Terry Gilliam: "I thought it was hilarious that they published my obituary."

SilosWhen a few days ago they asked him Joe Dante for a project that he ultimately could not direct, he said: "The best thing to ask Terry Gilliam, who knows a lot about failed projects." There are few filmmakers whose successes (Monty Python, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, The Fisher King, etc.) are as well known as their obstacles when it comes to carrying out projects (such as The Secret of the Brothers Grimm and, above all, The man who killed Don Quixote). All of this makes Gilliam (Medicine Lake, United States, 1940) one of the most beloved directors by fantasy fans, a tireless fighter who at 84 years old has displayed his enviable energy and good humor during his visit to Sitges, where this Friday he will receive the festival's Grand Honorary Prize.

Congratulations on the award. He didn't come to the festival with any film under his belt, but we've been reading news for months about a new film by Terry Gilliam, the biblical comedy Carnival at the End of DaysWill we see her soon?

— I don't know, honestly. The project has reached the point where maybe yes, maybe no. In fact, I'm now more interested in a script I wrote thirty years ago for Paramount. There are new people at the studio now, and I have a new agent in Hollywood, and I'm trying to move the project forward. Carnival, however... I'm not saying he's dead, but he's trembling.

We hope it revives. Which of your films do you think is most current and relevant today? Many people point to the Orwellian dystopia of Brazil, unfortunately.

— I'm afraid they're right. You see, I'm a prophet! You can call me Ezekiel [laughs]. The truth is, I'm surprised there's so much surprise that our world has become the one we Brazil. Just look closely: in the United States, the Ministry of Defense is now called the Ministry of War. But the film wasn't intended as a prophecy; in fact, it was a commentary on the world as I saw it at the time. During George W. Bush's presidency, I considered suing him because he made a remake without permission from Brazil, but with Donald Trump it's even worse.

Is it true that you decided to leave the United States for England while walking along a beach watching the sunset?

— Sort of. I was with my girlfriend, walking along the beach, and I thought, "Am I really experiencing love and beauty, or am I in a TV commercial?" That's how I felt. And since she wanted to go back to England and I wanted to fuck up the countryside... Plus, with the Vietnam War and everything, it was time for me to leave.

Years later he renounced his United States citizenship.

— This was in 2006, because I'd been living in England for years but still paying so much tax in the United States, it was ridiculous. To renounce my US citizenship, I was on probation for ten years, and I couldn't spend more than thirty days a year in my home country. But my wife and children could go as much as they wanted. The irony is that a week after I renounced it, I got a call from Hollywood offering me a really good project, but there was no way to do it there, so I had to shoot two more films in Canada. And when I was no longer on probation in the United States, Brexit came, and I was no longer part of Europe. You have to fuck yourself.

You've never directed autobiographical films, but if you were to direct one about a kid from Minneapolis who ends up joining the most important comedy group in history and becoming one of the greatest fantasy film directors, what would the first scene be?

— I'd be a kid climbing a tree and building a little nest. That's what I did as a kid. Everything that came after that was a surprise. There was no intention of making a career out of it, I don't plan what I'm going to do. It could all have been a disaster, but I've been very lucky. After all, my father was a carpenter and my mother a virgin... [Laughs.] It's like meeting John Cleese in New York when I was working at the magazine. Help!Years later, when I went to London, he was a television star. And I just called him and said, "John, I want to work in television." And that's how it all began.

The British Postal Service recently printed stamps honoring Monty Python sketches. Some should be World Heritage Sites. Which one is your favorite?

— The one that intrigues me most of all, and which still makes me laugh because it's so shocking and horrific, is the one where John arrives at an undertaker with his mother in a bag, undecided about how best to dispose of the body, and in the end decides he's going to cook and eat her, but he's not going to eat her, but he's not going to eat her, but he's not going to eat her, but he's not going to eat her. It was terrible and offensive, but at the same time so funny... I love it when comedy and horror meet. "If you don't like it or feel a bit guilty, just eat it." It was outrageous, but we did it. The BBC was in shock.

I'm not surprised. Ten years ago. Variety published his obituary by mistakeNot everyone can say that "the rumors about my death were exaggerated..." How did you take it?

— I thought it was hilarious, it was wonderful. Because, on top of that, the obituary said: "Terry Gilliam of Monty Python dies in XXX"... which is a Vin Diesel movie! It was the most ridiculous and funny thing in the world. My family didn't think so, because they were in France and, all of a sudden, some neighbors showed up and said: "Oh, we're so sorry." And my son was at work and his boss came and said: "I'm really sorry to have to tell you that..." It was a very uncomfortable situation for them. My agent and my lawyer wanted to file a lawsuit against the magazine, but I thought it was stupid. So I wrote to the editor of Variety And I told him that what might ease my family's pain would be a case of Château Margaux. And they said okay. It wasn't one of the best vintages, but it was still Château Margaux. And I still have it. It's a wine for special occasions. The wine of my crucifixion!

If you die before me, I'll probably have to write your obituary. Do you want me to write anything special?

— [Laughs.] No, you can copy the obituary of Variety, if you want. Although it was pretty bad... as bad as his reviews of my movies!

You must be tired of being asked which movie you like the most, but which one would be your favorite of all the ones you haven't been able to make?

— The one I was telling you before that I'm trying to make with Paramount. I'd like to direct it before I die. It's called The defective detective (The Flawed Detective) and it should be my last film. It's about a middle-aged New York cop who's been treated badly by life. He basically has a nervous breakdown and ends up in a child's fantasy world where the rules aren't the same as those of the streets of New York. If a dragon attacks him and he pulls out his gun and shoots it in the head, the dragon doesn't die, it grows another head. The cop is trapped in this world with a kid who thinks he's an idiot and says, "What you need is a sword." But he gives him a tree branch, because that's how kids play by the rules.

It really sounds like a Terry Gilliam movie. What's your favorite movie-related memory?

— I don't know if it's the best memory, but I would say the first time I saw 2001: A Space OdysseyIt was monumental, we were all amazed. But the Kubrick film that inspired me the most was Paths of gloryI was 13, and I thought it was incredible. And it made me realize that films could also be made about the injustice and horrors of war. But what struck me most was the speed with which the camera moved through the trenches. I copied this in Brazil! Paths of glory It transformed me. Suddenly, movies weren't about Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis clowning around; they could be about important things, too.

And the worst memory?

— Working with producer Paulo Branco on The man who killed Don QuixoteI spent six years in court because of him; he's a fucking psychopath. He had an interesting career, making good films with Portuguese and Spanish directors. He promised me everything and didn't get a cent. My Spanish co-producers, Tornasol Films, went bankrupt because of him. And he really messed up the film. I'm very proud; I want mine. Quixote Because the process of filming it was amazing. And we were very lucky to have a fairy protector rescue us.

This also sounds like a Terry Gilliam movie.

— No, seriously. My daughter met an Italian woman who had lived in Spain, a flamenco dancer. As a young woman, she had a one-night stand in Fuerteventura and became pregnant with a girl. But her father, who was from a very wealthy family, wouldn't hear of it. For ten years, she fought to get him to acknowledge his daughter, but to no avail. Finally, he died, and that woman managed to have his body exhumed for a DNA test, which proved he was the father. And since he was the heir to the Ferrero Rocher fortune, now that woman's daughter is. He'd never had any money, and now he had it, and lots of it. And since I had continued my long journey with the Quixote, my adventures and my problems, put three and a half million on the table. "Now you can go to the dance, Terry." She was a protective fairy, no less.