Dec 28, 2010

Terry Gilliam Godfathers New Steampunk Spy Movie

This sounds cool.  Variety (via Dark Horizons) reports that Terry Gilliam will serve as "creative advisor" on a new film by his long-time collaborator, digital animation specialist Tim Ollive. The movie, 1884, will tell a Victorian futurist story of espionage and derring-do. It's probably best to rely on the trade's description to convey the typically unique nature of the project: "1884 imagines a film made in 1848 with steam power, narrating a tale of laughable Imperialist derring-do and espionage set in a futuristic 1884 when Europe is at war, steam-powered cars fly in the sky and man has landed on the moon." Furthermore, the trade adds that, "pic will look like animation but in fact mix live-action puppets with CGI heads and actors' filmed eyes and mouths. Backgrounds will feature collages of miniatures, film, graphics and period photography." Hm.  So sort of OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies meets Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow meets Sherlock Holmes meets Gilliam's Brazil?  Maybe?  That's probably attempting to put too much of a label on it.  But it sounds really cool, regardless! I love the odd conceit of making a film as if filmed in 1848 envisioning a futuristic 1884, and laughable Imperialist derring-do (the OSS 117 angle) always appeals to me. Monty Python cast members (not named) will provide the voices.

1 comment:

jason whiton said...

That does sound neat! I like the idea of an imagined future of the late 1800s as the setting for a mystery/adventure.
-Jason (Spy Vibe)