Terry Gilliam Interview

[rich]

this sounds like something Pynchon might say:

That’s something that a lot of people seem to not get about your
films. Yes, your heroes are often aligned with the imagination, but
you make it clear that the imagination can also destroy you.

Exactly. The real struggle is between chaos and order. Chaos is the
imagination. It can save you, or it can destroy you. I mean, Dick
Cheney is a pretty imaginative guy. Look at Donald Rumsfeld’s belief
system. These people became victims of the story they were telling, as
much as one of my characters. I think that’s something that bothers a
lot of people about my films. It’s not black and white. It’s not
clear. And I think that can be scary to people.

So, what scares Terry Gilliam?

What scares me? I don’t know … I don’t feel particularly frightened of
death. I guess I’m scared of my family dying before me. Simple things
scare me. That I won’t get any more films made before I kick the
bucket, that scares me. The end of the world doesn’t scare me. I am
scared of becoming cynical. You have to have some level of optimism in
your work, you have to believe it can make some kind of a difference.
Otherwise, you’d probably lose your drive and your ability to work.


Read more: Terry Gilliam on His New Film (and Heath Ledger’s Last):
‘Lower Your Expectations!’ -- Vulture
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/12/terry_gilliam_on_heath_ledger.html#ixzz0aZEYnGZi