supposed

to help you make
the best possible film.

It often doesn't.

There are moments
when the film is at its best

and you go beyond it
and fuck it.

I've watched that happen
too often.

That's why that pressure
is really bad.

It's usually the result
of people panicking

and trying to make the film
into something it isn't.

It's a hippopotamus and they
wanna turn it into a giraffe

because giraffes
are popular this year.

And it ain't gonna be a giraffe.

It's only gonna be a really
deformed hippopotamus, at best.

[Terry] It's a family
I thought you were giving me.

Mommy, Daddy and the little one.

[Terry] Personally,
I just like that or that.

The black one...

[Charles Roven]
'I've always said to the studio

'we can't be governed
by numbers. '

'Even though the scores weren't
good in that first preview,

'we all agreed that we
believed in the movie

'and the problem with the movie

'wasn't gonna be solved
by huge changes. '

We sat in that audience
for two days.

We felt that they, by and large,
were with the movie.

Yet they were coming out
of the visual experience

not feeling as positive

as we felt that they were
while watching it.

What was that? Why was that?

Do you make huge
changes? You know.

Well, we decided not to.

[Violin concerto]

[Terry]
'It's a very dangerous time,

'that's all I know.

'And our job is to keep
pushing the barriers,

'because Hollywood
is all about closing in.

'"Let's have one film
that'll work every time. "

'So I'm intrigued to make
this film successful

'because the kind of film it is

'is not considered the material
for successful films. '

[Cole]
'The movie never changes. '

'It can't change. '

'But every time you see it,
it seems different

'because you're different. '

'You... you see
different things. '

And I think it's also
that we're telling a story

that does demand
a certain intelligence

and... and patience.

And that's why, in the end,

I'll be curious to see
how many people are out there

that will put up with it.

[Music from the opera Carmen]

[Photographers clamour
for Terry's attention]

Over here!

Mr Willis!

Mr Willis!

Madeleine! Madeleine!

Madeleine!

This way! This way!

The story itself,
how would you describe it?

Quite mad. I'm dying to see it

so I can figure it out.
I haven't seen it yet.

I think it's a love story.

Other people think
it's something else,

I think it's
a twisted love story.

How are you celebrating
New Year this year?

Probably going out
to promote this film.

Any New Year's resolutions?

No. Never make those.

'Cause they never are fulfilled.

'Gilliam is the cinema's
most accomplished trickster. '

'A dystopian fantasy
from a master of the genre. '

'The irrepressible, iconoclastic
director is back in action. '

'Gilliam revisits
the narrow divide

between sanity and madness. '

[Terry] Sit up straight,
shake off that turkey torpor.

If you're going
to see 12 Monkeys,

you have to practise
paying attention.

That's great. Good for them.
That's the stuff we like.

Poised on a perceptual
knife-edge. Wow!

[Terry] 'Four stars. '

'What is this?
The Village Voice. '

'Willis Lifts Monkeys
Above Bulky Mechanics. '

Here's one we need
to read. Mm-mm!

'Takes its time getting
to the heart of the matter. '

This is what's awful.

They think I put
this thing together.

I was just a hired hand.

Five stars on this one.
Look at that!

Three stars out of... five?

Oh!

Oh, they're mean.

Liz...

You bitch, Liz.

[Terry]
'This end result of film-making

'is getting less and less
satisfying to me.

'I don't get much out of it. '

I keep thinking there's
gonna be these moments

of utter joy - "Wow! A success!"

It never feels
that way any more.

'It's a worrisome thing

'because whatever those
measures of success were,

'they were kind
of a driving force.

'And that's gone. '

[Man] What d'you think
of the intro?

What intro?

Welcome one of Hollywood's
true creative visionaries,

Terry Gilliam.

I'm not gonna say...!

Hollywood? I've now become
a Hollywood director.

Well, there's just
no stopping these folk.

'Our next guest was one of the
founding members of Monty Python

'and has since gone on to direct
such films as Brazil,

'The Fisher King and now
12 Monkeys, which opens today.

'Welcome one of Hollywood's
true creative visionaries,

'Terry Gilliam. '

Hollywood? I've now become
a Hollywood director.

[Cheering and applause]

Oh! Now you wanna know
what I feel?

[Terry chuckles]

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