Question of the Day

My earlier post (and a recent re-watching of the film) put me in mind of a book that I own, (now sadly out of print) and prompted my QOT:

What is the movie that changed your life?

Time Bandits had a profound effect on the way I view film, "stories" in general, and the world. I was ten when it was released, and I don't know how I managed to do it, but I got my parents to take me to see it in the theatre.

Here was a film "starring" a young boy that suddenly finds himself thrust into a bizarre, otherworldly situation with a number of eccentric companions, and he is trying to find his way home. This wasn't necessarily a new concept; "children's movies" had been working with that theme for years. But there were a number of differences with this film. For example, the "companions" weren't friendly. They didn't immediately take Kevin under their wing and protect him from the dangers of his new situation. They bickered, they were violent, and at first, they seemed to be a genuine danger to him. Within minutes of meeting him for the first time, they're threatening to eat him, for chrissakes. At this point, I'd also never been exposed to British humor (my first viewing of Monty Python would come about a year later), so the fact that I could be amused by something so dark was completely new to me.

Then, they lean against Kevin's bedroom wall. And it moves.

Soon, the Time Bandits (along with Kevin) are pushing the wall down a seemingly endless hallway, a hallway that incredibly has the same wallaper as Kevin's room, pursued by an enormous, glowing face intoning "Return the map... return what you have stolen from me... It will bring you great danger..."

Then... the wall falls away. And they plunge into darkness.

I was in heaven, let me tell you.


There was so much to this film that turned my ideas of movies and what a story "should be" completely backwards. The heroes were little people. And they weren't simply comic relief. Robin Hood (my first introduction to John Cleese) was a complete ass. The horrific ogre had a bad back, chest colds, and seemed to have a perfectly normal, loving relationship with his wife.

There was Michael Palin, continually tormented by the Time Bandits in his multiple reincarnations, complaining of "the problem." He has a "personal problem," one that makes him crave fruit. What the hell was his problem? It's never explained. Holy crap... a joke doesn't need an explanation or punchline to be hilarious!

The "Evil Genius," (or "Satan," for you more literal-minded types) was evil, but he also was a bit incompetent. I think David Warner's portrayal of one of the all-time greatest screen bad guys began my life-long love for the villain. They're always more interesting than the heroes.

I could go on and on, but I do want to point out one very important aspect of this film. Kevin has two, typical, boring parents. They're more interested in watching television than paying attention to their son. (The show they watch, by the way, predicts modern crap like Fear Factor.) They never believe him when he tells them what has happened in his room. The type of parents you've seen before in other fantasy children's films.

And then they're killed off.

Not only are they killed off, they're blown up. Disintegrated. They touch a piece of "concentrated evil" (after Kevin specifically warns them not to), and in a flash, they're reduced to two smoking piles of ash. And then the film ends.

No happy ending. Kevin is alone, left to fend for himself. We're given an idea that Kevin has a "guardian angel" (Sean Connery, first seen as King Agamemnon, then as a Fireman in this final scene) watching over him, but he's essentially left to fend for himself. And God left him behind, too.

This was incredible, incredible stuff to me. Right after seeing the movie, we went to the bookstore in the same mall, and I paged through this huge "making of Time Bandits" book that I still regret not buying. Geez, for all the crap I bugged my parents to buy, why not that?

So... how about you?